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Thread: A veteran’s reaction to this week:
This is the exact patch I wore everyday during two years in Iraq.
When I see it, I think about the fact that the group of 30 Americans in my platoon were willing to die for each other.
Because we believed in the same ideals. 1/
This is the exact patch I wore everyday during two years in Iraq.
When I see it, I think about the fact that the group of 30 Americans in my platoon were willing to die for each other.
Because we believed in the same ideals. 1/
We took it for different reasons. Some needed money for college.
Some needed to get out of town.
Some just wanted to serve.
But we took the same oath. An oath very few Americans take anymore. 2/
Some needed to get out of town.
Some just wanted to serve.
But we took the same oath. An oath very few Americans take anymore. 2/
Zoom in. This picture is America. Every race and every background.
And here’s the reality of being in combat.
No one is out there ducking mortars/RPGs/rockets thinking about any pollyanna ideals.
What were we thinking about? Each other. We fought for each other. 3/
And here’s the reality of being in combat.
No one is out there ducking mortars/RPGs/rockets thinking about any pollyanna ideals.
What were we thinking about? Each other. We fought for each other. 3/
So how does that link with the events of this week?
How does that link with these horrific pictures, which look like something out of a terrible apocalyptic movie?
I will go back to the oath we took. 4/
How does that link with these horrific pictures, which look like something out of a terrible apocalyptic movie?
I will go back to the oath we took. 4/
When I was 17, I swore an oath. The same oath my platoon would take when they swore in, standing in the Bronx or Tiffin or El Paso.
Let that sink in: those words were enough to get a bunch of 20 year olds to wake up everyday and drive the most dangerous roads in the world. 5/
Let that sink in: those words were enough to get a bunch of 20 year olds to wake up everyday and drive the most dangerous roads in the world. 5/
So yes. Those words and that oath and and our Capitol matter to me. A lot.
And I guess that’s why, days later, I’m still sick over this.
The only ray of hope I have right now is that maybe this was just terrible enough to reset something we have lost as a country. 6/
And I guess that’s why, days later, I’m still sick over this.
The only ray of hope I have right now is that maybe this was just terrible enough to reset something we have lost as a country. 6/
The ray of hope is that our country can remember that somewhere, in Syria or on the DMZ in South Korea, a bunch of Americans have figured this thing out.
They do not always agree. They are from totally different backgrounds.
But they have each other’s backs. We can too. END
They do not always agree. They are from totally different backgrounds.
But they have each other’s backs. We can too. END
