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WANTED:
A number of brave/foolhardy/thrill-mongering
grunts for a heroic quest involving
the crushing of evil, the slaying
of said evil, the rescue of innocents,
with a few emotional subplots
along the way.
Number of bad guys: EXTREME!
Loot Level: Depends what you classify
as “loot”.
(Goat farmers may find this emotionally
and financially rewarding.)
Opportunities to showcase aggressive
nature, seek revenge, spend cold
nights eating cold meals from
a can or bag, and take R&Rs
you can't remember anything about
when their over. As a side benefit,
you get to re-live these wonderful
experiences in your nightmares
for the rest of your life.
Knowledge of Dante helpful but
not necessary. You can learn the
theory of "eternity lost" as you
go.
Transportation will be provided,
along with a variety of amusing
toys to play with once your there.
Applicants must supply their own
sense of humor.
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WHAT WAR MEANS TO A
WARRIOR
Warriors do not glorify war. They
have been there, done that, and
found no glory.
War is a terrible thing, but sometimes
the alternative can be much worse.
A true warrior does not want war.
He fights because he must. He
kills only when necessary, because
he knows killing is a terrible
thing. It changes you......forever!
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AFGHANISTAN
"Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus
ultor."
(Arise, the coming avenger, out
of my ashes.)
If you're wounded and left on
Afghanistan's plains
And the women come out to cut
up what remains
Just roll to your rifle and blow
out your brains
An' go to your God like a soldier
Kipling
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IRAQ
THREE HOURS OF SLEEP
I stood on watch from nine till
one
On guard until my time was done
Then I was awakened again at four
To watch again, to protect once
more
It's no surprise that through
the day,
I want to sleep my life away
But on my honor to God I pray,
Don't let me waste this precious
day,
But give me strength to carry
on
through the lonely nights to dawn next
day.
Jimmy Li
USMC
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VIETNAM WAR
"Those Americans who went to Vietnam
fought for freedom, a truly noble
cause. You and your comrades-in-arms
who faced danger and death in
Vietnam fought as well as any
Americans in our nation's history.
Vietnam was not so much a war
as it was one long battle in an
ongoing war, the war in defense
of freedom, which is still under
assault. This battle was lost
not by those brave American and
South Vietnamese troops who were
waging it but by political misjudgments
and strategic failure at the highest
levels of government.
The tragedy, indeed the immorality
of those years was that for the
first time in our history our
country and its government failed
to match the heroic sacrifice
of our men in the field.
This must never happen again."
President Ronald Reagan
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GULF WAR
"Remember the Americans who gave
their lives so that aggression
might be thwarted and every nation
might live free of foreign domination.
Remember their families who ten
years after their death still
grieve. We join them in their
grief. We know the greatest honor
we can pay their memory is to
renew our commitment to the noble
cause for which they fought, to
renew our determination that evil
will not prosper, that freedom
will live and breathe in this
part of the world, and that those
honored heroes shall not have
died in vain. We will always remember
them."
Colen Powell
General, US Army Retired
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KOREAN WAR
"It was a long night and that
little piece of shrapnel in your
brain kept you from seeing my
tears.
I talked to you all night, hoped
maybe deep down somewhere you
might hear me. It's been 46 years
now and I still think of you all
the time. I made it back ok.
What can one say about another
that will last. Probably not much,
except in my memory I still see
you as you were, as we all were,
so young. The best that can be
said I'll say now:
On the altar of Honor, Duty &
Country, you gave your all. I
will always honor you. Maybe someday
We can return you to those hills
of home you loved.
Until we meet again my brother."
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"WE LIVE IN A WORLD
THAT HAS WALLS, AND THOSE WALLS
HAVE TO BE GUARDED BY MEN WITH
GUNS."
People who want perfect safety
are people who do not have the
balls to live in the real world!
Thank God for our nations warriors.
It is the American fighting man
that has kept this country free
for over 200 years. He has asked
nothing in return, except our
friendship and understanding.
Remember him, always, for he has
earned our respect and admiration
with his blood.
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"War is an
ugly thing, but not the ugliest
of things. The decayed and degraded
state of moral and patriotic feeling
which thinks that nothing is worth
war is much worse. The person
who has nothing for which he is
willing to fight, nothing which
is more important than his own
personal safety, is a miserable
creature, and has no chance of
being free unless made or kept
so by the exertions of better
men than himself."
John Stuart Mill
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TAKING
FALLUJAH
Standing before some 2,500 Marines
who stood or kneeled at his feet,
Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, the
commanding general of the 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force, told
them that they would be at the
front of the charge.
"This is America's fight," Sattler
said. "What we've added to it
is our Iraqi partners. They want
to go in and liberate Fallujah.
They feel this town's being held
hostage by mugs, thugs, murderers
and terrorists."
Two Marine battalions, along with
a battalion from the Army's 1st
Infantry Division, will be the
lead units sent into a Fallujah
attack. They will be joined by
two brigades of Iraqi troops.
"God bless you, each and every
one. You know what your mission
is. Go out there and get it done,"
Sattler said.
Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent, the
top enlisted Marine in Iraq, told
troops Sunday the coming battle
of Fallujah would be "no different"
than the historic fights at Inchon
in Korea, the flag-raising victory
at Iwo Jima, or the bloody assault
to remove North Vietnamese troops
who occupied the ancient citadel
of Hue in the 1968 Tet Offensive.
"You're all in the process of
making history," Kent boomed in
a clarion voice. "This is another
Hue city in the making. I have
no doubt, if we do get the word,
that each and every one of you
is going to do what you have always
done - kick some butt."
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SOMALIA
"As we fly in the Blackhawk, buzzing the tree tops, I look down, M60 machine-gun ready to fire, I see those who want to kill me. Their feet naked; they look so young, but their faces look so weathered. Even though their teeth are showing, they're not smiling. Their lips look stone dry; breathing heavily through their hungry mouths. Many have already dropped from exhaustion, but the group doesn't get any smaller. I momentarily look away, but everywhere I look it's the same. The walls of all these buildings are heavily peppered with bullet holes from top to bottom; out from the rubble comes a woman holding her dying offspring. The stench of death is in the air. I try to pin-point it's location but it can be anywhere.
The street lanes are heavily polluted with the corpses of old rusty vehicles with mounted machine-guns. The people don't look much different; some are motionless with flies feasting on their faces. I wonder what they think of us; are we a sign of hope, or are we just another breed of conquistadors?
I am a Veteran.
I don't hunt, because I've been the hunted and I know how it feels. I don't like guns, because I've seen the effects of one, and I don't want to see it again. I answered when I was called, put on a uniform, traveled away from home and did what I was told to do. I didn't run, I didn't hide. I didn't look for some excuse or some way out. I understood the dangers involved and was willing to give my life for my country. I still have that uniform, in a box and will put it on again if the need arises."
Somalia Veteran
US Army
44 Killed in Action
176 Wounded in Action |
PANAMA
"During the opening minutes of Operation Just Cause, we were standing by to launch more boats in the Panama Canal. The Panamanian Defense Forces Patrol Boat across the Canal, tied up at Balboa, had already been sunk to the bottom of the Canal (taking half the pier with it). The unit had all the support personnel out on the pier. While we're loading up the combat craft, .50 cal tracers are flying from the vicinity of Fort Amador, 3 to 4 miles away. The tracers were flying over and under the Bridge of Americas. I recall one of the Admin people up on the pier yelling out, "Request permission to lock and load!" I started laughing ... thinking that it sounded like "Pass me the toilet paper!"... and then I got scared ... I mean here's a small arms untrained administrative type (REMF) with a loaded weapon and scared. Hey... get me into the combat... I think I'll have a better chance! (grin)"
Woody Wagner, Special Boat Unit 26, US Navy |
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