Drowned Rat
Captain
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
- Messages
- 3,070
The average age of someone enlisting in the military is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either. <br />
<br />He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, <br />pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has <br />a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to <br />be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and <br />roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm howitzzor. He is 10 or <br />15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working <br />or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. <br /><br />He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field <br />strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can <br />recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and <br />use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can <br />apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop or <br />stop until he is told to march. <br />
<br />He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without <br />spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of <br />fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens <br />full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but <br />never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own <br />clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you're thirsty, he'll share his water <br />with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition <br />with you in the midst of battle when you run low. <br /><br />He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like <br />they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that <br />is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the <br />pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering <br />and death than he should have in his short lifetime. <br />
<br />He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them. <br />He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat <br />and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate <br />through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning <br />desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, <br />remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, <br />far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. <br /><br />Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying <br />the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the <br />American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years. <br />
<br />He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. <br />Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration <br />with his blood. And now we even have woman over there in danger, <br />doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls <br />us to do so. As you go to bed tonight, remember this shot.. A short lull, <br />a little shade and a picture of loved ones in their helmets. <br />
