“Are you pro-war or pro-peace?” was the first question that came out of the mouth of one of the war protesters as I explained that I was there to talk to them about their presence on a major intersection here in Huntsville, AL. I explained that I’m a Soldier, I hate war and love peace. But, I also recognize that peace comes at a price. It went downhill from there.
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This is probably the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. General Petraeus is the man! There’s really no other way to describe it. He’s a natural leader and it’s an honor to serve in the same Army he does.
U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general, Multinational Force Iraq, reenlisted 1,215 U.S. servicemembers from all over Iraq July 4, 2008, during a ceremony in the Al Faw Palace rotunda at Camp Victrory in Baghdad. Photo by MNF-I Public Affairs
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by Michael Marks
The sun beat like a hammer, not a cloud was in the sky.
The mid-day air ran thick with dust, my throat was parched and dry.
With microphone clutched tight in hand and cameraman in tow,
I ducked beneath a fallen roof, surprised to hear “stay low.”
My eyes blinked several times before in shadow I could see,
the figure stretched across the rubble, steps away from me.
He wore a cloak of burlap strips, all shades of grey and brown,
that hung in tatters till he seemed to melt into the ground.
He never turned his head or took his eye from off the scope
but pointed through the broken wall and down the rocky slope.
“About eight hundred yards,” he said, his whispered words concise,
“beneath the baggy jacket he is wearing a device.”
A chill ran up my spine despite the swelter of the heat,
“You think he’s gonna set it off along the crowded street?”
The sniper gave a weary sigh and said “I wouldn’t doubt it,”
“unless there’s something this old gun and I can do about it.”
A thunderclap, a tongue of flame, the still abruptly shattered;
while citizens that walked the street were just as quickly scattered.
Till only one remained, a body crumpled on the ground,
The threat to oh so many ended by a single round.
And yet the sniper had no cheer, no hint of any gloat,
instead he pulled a logbook out and quietly he wrote.
“Hey, I could put you on TV, that shot was quite a story!”
But he surprised me once again — “I got no wish for glory.”
“Are you for real?” I asked in awe, “You don’t want fame or credit?”
He looked at me with saddened eyes and said “you just don’t get it.”
“You see that shot-up length of wall, the one without a door?
Before a mortar hit, it used to be a grocery store.”
“But don’t go thinking that to bomb a store is all that cruel,
the rubble just across the street — it used to be a school.
The little kids played soccer in the field out by the road,”
His head hung low, “They never thought a car would just explode.”
“As bad as all this is though, it could be a whole lot worse,”
He swallowed hard, the words came from his mouth just like a curse.
“Today the fight’s on foreign land, on streets that aren’t my own,
I’m here today ’cause if I fail, the next fight’s back at home.”
“And I won’t let my Safeway burn, my neighbors dead inside,
don’t wanna get a call from school that says my daughter died;
I pray that not a one of them will know the things I see,
nor have the work of terrorists etched in their memory.”
“So you can keep your trophies and your fleeting bit of fame,
I don’t care if I make the news, or if they speak my name.”
He glanced toward the camera and his brow began to knot,
“If you’re looking for a story, why not give this one a shot.”
“Just tell the truth of what you see, without the slant or spin;
that most of us are OK and we’re coming home again.
And why not tell our folks back home about the good we’ve done,
how when they see Americans, the kids come at a run.”
You tell ‘em what it means to folks here just to speak their mind,
without the fear that tyranny is just a step behind;
Describe the desert miles they walk in their first chance to vote,
or ask a soldier if he’s proud, I’m sure you’ll get a quote.”
He turned and slid the rifle in a drag bag thickly padded,
then looked again with eyes of steel as quietly he added;
“And maybe just remind the few, if ill of us they speak,
that we are all that stands between the monsters and the weak.”
Michael Marks January 25, 2006
I wrote a little about my experiences flying TO DC earlier. It was a very frustrating experience. However, on the way back, things weren’t so bad.
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The Berzerkeleys are at it again. In a recent editorial in the Berkeley Daily Planet former Berzerkeley Councilmember Mark McDonald slanders military recruiters and leaders. He presents three fallacies that I’d like to correct him on.
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“In the last 7 years, have you consulted with a mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, etc.) or have you consulted with another health care provider about a mental health related condition? If you answered “Yes,” provide the dates of treatment and the name and address of the therapist or doctor below…”
This is one of the questions on Standard Form 86, the security clearance questionnaire for national security positions. It is used as a basis for granting access to classified government information and determining one’s allegiance and suitability for such sensitive positions.
But, until recently, Question 21 above posed a morale dilemma for many Soldiers about whether or not to seek the help they sorely needed.
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Okay, so I couldn’t liveblog the VOTH event like I had planned. I learned something the past few days: the more you pay (or Vets For Freedom pays) for a hotel, the more expensive the extras become. The Sheraton National Hotel where we stayed wanted $9.95 per day for internet access!! In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a cheap homie! I ain’t paying ta blog. Heck, I don’t even get paid to blog!
Instead, I opened up my Microsoft Word and began typing away. Below is my after action review of the Vets For Freedom, “Vets On The Hill” event. I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I loved living it!!
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The headlines are all the same, just worded differently:
Pentagon says no link between Iraq and Al Qaeda
Pentagon Report Finds No Direct Saddam-al-Qaida Connection
Hussein’s Iraq and al Qaeda not linked, Pentagon says
Pentagon Report Fails to Link Saddam, Al-Qaida
There two types of reporters in the MSM these days: lazy and agenda-driven! If it weren’t for “executive summaries” the media would never have anything to report.
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No, the two aren’t related - as far as I know. These are two issues that have been on my mind lately and I don’t feel like writing two separate posts about it.
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I’m not one to normally complain about the Army. I take it all in with a grain of salt realizing the Army is just a huge bureaucracy and move along. I love the Army. I love everything about it. I love the discipline; I love the order; I love the opportunities; I love the benefits.
But, I don’t love it when the Army gets completely stupid and loses its identity:
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