A Combat Veteran's Perspective

The following is from a former Marine who served both in Korea and Vietnam . . . . He is dead on . . . .

My Two Cents:


Okay, I have to say something about the Marine pissing incident.

Was it inappropriate?  Yes.  Would I have done it? 

Probably not.

Would I have done it when I was 19?  Maybe.  Were there times that I may have done it in Viet Nam if time permitted?  There is a good chance for “probably.”  I was 22 when I was there and was called the old man and pops.

We send kids a year out of high school to the worst hell holes on earth and expect them to behave better than they did at their senior prom.  So many Americans have lived for multiple generations with security at home that they can’t comprehend what goes on in other parts of the world.

“War is Hell” isn’t just something they say in the movies. 

First of all, you are exhausted all the time because you never sleep deeply.  Your body  is running on high idle even when you try to rest.  The places we send these kids stink from lack of sanitation.

There are bugs and mold and mildew and trash and human waste everywhere.

You are in some level of fear all the time.  You've seen buddies killed, maimed, and terribly wounded. You have seen, smelled,  heard, touched, and done things no sane person would ever want to do.

There is no script for war.  It is improv at its best.  Shit happens  and it happens fast.  A blind eye should be turned to many, many things.

We have no idea what led up to this incident.  Did these kids eat in  the past 24 hours?  Has they slept in the past 36 hours?  What did these Talabaners do?

War is about killing people and breaking their things.  We have forgotten how to fight.  You can’t win peoples hearts while shooting their  Uncle Fred.  We knock down a dung and stick shed, and then replace it with a $12,000,000 hospital!  Well who won that one?

This is how we need to fight.

1.  Go in, kick ass on those who pissed us off.

2.  Destroy their infrastructure.

3.  Go home when we are sure they won’t have the desire to screw with us again for at least two generations.

I hate war.  I’m glad my sons didn’t have to go to war.

In reference to current times, we will never win the hearts of  Muslims.  They don’t even like themselves, hate their own families and kill  their neighbors. So what chance do we stand?  The only course to follow is  to convince them that the cost of messing with the West is way too high.

Back to the pissing kids.  Slap their hands, tell them not to do it again, and don't to try to figure out how pissing is bad and killing is okay.

War really is HELL It sucks, smells bad, and is bad for your physical and mental health. Anyone who hasn't experienced it  shouldn't be allowed to just sit in his or her recliner watching CNN and pass judgmenton on these kids.

Semper Fi .