Bryan W. Alaspa 1The day to remember
November 11th 2009 14:20
It takes a lot of guts to join the military. What is interesting is that the people who have spent time there often shrug and say things like, “Hey, it’s just a job.” Really? I sit at a desk all day and type on a computer at my job. At no point do I need to dress up in armor, wear a helmet, carry a gun, or wonder what that thing on the side of the road might be and if it might explode in my face if I look at it too closely. Even if we were not at war, my job still would not require me to operate military equipment of any kind, do drills, or carry that weapon.
Even when this country is not embroiled in war, it takes guts to join the military. Sometimes we forget that branches of our military help out when disasters hit, for example. They are placed in dangerous situations all the time and they do it because they feel a sense of duty and obligation. Sure, there are a lot of them, I am sure, who join because they feel they have no other option or just to get scholarship money to eventually go to college, but every person from the military I have ever met comes out with that sense of duty.
For those serving, it doesn’t matter what political party they claim to be a part of. It doesn’t matter if they agree with the person in the White House or his or her policies. It doesn’t matter if they agree with the war or the action that they are involved in. They do their jobs and they do them well and they do them because that is what a soldier does.
I have met a few vets in my day. I remember the janitor from my high school who came in and spoke to my history class when we were studying World War Two. He had fought in the Pacific. He told stories of throwing grenades into small openings in caves and hearing the men inside screaming. These were people not much older than he was, but it was war, and that was what had to be done. I remember him tearing up remembering, and hoping that those of us in class would never have to fight.
I remember the Vietnam vet with the shock of white hair talking about interrogating Vietnamese prisoners. I remember him telling about how he put a gun against the head of one prisoner, in front of the other, and pulled the trigger. With a shaking voice he said the other prisoner immediately began talking and that the information gained was used to save other soldiers. Then he talked about how he could not set foot in a church because when he looked up at the cross with Christ on it, he saw the faces of men he had killed and not the statue.
Given the recent tragedy at Fort Hood we are all-too horribly reminded that even when our men and women in the military are at home they might still be in danger. It is a sad reminder of how messed up the world has become these days. It is a shocking reminder of how fanaticism can appear anywhere.
Today is a day to thank those who are serving and have served and it doesn’t matter when they served. If you served, I thank you. If you know someone who did, then thank them. It seems like words that are too small, but they are conveyed with feeling and truthfulness. Thank you.
Even when this country is not embroiled in war, it takes guts to join the military. Sometimes we forget that branches of our military help out when disasters hit, for example. They are placed in dangerous situations all the time and they do it because they feel a sense of duty and obligation. Sure, there are a lot of them, I am sure, who join because they feel they have no other option or just to get scholarship money to eventually go to college, but every person from the military I have ever met comes out with that sense of duty.
For those serving, it doesn’t matter what political party they claim to be a part of. It doesn’t matter if they agree with the person in the White House or his or her policies. It doesn’t matter if they agree with the war or the action that they are involved in. They do their jobs and they do them well and they do them because that is what a soldier does.
I have met a few vets in my day. I remember the janitor from my high school who came in and spoke to my history class when we were studying World War Two. He had fought in the Pacific. He told stories of throwing grenades into small openings in caves and hearing the men inside screaming. These were people not much older than he was, but it was war, and that was what had to be done. I remember him tearing up remembering, and hoping that those of us in class would never have to fight.
I remember the Vietnam vet with the shock of white hair talking about interrogating Vietnamese prisoners. I remember him telling about how he put a gun against the head of one prisoner, in front of the other, and pulled the trigger. With a shaking voice he said the other prisoner immediately began talking and that the information gained was used to save other soldiers. Then he talked about how he could not set foot in a church because when he looked up at the cross with Christ on it, he saw the faces of men he had killed and not the statue.
Given the recent tragedy at Fort Hood we are all-too horribly reminded that even when our men and women in the military are at home they might still be in danger. It is a sad reminder of how messed up the world has become these days. It is a shocking reminder of how fanaticism can appear anywhere.
Today is a day to thank those who are serving and have served and it doesn’t matter when they served. If you served, I thank you. If you know someone who did, then thank them. It seems like words that are too small, but they are conveyed with feeling and truthfulness. Thank you.
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