Does anyone want to hear this?

Does anyone want to hear this?

I think I will.

In ‘91 we cut through the fourth largest army in the world like a knife through butter. We killed T-72s at 4,800 meters using technology designed by the real “elite”, the kids that the “elite” used to beat up. We put missiles up their ass from ships 2,000 miles away. We scrambled all of their tactical communications, over a 75 mile area, from the back of a HUMVEE. It’s a lie that they didn’t fight back. They did. They just did it poorly. We smashed the Republican Guard in two hours. I was there. I had nothing to do with it though. I literally did nothing in that war other than shit in MRE bags and cuss and pray. It became correct to tell all your friends how our Army was made up of the very best of our society. Well, I was the “best of society” and I got knocked unconscious at 73 easting by a TOW missile that I failed to properly tie down. I cut the bottom off of my T-Shirts to wipe my ass with after I shit out the back of a Bradley. I cried like a fuking baby the first time I saw what happened on the Basra Highway. I am not kidding. I literally fell out of the back of a 113 and staggered around like an idiot weeping. I wish I had never, ever been in that horrible place. That was like a thousand years ago and I still cannot stand the smell of spoiled meat.

 

Does anyone want to hear this?

Last edited by eomrat; Today at 02:58 PM.

 

Does anyone want to hear this?

And for what it's worth, Doug, you probably did what other, young men did in times of war, whether you were in the thick of it or not. I've never been in the military so perhaps I should recuse myself from this conversation but from what I've read, all I've heard from guys who were there and did that, it is a total psychological mind-**** for someone who's probably never been out of the USA in his/her life to be suddenly thrust into that kind of situation. I can only imagine, and to those who have been there and done that, I'll say this:

--You may not have had the world's best education, but you learned to do things with an engine or rifle I could never do.
--You may not be the most PC among us but in a wartime sitch, PC goes out the window for the most part. If you valued the life of the citizenry, did not kill them, did not abuse children or rape the women, then that is as PC as you're going to get in this kind of war.
--You did your job. You may not have liked doing it, may have hated the place you were sent to, may have hated killing the enemy, but you did it.

--This point is the most contentious. If you're seeking absolution in some way, I cannot give that to you. That is something you must do for yourselves.

And I thank you, Doug, you and all the others for doing what you do.

 

Does anyone want to hear this?

I am not seeking absolution. I just wanted to tell a story that I thought some folk might have wanted to hear.