I used to want for others to have my experiences, so that they could see the world the way I see it for even just a moment.... But that would mean war and the results of war, so I don't feel that way anymore.
Before Trump and Q, I thought there were no more good guys left, or even that they never even existed in the first place.. Now I can say that isn't the case anymore, and what they're doing has reminded me of why I joined the military in the first place, the reason that was used to manipulate me into making terrible choices.
It's so fucked up... All the deaths that I'm responsible for cannot be blamed on anyone else. There's no, "I was following orders." ..no, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. Each Marine in my former chain of command has their own consequences to deal with now - any one of us could have said no at any point and maybe spent some time in Leavenworth or even worse, but we didn't. In my case, I actually exceeded expectations and orders (got a medal for it - which I burned years later) by piecing together snippets of Intel I had been receiving to locate a previously unknown Republican Guard unit SSE of Baghdad - want to know what happened from the report I made? It went to the top of the Chain, they ordered an 'operational pause' and bombed the ever living fuck out of the area in question. Absolutely saved Marine lives, for that I'm grateful, but at the cost of uncountable Iraqi civilians and military - ultimately we should have never ever been there in the first place.
No, I do not want anyone to have my wartime experiences.. However the waking up part, oh yeah, that's a unique ride and a half that everyone should take for a spin.
I can only imagine the horrors that sometimes still live in your mind from what you've seen and been through. I'm sorry for how it has affected your life. I do thank you for stepping forward for taking on a cause you and many of us at the time, thought was a just cause. Take care of yourself my friend.
I used to want for others to have my experiences, so that they could see the world the way I see it for even just a moment.... But that would mean war and the results of war, so I don't feel that way anymore.
Before Trump and Q, I thought there were no more good guys left, or even that they never even existed in the first place.. Now I can say that isn't the case anymore, and what they're doing has reminded me of why I joined the military in the first place, the reason that was used to manipulate me into making terrible choices.
It's so fucked up... All the deaths that I'm responsible for cannot be blamed on anyone else. There's no, "I was following orders." ..no, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. Each Marine in my former chain of command has their own consequences to deal with now - any one of us could have said no at any point and maybe spent some time in Leavenworth or even worse, but we didn't. In my case, I actually exceeded expectations and orders (got a medal for it - which I burned years later) by piecing together snippets of Intel I had been receiving to locate a previously unknown Republican Guard unit SSE of Baghdad - want to know what happened from the report I made? It went to the top of the Chain, they ordered an 'operational pause' and bombed the ever living fuck out of the area in question. Absolutely saved Marine lives, for that I'm grateful, but at the cost of uncountable Iraqi civilians and military - ultimately we should have never ever been there in the first place.
No, I do not want anyone to have my wartime experiences.. However the waking up part, oh yeah, that's a unique ride and a half that everyone should take for a spin.
I can only imagine the horrors that sometimes still live in your mind from what you've seen and been through. I'm sorry for how it has affected your life. I do thank you for stepping forward for taking on a cause you and many of us at the time, thought was a just cause. Take care of yourself my friend.