Having served and survived I have empathy for those who also did
Memorial Day focuses on death and physical injury. Some folk also understand PTSD. What is almost never mentioned is the universal damage military service does to people. You hear that it "builds character" and similar excuses for the harm it does.
To see what I am getting at you have to step out of the box they put us all in. War has been with us since the country began and it is no wonder that it is a basis for our culture.
But what is the naked reality of war when you strip away politics and propaganda? War is one group of human beings killing another or being killed by them. You can not escape that basic truth no matter how hard you try to justify it with one argument or another.
Entering the military changed me as a human being. It changes all who participate. Being trained for combat makes it more clear but non-combatants are also part of the system of killing. I was a USMC officer which means I received infantry training for combat. That gets taken so lightly by society yet it is the thing that changes us forever. I was taught to kill other human beings and it changed me forever. Nothing could be more horrible yet it is taken lightly and almost like a sport.
So as you think about war on this day think about what has been done to so many human beings in the name of "love of country" and other forms of "patriotism". There is a lot to think about here.
Comments
WWII infantry service left my dad with PTSD. He gained
rank by attrition ending as a sergeant. The experience never left him. I never knew the person he was before the war.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Thank you for taking the time
Thank you for taking the time to share this thought with us all Don. I too went through US Army training and learned to use the tools of death. Worse, they had us pretty glibly joking about my other training, which was to prepare a Nuclear warhead on a truck mounted missile for launch into Eastern Europe or Western Soviet Union at the time.
I got some e-mail from Senator Connelly asking us to stop and thank veterans everyday, not just today for their service protecting our freedom. My first thought was Free-dumb, since today they have us all twisted around conflating our personal freedoms with corporate freedom to ransack any nation they desire, further doing harm to our fellow humans, our eco-system, and hence speeding the demise of all we know.
So many folks bother a veteran with the "Thank you for your service" without any idea what that put a veteran through either in combat or not, and what memories that may actually trigger in a veteran. I was not in a war zone, but every time we heard the klaxon go off, we never knew until the colored hats arrived as to whether it was real or just another practice run for that prepping I mentioned for the missiles to launch. "Could this be the day we all go up in mushroom clouds? and what have we done?" started to go through my head towards the end.
They do like having our heads all twisted up inside to allow the masses to think little of war and what it really does, what it is all about, and how bad it really is. Doesn't matter what or why they want war, what matters is they themselves don't care as long as it is others who do it for them.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
Don, you made your point well
At least I think I understand it. One doesn't have to be in combat. It requires just the inhumane training people to kill other people--and that alone is a life-changer.
Perhaps we should tell veterans "thank you for your perseverance" in coming through the dehumanizing experience a good, moral person. Many, saddled with PTSD, will probably never regain what battle cost them.
right /nt
https://www.euronews.com/live
Someone please correct me if I am wrong.
I'm sure we have plenty of vets if not active military on this site who can confirm or deny what I've come to understand.
Basic training is when they empty you out. You lose who you are, and then they fill you up with what they want you to be. They break you down, make you not want to be who you are, and then they build you up their way.
Is that true?
@gustogirl
Yes, that is exactly what they do as well as teach the use of the weapons. I saw the question un-answered, so sorry Alligator for stepping in.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
Pretty much, yeah
And if you break under the pressure, or can't be emptied out enough to conform, they throw you away without a second thought.
Don't ask me how I know.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
@TheOtherMaven
But yes, you do know based on what you posted. Amazing how many folks they turn out like this. And no process to "re-civilianize" us.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
I had the nerves to visit my son in Lackland, TX, when
he had finished basic training (end of 2000). He behaved like an automated tin soldier marching empowered by a battery (like the pink bunnies) along the side walks of that base. I was pretty shocked. But then they had already done their good deeds of emptying him out, as you say. He was filled up in the following six months technical training and fogged his mind in the next year on his base in Montana. (literally he filled himself up starting to drink sixpacks of beer ... )
I think somehow the fact that he was deployed to Iraq in March 2003 and that he cleaned up steely debris of the trade towers in NYC before, undid all the previous refills before. He broke only much later, when his then girlfriend and finance left him for a "better educated man". That did the rest.
Of course there was more than that, but it's always an accumulation of several things, not just one or two.
I don't like to be reminded of all of it.
https://www.euronews.com/live
smoking
I learned to smoke in my stint in the navy.At boot camp they used tobacco as a reward for good conduct,if the company did well on drills etc we were rewarded with extra "smoke and coke time".The barracks at Great Lakes training center (boot camp)were set up with 2 huge halls with 90 beds each room and in each room was a company.Between the large rooms there was a small room that was used and shared by both companys as a break room the ONLY room recruits were allowed to smoke.Imagine 180 men packed into a small room all chain smoking windows closed,the smoke would be so thick you couldnt see 10 feet.This room had 2 soda machines and some couchs and it was also the only place you could lounge and rest,you were never allowed to sit or lie on your bunk before tapps at night so just about everyone used this lounge.It was called the (smoke&coke) room it was here I had my 1st cigarette 50 years ago.I learned all the pleasures of the habit here,how smoking eased stress I learned to LOVE smoking in this room.And its just what the US NAVY wanted smoking was a way to control hearts and minds of recruits a tool used to brainwash.And the co commander used this tool as punishment if 1 man fucked up in the company ALL 90 would be docked time in the (smoke&coke)room.US NAVY boot camp is not like other services bootcamps NAVY bootcamp is not too physical its more mental,they get you ready for long periods of time being couped up in a small place they stress small details to get you ready for shipboard life.And smoking was a part of shipboard life.Smoking has ruined my life it has ruined my health,I have quit hundreds of times I have tried everything I CANT QUIT!I am like a crazy man when I try to quit its all I think about.Its killing me day by day.Thats my Vet story
DW
My Dad's smoking started in the guards
His work career was in a dirty industry which accelerated the lung damage. In his later years he had both severe lung and cardiac issues. He tried everything to try and quit smoking. None of these worked cold turkey, gradual decrease, avoided stimulants (coffee) to decrease cravings, hypnosis, nicotine gum & patches and other Rx drugs. As you well know the list of methods goes on and on.
In his mind he never quit. Would correct any health professional that called him an ex-smoker. His last attempt at cutting down was identifying the times he smoked by habit without thinking vs wanting a cigarette. He focused on the habit where he lite a cig before giving it a thought. He only smoked when he made a conscious choice to lite the cigarette and enjoy the effects. He simply did not have a reason to have a smoke at the present moment in time for 3 years.
He was mainly using nicotine as a medical treatment for stress relief and anxiety as the first option. Play ball with the dog, breathing exercises, listen to music, each person needs to find their own methods to reduce and avoid the reasons they smoke.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
The military turned my beloved nephew into an asshole
and, I believe, is what caused his divorce from a woman who was a Saint. But even she had her limits. Now their beautiful daughter is shuffled between their homes every week. I had to unfriend him on Facebook because I couldn't stand his Trump love and gun worship anymore. We used to spend a lot of time with him(them) but now we don't see any of them anymore. It's sad.
O.k. When is the next meeting for the revolution?
-FuturePassed on Sunday, November 25, 2018 10:22 p.m.
Army here, and yes, Basic is all about emptying
you out and refilling you with their mind set. I never saw combat and didn't think I ever would. And I HATED the war training stuff - throwing grenades and ambushing bunkers, yuk, I just never liked that stuff. There were lots though who really did like that and since we were all female in the mid 80's we knew we'd never do it for real.
There was also an attitude by some towards those of us who openly admitted all we wanted was the college money, like you were somehow not worthy of military service because you didn't want to fight a war.
When my ex husband went to Saudi for Gulf One, he actually said to me that he was finally "getting his war," after which we did have a nice fight about how "great" that was for him while I had to sit home and wait to see what happened. God I was mad that night. That said though, he knew as well as I did what that war was about, he just wanted to see how he'd do I guess. He never saw combat but did have to examine some Iraqi dead for "intelligence" on something like the Highway of Death. He didn't want to talk about that when he came home and we never did.
I did my 4, got out and used every dime of that college money.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
thanks
thanks for you suggestions on quitting Im gonna give it another try.Is that a purple columbine flower in the picture next to your name?I planted some this spring and I couldnt get over the whacked out look of that flower.They look like something from outer space
DW
Mariposa lily - a local wildflower
I have patch that grows in dryland near the irrigation head-gate. I am very careful not to allow grazing animals in the area.
Columbine do look strange, probably why they have always been a favorite.
Just focus on one cig, each one you avoid is a benefit. I am glad you are working to benefit yourself.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.