firstsgtmike
04-11-03, 08:28 AM
The day after Bagdad fell, I was enoying a beer with some ex-pat friends, Brit, Swiss, Dutch, and Aussie, several thousand miles away from the "war zone".
Questions were asked. I answered. "Damn Mike, you sound like a pacifist". "I am a pacifist." "But you were a Marine?" "Let's get something straight, I AM a Marine."
I could continue on, in a "he said, she said" style but its's easier if I change the format to a monologue.
I AM A PACIFIST!
I believe that anyone, in his right mind, who has been in combat, is also a pacifist. Pacifists prefer peace to war. Ask any warrior, would you rather be here today, or home with your wife and children?
Ignore, for a moment, the chances of your being killed or maimed, how was your day? Given a choice, is THIS what you would prefer doing, or do you feel that THIS is something that must be done?
A war-monger, sits behind a desk thousands of miles away from the "action", enjoys war, and does everything he can to cause or prolong it.
The pawns, given a job to do, want to get it over with as quickly as possible, and return to peaceful pursuits.
I've never met anyone who enjoyed being cooped up aboard ship for months at a time waiting for the word to kill.
I've never met anyone who enjoyed sleeping out in sandstorms or tropical monsoon storms, or with mosquitoes, leeches, sand crabs, and the like. Or, long hours, sleep deprivation, fungus, heat, cold, hunger, etc. when they could have been home sleeping with their wives. (ok jc, or their husbands).
There are times, when these things are necessary. But anyone, in their right mind, would prefer to limit their duration. And the proximate cause of this discomfort is subect to retaliation. Let's do it, get it over with, get out, and enjoy the peace of "home".
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall have peace. If anyone chooses to disturb my peace, I want to put a bullet between his eyes as quickly as possible so I can return to enjoying my peace.
There are times, for a variety of reasons, our peaceful pursuits are interrupted. We do whatever we have to do to remove the irritation, and return to our peaceful lives.
I am a pacifist. I hate it when I have to kill someone who threatens my peace.
Hopefully, I can make my point, and they will leave me alone. And hopefully, when my government delivers an "OR ELSE", the recipient will choose to leave me in peace, because I am a pacifist.
Questions were asked. I answered. "Damn Mike, you sound like a pacifist". "I am a pacifist." "But you were a Marine?" "Let's get something straight, I AM a Marine."
I could continue on, in a "he said, she said" style but its's easier if I change the format to a monologue.
I AM A PACIFIST!
I believe that anyone, in his right mind, who has been in combat, is also a pacifist. Pacifists prefer peace to war. Ask any warrior, would you rather be here today, or home with your wife and children?
Ignore, for a moment, the chances of your being killed or maimed, how was your day? Given a choice, is THIS what you would prefer doing, or do you feel that THIS is something that must be done?
A war-monger, sits behind a desk thousands of miles away from the "action", enjoys war, and does everything he can to cause or prolong it.
The pawns, given a job to do, want to get it over with as quickly as possible, and return to peaceful pursuits.
I've never met anyone who enjoyed being cooped up aboard ship for months at a time waiting for the word to kill.
I've never met anyone who enjoyed sleeping out in sandstorms or tropical monsoon storms, or with mosquitoes, leeches, sand crabs, and the like. Or, long hours, sleep deprivation, fungus, heat, cold, hunger, etc. when they could have been home sleeping with their wives. (ok jc, or their husbands).
There are times, when these things are necessary. But anyone, in their right mind, would prefer to limit their duration. And the proximate cause of this discomfort is subect to retaliation. Let's do it, get it over with, get out, and enjoy the peace of "home".
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall have peace. If anyone chooses to disturb my peace, I want to put a bullet between his eyes as quickly as possible so I can return to enjoying my peace.
There are times, for a variety of reasons, our peaceful pursuits are interrupted. We do whatever we have to do to remove the irritation, and return to our peaceful lives.
I am a pacifist. I hate it when I have to kill someone who threatens my peace.
Hopefully, I can make my point, and they will leave me alone. And hopefully, when my government delivers an "OR ELSE", the recipient will choose to leave me in peace, because I am a pacifist.