So I guess I should get PhotoShop so I can post pictures. I have Microsoft Photo Editor, and it pretty much sucks!
My weekend was once again devoted to family. I went down to Philly on Saturday, where we celebrated my cousin Brandon's 21st birthday. A week from Monday he returns to Iraq.
I last saw Brandon six months ago, and he is already a different person.
We stayed up 'til almost 6 am, eating, drinking, laughing, crying, more drinking... Singing into the dark night at the top of our lungs...
we met as soulmates
on Parris Inland
we left as inmates
from an asylum
and we were sharp
as sharp as knives
and we were so gung ho to lay down our lives.
we came in spastic
like tameless horses
we left in plastic
as numbered corpses
and we learned fast
to travel light
our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight
we had no homefront
we had no soft soap
they sent us playboy
they gave us bob hope
we dug in deep
and shot on sight
and prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might.
we had no cameras
to shoot the landscape
we passed the hash pipe
and played our Doors tapes
and it was dark..
so dark at night
and we held onto each other
like brother to bother
we promised our mothers we'd write
(chorus)
and we would all go down together
we said we'd all go down together
yes we would all go down together.
remember Charlie?
remember Baker?
they left their childhood
on every acre
and who was wrong,
and who was right?
it didn't matter in the thick of the fight,...
we held the day,..
in the palm of our hands
they ruled the night
and the night seemed to last as long as six weeks
on Parris Island
we held the coastline
they held the highland
and they were sharp
as sharp as knives
they heard the hum of the motors
they counted the rotors
and waited for us to arrive...
over and over. We threw in a few other songs too, for good measure...
At dusk we watched the bats stumble through the air, dancing erratically in search of dinner. At dawn we listened to the early birdsongs and sounds of the neighborhood awakening. Mostly we soaked up Brandon's presence, trying not to wonder if we would ever see him again.
Brandon doesn't believe in this war, and neither do ANY of his fellow soldiers. Which surprised me, since most of my family (at least the older generation) are Republicans and sport red-white-and-blue ribbons on the backs of their SUVs. But I am finding that the younger generation of our family are all liberal and have learned to question things, unlike their conservative friends who take what's fed to them at face value. Makes for interesting party conversation!
My cousin enlisted in the National Guard on 9-12-01. He was 17, and his mom had to co-sign the papers for him. (Now she is plagued with guilt over it.) He chose to enlist b/c he was furious with the terrorists and wanted to to what he could to defend the USA from future attacks. He wanted to go over into Afghanistan and hunt for Osama Bin Laden, but his mom felt he was too young for active duty in the Army and convinced him to join the National Guard. He did NOT want to go to Iraq to fight this bogus war. He still wants to go look for bin Laden, however. He believes the reasons for going to war were fabricated, data was manipulated, and the troops were/are political pawns. In short, that Americans are dying to further Bush's polical agenda.
He is the first soldier that I have really talked to about this. I am against this war, but I am safely ensconced in my own little world, far from the actual fighting, so it is easy for me to spout theories and indulge in administration-bashing. I have read articles about soldiers who also oppose the war, but I really thought most of the troops were in favor of it. Not so, according to my cousin. His friend Mike, who already did a year in Iraq, was also there. He feels the same way and said his entire unit did as well.
So why can't we send all the war supporters over to fight? There seem to be plenty out there! I mean, if they truly believe in this war, shouldn't THEY be the ones to put their lives on the line???
Sadly, Brandon's mom is a war supporter, and their divergent opinions have put quite a strain on their once close relationship. She insists he is fighting for our freedom. He laughs at that. He says that he looks at this as his job, and nothing more. He signed a contract and he will fulfill his obligation. Hopefully he will survive the ordeal, then move on.
His recruiter, a woman, stopped by the party. She has become friendly w/ Brandon's mom, my cousin Kim. When she walked in, Brandon said, "Here comes the big liar!"
Apparently, she got tired of "misleading" young men and has since retired from recruiting. I think the fact that several have been killed may have had something to do with it.
The whole thing makes me sad in such a deep, visceral way...
I have watched this kid grow up into such an amazing young man. He has overcome some pretty tough obstacles: born to a teenage mom, parents divorced when he was young, he and his mom were on welfare for a bit, his first sibling died... I can only hope and pray that he comes through all this alive and relatively unscathed...
--l*P
My weekend was once again devoted to family. I went down to Philly on Saturday, where we celebrated my cousin Brandon's 21st birthday. A week from Monday he returns to Iraq.
I last saw Brandon six months ago, and he is already a different person.
We stayed up 'til almost 6 am, eating, drinking, laughing, crying, more drinking... Singing into the dark night at the top of our lungs...
we met as soulmates
on Parris Inland
we left as inmates
from an asylum
and we were sharp
as sharp as knives
and we were so gung ho to lay down our lives.
we came in spastic
like tameless horses
we left in plastic
as numbered corpses
and we learned fast
to travel light
our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight
we had no homefront
we had no soft soap
they sent us playboy
they gave us bob hope
we dug in deep
and shot on sight
and prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might.
we had no cameras
to shoot the landscape
we passed the hash pipe
and played our Doors tapes
and it was dark..
so dark at night
and we held onto each other
like brother to bother
we promised our mothers we'd write
(chorus)
and we would all go down together
we said we'd all go down together
yes we would all go down together.
remember Charlie?
remember Baker?
they left their childhood
on every acre
and who was wrong,
and who was right?
it didn't matter in the thick of the fight,...
we held the day,..
in the palm of our hands
they ruled the night
and the night seemed to last as long as six weeks
on Parris Island
we held the coastline
they held the highland
and they were sharp
as sharp as knives
they heard the hum of the motors
they counted the rotors
and waited for us to arrive...
over and over. We threw in a few other songs too, for good measure...
At dusk we watched the bats stumble through the air, dancing erratically in search of dinner. At dawn we listened to the early birdsongs and sounds of the neighborhood awakening. Mostly we soaked up Brandon's presence, trying not to wonder if we would ever see him again.
Brandon doesn't believe in this war, and neither do ANY of his fellow soldiers. Which surprised me, since most of my family (at least the older generation) are Republicans and sport red-white-and-blue ribbons on the backs of their SUVs. But I am finding that the younger generation of our family are all liberal and have learned to question things, unlike their conservative friends who take what's fed to them at face value. Makes for interesting party conversation!
My cousin enlisted in the National Guard on 9-12-01. He was 17, and his mom had to co-sign the papers for him. (Now she is plagued with guilt over it.) He chose to enlist b/c he was furious with the terrorists and wanted to to what he could to defend the USA from future attacks. He wanted to go over into Afghanistan and hunt for Osama Bin Laden, but his mom felt he was too young for active duty in the Army and convinced him to join the National Guard. He did NOT want to go to Iraq to fight this bogus war. He still wants to go look for bin Laden, however. He believes the reasons for going to war were fabricated, data was manipulated, and the troops were/are political pawns. In short, that Americans are dying to further Bush's polical agenda.
He is the first soldier that I have really talked to about this. I am against this war, but I am safely ensconced in my own little world, far from the actual fighting, so it is easy for me to spout theories and indulge in administration-bashing. I have read articles about soldiers who also oppose the war, but I really thought most of the troops were in favor of it. Not so, according to my cousin. His friend Mike, who already did a year in Iraq, was also there. He feels the same way and said his entire unit did as well.
So why can't we send all the war supporters over to fight? There seem to be plenty out there! I mean, if they truly believe in this war, shouldn't THEY be the ones to put their lives on the line???
Sadly, Brandon's mom is a war supporter, and their divergent opinions have put quite a strain on their once close relationship. She insists he is fighting for our freedom. He laughs at that. He says that he looks at this as his job, and nothing more. He signed a contract and he will fulfill his obligation. Hopefully he will survive the ordeal, then move on.
His recruiter, a woman, stopped by the party. She has become friendly w/ Brandon's mom, my cousin Kim. When she walked in, Brandon said, "Here comes the big liar!"
Apparently, she got tired of "misleading" young men and has since retired from recruiting. I think the fact that several have been killed may have had something to do with it.
The whole thing makes me sad in such a deep, visceral way...
I have watched this kid grow up into such an amazing young man. He has overcome some pretty tough obstacles: born to a teenage mom, parents divorced when he was young, he and his mom were on welfare for a bit, his first sibling died... I can only hope and pray that he comes through all this alive and relatively unscathed...
--l*P
VIEW 25 of 62 COMMENTS
shane_is_rad:
I hope your birthday was super rad 
spanky84:
I just wanted to say with no offense to you or your family, I was there when we took bagdad. I'm here again and I cant stand it cuz I think it's being handled wrong. But when I crossed the burm the first time every time we drove though these tiny towns it was like every one who lived there stood by the streets to see us. As much as I hate being out here again the look on there faces was enough to let me know that what we did was not wrong.