Victor_c3
Victor_c3's JournalFor the anti-war camp, the draft would be the best thing ever
If we weren't a volunteer military I'm sure we'd be seeing more anti-war protest. But because the average citizen and the people aren't at risk of dieing for a BS war, they don't really care when it comes down to it. It's not that they have any chance to spending a year in Iraq.
Vietnam = draft = protest. Iraq/Afghanistan = no draft = no protest.
I joined the Army in 1997 and got out in 2007. I remember back around the time that we were getting ready to invade Iraq seeing a story on the news about a group of vietnam era combat veterans who were posting themselves out in front of recruiting stations and who were providing a counter-point to what the recruiters were saying. They were telling people what war was really about and how it shatters lives of anyone involved. I remember thinking "what a piece of shit! How could any patriotic American do that!". Geeze. I was wrong on that. I fought as an Infantryman in Iraq for 13 months and it completely ruined my life. If it becomes apparent that we are on the verge of another war like Iraq (i.e. Iran) I'll be standing in front of the recruiting stations doing just what that Vietnam Vet was doing.
I've never been one to protest or demonstrate for anything, but I'll standing in front of recruiting stations letting people know how much war sucks straight from the mouth of a broken combat veteran. I'm getting fired up and ready to go just thinking about it...
Thank you and your generation
It is because of guys like you and your generation that guys like me and my generation have as much support as we do when we come home from war. The VA, the recognition of PTSD, and a variety of extra benefits that are a huge reason I'm probably not dead or homeless right now. I don't know how I'd be able to survive without the help I get - and it is all because of the struggles that guys like you went though.
I don't know if it helps you at all, but your generation did make the county a better place for your children (my generation). Even if we still fight wars based on ambiguous politics, the country learned a valuable lesson on how to take care of its servicemembers. Thanks you!
There are certain things I liked abotu McCain
A guy who has seen the bad parts of war, I feel, is going to be less likely to send troops to frivalous conflicts.
If the Republicans could ever seperate themselves from the religious and racist crap, they might almost be a palatable party for me. Actually, I'll take that back. They would still be too focused on the top 1% and big business and too against social justice for my liking.
In the same light that I said there are things I liked about McCain, I guess I could say that there are things I liked about George W. - I really liked the fact that he isn't in office anymore!
Yup, I love votevets.org
They made me realize I was liberal before I realized it myself (if that makes any sense)
I haven't given them any money yet (I'm very broke), but I love these guys and their issues. The republicans love it when they are blasted by a group of combat veterans everytime they vote or do something blatantly against veterans and their true issues.
I used to believe that the republicans were the party of the military and veterans, but the democrats over and over again are faster to demonstrate care and concern for the veterans to a much further degree than the republicans. It's a shame that the conservatives get away with claiming they are the true patriots. You don't have to love war to love your country and to appreciate veterans.
Maybe it's only within the military community
but the name for the war/deployments in Iraq were referred to and Operation Iraqi Freedom (or OIF). I deployed to Iraq from Feb 2004 through Mar 2005, which would have been OIF II.
Well, there was a reason they didn't call it Operation Iraqi Liberation, or OIL - that was a joke I heard time to time while I was still in the military.
You don't give people freedom, you liberate them.
and another thing
I look at the "awards" I received for my combat action not as good things. In fact, when I received them, I was very upset at them. To me, they cheapen my experiences and the loss of life associated therein. It's kind of like "oooh you killed someone! lets give you a pretty shiny sticker!"
Using the avatar that I do use (the Bronze Star Medal) to me, demonstrates a quick visual validity to my stories of the war. Not that I believe that the opinions of a veteran are more important than those of a non veteran, but when I'm talking about how terrible war is, I think it has a little bit more of a bite as I've actually been through it.
By the way, I am an actual recipient of a Bronze Star (not that I'm trying to brag, I just don't want to come accross as something that I'm not).
I don't know how anyone in the military could vote for this guy
Knowing full well that this guy dodged the draft and spent his time in France while peers were in Vietnam, I don't see how anyone in the military could think he is a "leader" fit to be in the position to deploy Soldiers to war - especially not a war with Iran like he is advocating we do.
Could you imagine this guy wearing SSG rank and acting as a Squad Leader or wearing 1LT rank and acting as a Platoon Leader in combat, let alone acting as the leader of our Country in war? I just couldn't picture this guy (or George W.) slinging a rifle, 210 rounds, 4 grenades and body armor and going on a dismounted Infantry patrol in a combat zone. Yeah, I realize that mittens is old now, but while his peers were putting their lives on the line (either voluntarily or otherwise) in combat mittens didn't have the spine to face it. Now he wants us to hand over the reigns to the most powerful military the world has ever seen so that he can charge full steam ahead to a war with Iran. Yup, mittens, the guy who didn't have the courage to face combat in Vietnam is definitely the best candidate for the job 
Don't forget Iraq
There was a lot of pretending going on there too, like the imaginary link between Sadam Hussein and Al Queda and the weapons of mass destruction they made believe were there. Oh, and remember how Jorge W. claimed "mission accomplished" in 2003 before the insurgency kicked into full gear? There was a lot of pretending going on there.
I'd like to pretend that Iraq never happened...
One more thing
Xchrom, thanks.
------------
I know that nobody is insinuating anything here, but as a guy who participated in the war first hand in can assure you that this isn't at all what I wanted to do when I went to Iraq. The majority of the Soldiers weren't there to kill as many people as they could and to posion the cities. I know that this is the same excuse that the Nazi's used when they faced their war crimes, but I was just following orders - trust me it is hard for me to accept that and I'm deeply sorry for what happened in Iraq.
I was almost in Fallujah (i.e. Operation Phantom Fury)
I know it is kind of off topic, but I'm kind of drawn to anything to do with the war like a moth.
It was billed as a Marine operation, but responsibility for the spear head and the eastern portion of the city was given to 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (3 BDE / 1 ID). The unit within the brigade that was actually assigned to be the point of the assault was my company. Fortunately for me, my platoon (there are 3 platoons in a company) was attached to another unit at the time and I wasn't anywhere near Fallujah during Operation Phantom Fury. Instead, I was hanging out in another crap hole on the other side of Baghdad guarding a power transmission station that provided 1/3 of the electricity to the city.
My boss CPT Sean Sims and my next door neighbor and good friend 1LT Edward Iwan were killed there not to mention several other Soldiers from my unit. The stories that everyone was telling us about the combat in Fallujah was chilling. Like what I saw in some of the firefights that I was a part of in Baqubah, the combatants knew they were going to die and fought to the death. Many of them were taking meth and other drugs. Kind of like in the movies, these guys would get shot and still keep coming at you. Another of my good friends was a Platoon Leader for one of the platoons that was invovled and he told me stories about how they were having problems with suicide bombers. People would surrender and then blow themselves up on us. To deter that, people who wanted to surrender had to completely strip at a distance. If they didn't strip, they were shot.
Because of the intensity of the fighting and the way that buildings were occupied, unoccupied, and then needed to be taken again, there was no recovery of the non-American dead until after the operation. Operation Phantom Fury went on for several days and I heard that the stench of dead bodies was out of control. My buddy told me that it was unnerving to drive a tracked vehicle down the street and to run over one of these dead bodies and grind it up in the track pads (it wasn't done intentionally). Also they said that they would be eating in proximity of some of the dead and flies, presumably that were just munching on the dead a few meters away, would come land in their food like a housefly does.
I'm not at all envious that I wasn't there, although I remember some of my subordinates were.
I've read several articles about the birth defects and I've even seen a documentary about it. I'm well aware of the long-term effects. Unfortunately, and I cite this statistic all the time on this forum, the ratio of civilians killed in war to Soldiers killed in war in the 20th century is 10:1 (I can post a reference if anyone is interested, but do a search on wikipedia for civilian casualty ratio). There is a reason the military doesn't keep track of civilian dead from the wars in the middle east. The American people would be shocked to know the full extent of how many civilian men, women, and children were killed. My platoon was credited (I'm not trying to make it sound positive) will killing 46 people and I lost track of how many we wounded during the year I was in Iraq. I don't even want to think about how many of those were civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Profile Information
Member since: Wed Aug 15, 2012, 02:17 PMNumber of posts: 3,557
