the idea that all the "volunteer" soldiers are by default supporting the war efforts and deployments, they are sent into. There are lots of soldiers, who know when or if the war they are sent into fighting is unreasonable and unjust. They sacrifice not only with their bodies, but also their sane intelligence, because they have to suppress their thoughts and feelings, being contractually bound to obey. These sacrifices are mostly on the emotional and psychological level and they are almost never acknowledged by the public.

If a Veteran speaks out angrily, they come up with a lot of psychological bubble blah blah (PTSD etc) and often increase the pains by ignoring that the wounds come from having been ordered to fight in unjust and aggressive wars and against civilians that have done nothing wrong. So they are forced into actions that were by no means what they were told they would be, especially not noble and not honorable either.

You have to have visible wounds, disabilities that anyone with eyesight in tact, can understand. Then most people still hesitate to bombard the Veteran with "yeah, ... but you (were so dumb) to volunteer.

The IGTN group on the gos may have had some meaning in the very early years of 2004-2005, after that it became a mechanical thingy. You express some "empathy" and "condolences" in appropriate manners, more for making yourself feeling less guilty than anything else. It's the civil thing to have as a group over there. ... People, who enlisted in the later years, would have had the chance at least to think about what they would be asked to do in Iraq or Afghanistan. People, who enlisted in 2000 had no clue about what or who is GWBush all about and no imagination about an 9/11 terrorism event, nor could they have known what they then would be served with politically and with what kind of military response. Those volunteered because probably they needed a chance to have a job and get education benefits, they didn't volunteer to participate in dumb and unjust wars. They were thrown into it. It was nice to hear Obama say he is against dumb wars. So, he believes that to continue dumb wars would be "welcomed" by the future Veteran groups? I never understood why Obama didn't understand that he betrayed a lot of people, soldiers and Veterans especially and he can sweet talk all his reasons ad nauseam, they don't get any more convincing.

When reading your diary and what I mentioned here in the comment, I was counting how many German soldiers didn't volunteer and knew that Hitler's actions were the ones of a mad man at least by 1940. Of course everyone said, heh you are Nazis, so that's what you get for being a Hitler enabler (mostly being young boys and teenagers - big enablers - sure - how about calling them seduced and betrayed and used? And most of them hadn't a choice to go voluntarily (the "believers" joined the NSDAP and SS), but those who didn't were forced into military service by 1939. In any case, I counted a handful males in my parent's generation, who didn't volunteer and knew they were in the wrong war. They either died in the war and those who survived were very silent and in shock. But I remember my father once having said: "We were all betrayed and used". Nobody would accept that or believe a German saying that, so nobody said it. But it was true for some of Germany's soldiers, if you like it or not. Bystanding to the racism against the Jewish population is a more truthful and complex accusation and I don't want that to be misunderstood and mixed up, please.

And about self-censor .... I myself wasn't even aware of how much I censored myself. It became a burden and a conflict in my mind. I couldn't stand it anymore. So, I think it's good to be aware of one's self-censoring way of expressing oneself and stop doing it, when it means you deny yourself your opinions for the sake of others, who might not like them.

Thanks for the diary.