..... back when I was just a little guy, my mother and father insisted that I attend church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night........ pertinent thoughts on their part, I reckon.... they were, after all, trying hard to make sure that I was not brought up a heathen...... and I don't really see that it ever did me any harm.........
....... but having said that, I did not enjoy getting up every Sunday and trudging off to church...... it was a bother at the time, and it still is to this day........ and being a member of the local Church of God community, well, their doctrine most certainly was not Methodist.... or Baptist....... good god, we were like Baptists on steroids with a stash of HGH hidden in those leather folders on the back of every pew.......
.... and if I want to be truly honest about it, hell, twenty miles from where I am typing this there are Church of God folks handling serpents in the shadows of the Appalachians......... not that there is anything wrong with serpent-handling, per se, but it just isn't MY bag.......... so it is completely safe to say that my early religious upbringing was more than just a little strict............ and while I have not followed their doctrines as an adult, I DID do something that shaped my life early on because it felt like the 'right thing to do'....... so, I enlisted - along with my best friend, Mike - at the age of 11 and 12 respectively.........
.... it was after the bombing in Beirut that we both ripped out advertisements from separate magazines that our middle-school's library held, mailed them off, and enlisted in the Marine Corps......... we were pissed at the current state of affairs...... and did a serious amount of nail-biting before we finally heard back from some Colonel in DC who rejected our applications......... it didn't work, of course, since we were both woefully underage, but we tried........... and we were both very sincere.... both before AND afterwards......
.... so the question remains about where I am going with this line of awful screed.....and I agree....... I am going nowhere......
.... but the Missus switched a channel over this evening after dinner and settled on "The Sands of Iwo Jima" for a bit........ just up until the point where John Wayne got shot, actually....... and we started a bit of a conversation about it.......
.... she watched a bit of the film..... and she could easily discern which was real combat footage and which was Hollywood...... and after a few minutes, she looked at me and said, "my god, how horrible!"......
.... that, I think, is what struck me the most....... the "my god, how horrible".......
..... and that is what brings me to the crux of tonight's rambling........
..... I remember sitting on a hardwood pew in that god-fearing church and listening to a Marine Corps veteran talk about Guadalcanal one Sunday morning...... he stood up and began 'testifying' about how God had protected him, how God had saved him, and how he now owed his life to God....... the whole congregation was moved by it..... he was old, eloquent, violently grey, and completely satisfied in everything that he said.....
.... he mentioned that he'd spent the night of his 16th birthday manning a .30 caliber machine gun by a river on Guadalcanal facing 'human waves'........ can you imagine that for a minute?.... 'human waves'.... in the dark?...... in a steaming, insect ridden jungle?....... at freshly 16?........ and he went on to talk about how he'd mown them down..... right there in the dark by that river....
..... I doubt that I ever viewed religion, life, politics, history, or the Marine Corps the same since I heard him speak that day....... but six years later, I was off to bootcamp.....
.... I look at where we are today, and I cannot forget about that man that I knew so many years ago...... can you imagine?...... Guadalcanal....... Human Waves......... The Jungle....... it just absolutely blows my mind...
.... and then I look to my relatives who served at Siapan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Tarawa, Pelieu, and The Battle of The Bulge........ and the others?.... Hue, Danang, Phu Bhia, Khe Sahn, Phu Loc, and 881....... Monkey Mountain.... Highway 1.......
.... what was it that drove my old friend to enlist at 15 years of age back in 1941?..... love of county?..... pride?..... anger?....... or did he just want to serve his county?....... did he just want an 'out'?.... an adventure?.........
....... I just don't know...... but I do know that these people are my family, my friends, and my ancestors....... and I honor them.........
..... I guess the real question is, who will stand up in the future and take their places?.....
.... I know that there will be folks who will stand up and be counted..... I do....... there will always be those people...... but tonight, I am tired...... and I am lonely........ and I wish that I could sit down and have a drink with my long-dead Grandpa............ he could make a mess of fried potatoes that were the ultimate comfort food.......
Eric, I'm not as old as the old man you remember, although my hair is becoming more and more grey, and my war was a little later, but still a jungle even though I flew over it. The feeling of loneliness comes to us all after we leave the company of men (and women) who are united in a commitment to freedom and duty to country on a daily basis, but rest assured that the same spirit still lives on today, and not just in the hearts of veterans, but in many good and decent people. They, and we, have a duty to speak of that spirit, to show by our actions that we will stand up for the freedoms, granted by God, protected by our Constitution.. ....sometimes forgotten by our fellows in their desire for safety or security.... never realizing that as ol' Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
Thomas Jefferson once said that "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
And might I add, "of traitors".
I'm not advocating Violence here, but we would do well commit ourselves to the destruction of thought and ideas that are contrary to the concept of Life, Liberty and Property. (Yes, I know the words used were 'pursuit of happiness') We can do that by living so as to show everyone we come in contact with, even those whose who might oppose us, the superiority of right principals over destructive ones. We must never let ourselves be defeated by the Mob of democracy. Rather we must commit ourselves to the rule of Law, which even despots must bow to.
It's easy to forget that while the results of the elections seem to speak ill for the majority of people today.......there were many who did not take advantage of the right to speak up for their rights to Liberty. We have not had in a long time, if ever, the total number of voters exercise their right to vote. If we ever do, we might be more pleasantly surprised.
Regardless, I will not surrender....tempting though it may be. And if it takes my blood to water the Liberty Tree....... so be it, they can have it, if they can take it.
I thank you for your service to our country..
....... not only in the Marines, but as a citizen exercising your franchise in the voting booth.
God Bless America (he will, but only if we do the work first)
Bullshitted by kdzu on November 5, 2008 10:36 PMI spoke with my Grandpa many times about his Baptism-by-fire during the Battle of the Bulge.
Dropped in from a replacement depot he joined Patton's army on a recon mission to scout the Nazi lines. Imagine your first foray into the fire-fight and then imagine the Bulge. Band of Brothers indeed.
His baptism, unimaginable to me, is not the grist of this. It is his serving that is. I asked him why one time and his answer was simple. "It was my duty."
In short, I believe your grandfather would say to you what you already know. "It was my duty."
Just like you found it to be your duty.
You know, I just hope that someday we get to a point beyond which there are no more wars and no more hatred.
Bullshitted by DogsDontPurr on November 5, 2008 11:48 PMA hope that has been with us for a long time. There is a quote that is argued as to whether Plato actually said it "Only the dead have seen the end of war" truth is truth no matter the one who first said it.
Bullshitted by Rey B on November 6, 2008 08:41 AMLooked in but haven't commented in sometime. It appears now would be good.
We all joined for different reasons. Some good, some frivolous. But join we did. Some "did their time" (as they saw it)and returned to civilian life, perhaps realizing later those few years given to the company of men and a sworn oath were worth far more then they thought at that time. Others served as long as was allowed. Still others gave that "last full measure of devotion", now resting easy in the coolness of the meadow.
There will always be those who answer the call. Each in their own way, each in their own time. As it was in the time of the Centurion, so shall it be now and forever. For as long as humanity survives there will be sheep, and wolfs ... and sheep dogs.
For what it is worth, you are always welcome to grace my doorstep if you ever get up to this side of the Mason-Dixon line. I also miss the comradeship, the esprit de corps, the call to arms.
Now it is a younger generation who answers the call. At some future time, they will be where we are now. Looking for understanding eyes. Eyes which have seen what they've seen. Feet which have walked where they walked. And you will be one pair of those eyes. So it goes ever on.
Bullshitted by Guy S on November 6, 2008 02:52 PMThanks Eric - this one really moved me - to tears even. God Bless you all and thank you for your service.
Bullshitted by Carmen on November 6, 2008 04:42 PMA post only the one and only Eric could write. Beautiful, my friend.
Bullshitted by Elisson on November 6, 2008 09:30 PMI was trying to think of something profound to write, but I think I will second Elisson.
Bullshitted by Teresa on November 6, 2008 10:10 PM