If you realy want to here opinions on ending the war in Iraq you should here them from a veteran of that war. I did not attend the veterans for peace rally on campus during veterans day. I was busy taking the mandatory freshmen exam. I was kind of perturbed that they could not find a beter day tho hold the exam on. It may be not be alone in this that a national holiday was sidelined for a 45 minute test and a 45 minute campus evaluation. i am getting off subject. My inaction did stem from my anger of having to be on campus that day. I was, like I said, planning to go to the rally by Veterans for Peace. I am not sure of thier policies toword ending the war, but at least they support the men and women in uniform. I would not want to here any soldier bashing from the audience even if it were true. Those of us who served over there did many unsavorie things that would not be acceptable by American society standards. Like I said I was a scout and we spent alot of time kicking in doors and in the bazzars on patrol. I do not want to here af any soldier or marine being belittled for doing the things they were ordered to do. Having said that, I am all foar bringing our people home for good and leaving the Middle East to rot in the sun. I know we just can not pick ou and leave. Apparently we must pay a price in blood for the oil we get in return. I just have my reserves of being in a country that does not want us there in the first place. Then having to pay such a high price for our staying there. I am a firm believer that one drop of american blood is not worth our "stabalizing" a war torn nation. My belief system does not allow for my abbandonment of our troops and the criminalization of thier actions while in a war zone. Anybody who has served on the streets will tell you what goes on is none of americas business as far as the media is concerned. They have no business over there reporting and framing the mind of the American public about this war. They should stick to writing about the political situation and not every day life of soldiers on the line or in combat. That is my two cents anyway. I am just a media hating veteran.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
I chose “Iraq through the eyes of a soldier” by David Kerpash to evaluate for this assignment. I looked at many blogs some on the war some on raising step-children. I have found that many blogs are by invite only or you have to sign up for them. I think if you are going to put yourself out there then you need to do it all the way. My blog is going to be public and accessible.
David writes about a lot of the same problems I deal with every day. PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder hangs over me like an angry black cloud. He has a lot of the same symptoms as I do. We have many things in common about our lives outside of the military acquired disorders. We are both trying to cope with reintegration to civilian life, raising families, and generally living our lives.
You are always supposed to trust a brother in arms, so I take him at face value. What he writes seems real enough as far as the symptoms and coping go. It is not hard to fake PTSD and a lot of the symptoms can be from other disorders but, from what I have read his case seems genuine as far as I can tell. The only difference between us is that I got shot in the war but, we both witnessed and committed similar atrocities.
The writings in his blog are not for the casual reader. There are a lot of upsetting images in his writing. If you have never been on the front lines of urban combat you would not understand where he is coming from and probably think him a monster. The same holds true for me in what I intend to write about. I think we are both looking for support in what we have done and witnessed. I do not intend for my work to be read by casual readers most of the United States seems happy in their ignorance about what goes on in the real war and have no intention of digging into the minds of the actual shooters from this war.
Every one who has been there wants to forget about it so we act normal and smile at other people a lot and try to act like we have normal lives when all we want to really do is hide from the world because of who we truly are and what we have done. As cheery as we may seem, some of us who walk among you are killers or worse and have to live with that every day.
What I take away from his blog is I am not alone. There are others out there suffering with us at the edge of humanities fire. There is hope for coping with this affliction, to actually sleep at night, and to be an active member of society so long as we do not divulge the visions in or head.
I am looking forward to writing in a blog. At first I dreaded it and was about to drop the class but, after seeing his I think it will help me. On the advice of Professor Gries I do some writing for myself to help me cope with day to day things and a blog will let me get it out there.
David writes about a lot of the same problems I deal with every day. PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder hangs over me like an angry black cloud. He has a lot of the same symptoms as I do. We have many things in common about our lives outside of the military acquired disorders. We are both trying to cope with reintegration to civilian life, raising families, and generally living our lives.
You are always supposed to trust a brother in arms, so I take him at face value. What he writes seems real enough as far as the symptoms and coping go. It is not hard to fake PTSD and a lot of the symptoms can be from other disorders but, from what I have read his case seems genuine as far as I can tell. The only difference between us is that I got shot in the war but, we both witnessed and committed similar atrocities.
The writings in his blog are not for the casual reader. There are a lot of upsetting images in his writing. If you have never been on the front lines of urban combat you would not understand where he is coming from and probably think him a monster. The same holds true for me in what I intend to write about. I think we are both looking for support in what we have done and witnessed. I do not intend for my work to be read by casual readers most of the United States seems happy in their ignorance about what goes on in the real war and have no intention of digging into the minds of the actual shooters from this war.
Every one who has been there wants to forget about it so we act normal and smile at other people a lot and try to act like we have normal lives when all we want to really do is hide from the world because of who we truly are and what we have done. As cheery as we may seem, some of us who walk among you are killers or worse and have to live with that every day.
What I take away from his blog is I am not alone. There are others out there suffering with us at the edge of humanities fire. There is hope for coping with this affliction, to actually sleep at night, and to be an active member of society so long as we do not divulge the visions in or head.
I am looking forward to writing in a blog. At first I dreaded it and was about to drop the class but, after seeing his I think it will help me. On the advice of Professor Gries I do some writing for myself to help me cope with day to day things and a blog will let me get it out there.
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