Goddamn but I am tired.
I’m tired of my fellow servicemen dying.
I’m tired of phony optimism.
I’m tired of feeling like a pawn in someone’s sick game.
I’m tired of universal revulsion.
Mostly, I’m tired of being tired of everything.
That day cannot come soon enough. When it does, I will have the mother of all rants. Until then, I will leave it to you to interpret this as you will.
-Dave
Anything we can send you? (Got some grits and pecan pies and stuff-)
I’m tired of them dying too, although I appreciate what all of you do because you have to.
No sunshine here for your ass.
Hang in there, and keep yourself and as many of your mates safe as you can.
(Even if y’all are one of them silly flyboys.)
As if this will end the moment the next president puts her hand on the Bible…
I’m glad you’re tired of it. I’ve been tired of it for years.
I remembered the other day that about 8 or 9 years ago I contemplated joining the Armed Forces. Probably lucky I was too old for entry. They only wanted those they could reprogram (impressionable minds)
That’s the worst thing, though. I’m sitting at home working on my degree, even with a constant volunteer statement in, while my guys are doing what I should be doing over in the desert. My superiors feel that it is important that I finish my degree, so I’m essentially exempt from deployment. The shame of that is a bit overwhelming, but I can deal with that.
No, what I want is for this to be OVER. My God, now I know what my uncle went through in Vietnam, and I had it easy. I got shot at a few times. Big deal. I came home. Why, now, four years later, am I being consumed by survivors’ guilt?
Damn this war.
Well, that’s not going to happen regardless of what happens in the '08 election. So far Congress has continued to fund the war regardless of which party is in control. And the top Democratic presidential candidates refused to promise that we’d have troops out of Iraq by 2013.
Whether or not you agree with Henry Rollins’ political/worldview, I recommend you watch this clip of him speaking on this topic.
Damn.
This is going to sound cold-blooded. Hell, it is cold-blooded. But right now you’re where your superiors believe you can do the most good. Not, perhaps, in this conflict, but in the future. There’s an analogy that comes to mind: you can’t survive if you eat your seed corn.
Right now, you’re part of the Air Force’s seed corn.
It’s not comfortable. It’s also not something that you should blame yourself for. There is always going to be some situation that you could imagine yourself providing useful help for, no matter what’s going on. I guess my advice to you, now, is to try to cultivate some tunnel vision: Your duty is what lies before you, and you can best serve your comrades, and the Air Force, by doing your duty.
I remember four years ago I posted a thread asking how bad things could possibly get under another term of Bush. Lots of people told me I was overreacting and worrying about nothing…
I guess the things that have happened since were unimaginable at the time.
Have you read ‘Warlord’ by Ilario Pantano? The copy I had was loaned, otherwise I’d share.
I had a lot of quips to say here but, I understand.
Oh so rare it is find someone to follow into battle.
It was a given that one died per deployment. Heads up and it wasn’t you!
I feel your pain, Airman. As an ex-soldier fighting an unpopular, and in many eyes, an immoral war, I know the feeling of being a pawn. The day I realised I had been played was the day I decided that politics and politicians are to be avoided at all costs.
I’m not sure if the timeline you have quoted is Bush related, or the end of your service contract. But if I may be so bold as to offer some advice, get out of the military as soon as you can. You cannot control or even influence the decisions taken by the politicians. There is no guarantee that the next war will be one that you support. And there will be a next war, and another, and another.
The longer you feel like you are a pawn, the more frustrated and angry you become. And that’s not a good thing - not for you, and not for the people around you, especially those you care about.
As much as I’d like it to be so, a change of administration won’t change this.
Having been on the ground here for a little while, we need to be here for a long time hence. I try every day to make this country a better place, and hopefully I’ll succeed. Having said that, I’m only here for one year, but will leave a path for my successor.
Exactly. What you’ve seen with a change to a Democratic Congress is similar to what you’ll see with a change to a Democratic President.
The time the Airman says is the time till out-of-office. I only know because it’s just past 1 year 1 month 1 week 1 day, and an yutz elsewhere threw a party.
Let’s not get too political here.
In pure parliamentary terms, that’s not true. A Democratic President is unlikely to veto (or threaten to veto) bills sent to the White House by a Democratic Congress. Without that veto sitting there, a regular majority in the House and a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate can pass any bill they like. You may recognize this setup from the early days of Bush 43, when he went something like three years without vetoing a single bill.
In foreign policy terms, the worldwide perception of America is so closely linked to Bush that any new President – no matter which party – will be entitled to something of a fresh start. Those who would like to be our allies again will extend cautious conciliatory gestures, and those who don’t will either bluster about outlasting Bush or shut up and keep building missiles.
Now, in terms of the willpower to effect change, well… yeah. Time will tell, but historically it’s “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” (Aside: can you believe that Gore used that as a campaign song in 2000?)
Airman Doors, it’s times like these that the enlistment oath and those trite-sounding Core Values make a difference. Read them again (as if you didn’t know them by heart) and remember that you are working for something bigger. When the next President raises his or her right hand, they will need a military to accomplish some of their goals, and that military is going to need folks like you.
Wow, I see what you did there. “Her hand.” Very clever.
Butting in where I have no business, but what the hell.
What you feel is totally common, I know men of my own generation who felt the same, and still do. Only the shallow and unfeeling are immune. Cold comfort farm.
You want back in, you want to help your buddies, you feel that obligation. I won’t argue with that, though I might question it.
But you’re a family dog now, you have another set of obligations that, in my not remotely humble opinion, totally supercede any other set of obligations. In the words of A.E. Housman…
“Get you the sons your fathers got
And God will save the Queen.”
Peace be wth you, and yours. And me, and mine.