This is the view from a gun position at Firebase Phoenix overlooking the Korengal Valley. My oldest son's outfit, Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne) (Yes, he is a paratrooper.) occupies several small firebases along the valley in one of the most hard fought areas in in eastern Afghanistan's Regional Command-East. He fights and he kills. Many of the men in his regiment have been wounded in the fighting. The last I heard, twenty-three have been killed. My son still fights. I am very proud of him.
Every time I see an 18-25 year old man not in uniform I feel sorry for his parents. What a shame that our country is at war and their sons are afraid to fight. But it goes with this modern age, I suppose.
At Stanford University there is a building where the names of students who left the school to fight are engraved on the walls. The First World War has the most names. Then WWII. Korea has fewer. Viet Nam just a handful. There are no names engraved for any more recent wars. Shame. If it were up to me, no man would be given federal financial aid to go to college during a time of war, unless he had served and been honorably discharged.
But my son, all the rest of his days will be able to say, "I was with the 503rd when we fought the Taliban in the Korengal Valley. Too bad you weren't there with us." And those men who studied chemistry and commerce instead of going to war will feel like lesser men. They are lesser men. Shame on our nation for producing them.
9 comments:
We have a number of friend's sons who are in the military. One has just been honorably discharged from the Marines. He did 3 tours in Iraq.
His brother is in the Army currently in sniper training. He expects to ship out of Afghanistan sometime this spring.
Another friend is in the Marines. Don't know how many tours in Iraq he's done. He is into explosives.
Lord protect them as they serve to protect us.
Soldier is a noble profession; still it is a profession as any other. How one can justify invading and killing people in a foreign country with the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ is beyond me. As you poorly judge character, the martyrs and saints are “less of men” as well – because they chose not to submit to the will of man and died instead.
Neither Afghanistan nor Iraq has ever been a threat to US citizens. Our killing of foreigners in their country simply turns the world against us for being aggressive invaders.
I support our soldiers 110%. They are trained, willing and ready to put their lives on the line by whatever our government tells them to do. The destruction of Iraq or Afghanistan does nothing to protect our freedom and you are misled to believe that it does. The 9/11 attack came from evil men that were from Saudi Arabia, not Iraq or Afghanistan. So if China were to attack us, we invade Pakistan? What nonsense is this?
Your concept of what makes a man involves killing another human being. Do you honor serial killers as being more of a man than one who provides for his family? Killing another person from 1000 yds with a sniper rifle is hardly protecting anyone. I have to ask again how someone who relishes the idea of destroying one of God’s creation can call themselves a Christian; How shameful!
Lord have mercy
his concept of what makes a man is the balls to defend our country from the caliphate army.
Now if we can just got some more around our "border".
HOO-RAH!
Good for your son. True American. I tried to join the marines but they wouldn't let me in due to a back injury I got as a teenager. In any case, you should be very proud of your son.
Philippa, it sounds like you have some good friends.
John Wayne, thank you for reading my blog.
Cannonball, Hoo-Rah!!!
Elephant, many are called, few are chosen. But at least you tried. Good for you.
I'm proud of your son, too, Rub A Dub. I wish that my own sons had the intelligence, character, understanding and courage to be committed to and to believe in their country. Those who undertake the defense (or the offensive) on behalf of our way of life are fully deserving of our unqualified support and honor.
John Wayne should consider that the decision on where to fight is not with our military. That is up to the civilians. The military men and women commit to their country. They do not commit to undertaking the roles which would be assigned them by every individual.
If John were more active in making sure that the politicians followed vital American interests before and while committing our military, then he might make some sense. Instead, he voices infantile frustrations that are intended to discourage those who are patriots. Shame on him for his "well-intended" but misguided attempts to class himself as holier.
Those who discourage the defenders of our own families, friends and next door neighbors are useless scum. "Pacifist patriots" like John are the ones who have no place in decent society, and we have for too long allowed their stupidity to infect the young and ignorant in our society. They have no beliefs so attack those who do.
flanders fields, like you I think matt should be proud of his son and I am proud of the sons of friends who have served their country in whatever capacity. I pray daily for 2LT in Iraq who I have known since he was born. I want him to do his job honourably and return home safely to his wife.
Sadly, that is about all I agree with. While I am not a pacifist, I think that it is shameful that you would say pacifists are scum, have no beliefs, and have no place in decent society. You openly class yourself as holier (while not using that word), while you accuse John of doing the same.
At least while John offers a theological reason for his views, you and matt offer nothing more than humanistic patriotism, without showing that it has any spiritual value whatsoever. As presented, it has no basis in anything greater than sentimentalism.
That is all it is when matt says that every 18- to 25-year-old not in uniform is a coward. First of all the military is not equipped for an influx of every male of cannon-fodder age. This is not a world war and they are not needed.
This is above and beyond the argument that these young men in a democratic society should be compelled by neither law nor conscience from surrendering that conscience to conform to military life and to being put in harm's way to prop up an Islamist regime where Christianity is illegal and sharing the Gospel is punishable by death, even if that regime is the one supported by the policies of the US government.
Sol, thank you for reading my blog.
After reading this, I suddenly have the urge to play "The universal soldier".
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