Army Sailor -- War in the Sandbox...
The Adventures of a Sailor in Afghanistan...

In such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, not to be on the side of the executioners. -- Albert Camus

[But now they INSIST on making us executioners THINKING soldiers, rational, reasoning men. I wish I just approached combat as an automaton, mindlessly sweeping through the country rather than a person who weighs each choice and action. I'd be much more sane.]

I normally would not include something like this on my blog, I know it is basically on e of thse stupid e-mails that gets passed around the internet 5 million times, and it may not have ever even been seen by Ben Stein, let alone written by him, but either way, I really like it, and it makes you think a bit...

Greetings From Rancho Mirage
By Ben Stein Published 4/5/2006 2:29:42 AM

Tuesday
Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard, Reservists, in Iraq, in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan, in the area near Afghanistan, in any base anywhere in the world, and your families:

Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the cojones in the whole world right now and should be damned happy with yourselves and damned proud of who you are. It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did small errands like going to the bank to pay my mortgage, finding a new bed at a price I can afford, practicing driving with my new 5 wood, paying bills for about two hours.

I spoke for a long time to a woman who is going through a nasty child custody fight. I got e-mails from a woman who was fired today from her job for not paying attention. I read about multi-billion-dollar mergers in Europe, Asia, and the Mideast. I noticed how overweight I am, for the millionth time.

In other words, I did a lot of nothing. Like every other American who is not in the armed forces family, I basically just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic in my trivial, self-important, meaningless way.

Above all, I talked to a friend of more than forty-three years who told me he thought his life had no meaning because all he did was count his money.

And, friends in the armed forces, this is the story of all of America today. We are doing nothing but treading water while you guys carry on the life or death struggle against worldwide militant Islamic terrorism. Our lives are about nothing: paying bills, going to humdrum jobs, waiting until we can go to sleep and then do it all again. Our most vivid issues are trivia compared with what you do every day, every minute, every second.

Oprah Winfrey talks a lot about "meaning" in life. For her, "meaning" is dieting and then having her photo on the cover of her magazine every single month (surely a new world record for egomania ).This is not "meaning."

Meaning is doing for others. Meaning is risking your life for others. Meaning is putting your bodies and families' peace of mind on the line to defeat some of the most evil, sick killers the world has ever known. Meaning is leaving the comfort of home to fight to make sure that there still will be a home for your family and for your nation and for free men and women everywhere.

Look, soldiers and Marines and sailors and airmen and Coast Guardsmen, there are eight billion people in this world. The whole fate of this world turns on what you people, 1.4 million, more or less, do every day. The fate of mankind depends on what about 2/100 of one percent of the people in this world do every day -- and you are those people. And joining you is every policeman, fireman, and EMT in the country, also holding back the tide of chaos.

Do you know how important you are? Do you know how indispensable you are? Do you know how humbly grateful any of us who has a head on his shoulders is to you?

Do you know that if you never do another thing in your lives, you will always still be heroes? That we could live without Hollywood or Wall Street or the NFL, but we cannot live for a week without you?

We are on our knees to you and we bless and pray for you every moment.

And Oprah Winfrey, if she were a size two, would not have one millionth of your importance, and all of the Wall Street billionaires will never mean what the least of you do, and if Barry Bonds hit ninety home runs it would not mean as much as you going on one patrol or driving one truck to the Baghdad airport.

You are everything to us, as we go through our little days, and you are in the prayers of the nation and of every decent man and woman on the planet.

That's who you are and what you mean. I hope you know that.

Love,
Ben Stein

Semper Fortis...

It means 'Always Brave' in Latin, and it is the motto of the United States Navy. The silors who have deployed to Afghanistan to help the Army in it's continuing efforts over here live up to that motto each and every day. We came here to help. The mere willingness of a sailor to come help the Army in a land locked Desert country shows a certain level of bravery in and of it self if you ask me. Of course I know I am biased, I am one of those sailors.

I came here with the though in mind that I DO have something to prove. I wanted to prove to the Army that I and the Navy can do anything that the Army can do, all we need is to be taught how. I came here with the sincerest of desires to help relieve the burden of my brothers-in-arms. From what I have seen so far, this sentiment seems to be shared by most of the sailors here. Now that I am here I have to admit that I do enjoy the adventure of it all, and I have met a lot of great people since I have been here, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the vast training I have gotten courtesy of the U.S. Army. I was already a Master Helmsman in the Navy, but now I am also a Master Driver in the Army, not something most sailors can claim. Not to mention I am also a First Class Grenadier, again a qualification few other sailors possess. It has been a great experience for me personally and has really helped me expand my mind and my horizons. It has given me a new perspective on world politics (even if it is a more Jaded, less positive one). It has taught me the value of writing my political representatives.

NOTHING HAS MADE ME APPRECIATE THE U.S. NAVY MORE THAN THE U.S. ARMY!

What is disappointing to me is the fact that the U.S. Air Force did not seem to come here with the same thoughts. They definately came with nothing to prove, and no desire to be helpful. I have had numerous Airmen working for me, and there seems to be one common refrain from them all... "This is bullshit..." and "We don't do that in the Air Force..." I have never in my life met a bigger group of whiners and complainers.

I recently was speaking with a U.S. Army Master Sergeant who told me "I have a whole new respect for the Navy, but I have lost all respect for the Air Force..." I'll admit, that makes me feel pretty good, at least that first part about the new respect for the Navy. I mean after all the Army and Navy have had a friendly rivalry going for over 200 years.

I am just not sure what to say or think about the Air Force though... Perhaps they should change their name to the U.S. Air Farce. It seems much more appropriate at least it does for those serving in it today.

I do not blame the individual airmen either. At least, not entirely. How can I when the official policy of the leading Air Force officer in this country is 'Air Force works for Air Force", and he insists that they only do those jobs which are within their job descriptions! What sort of madness is this? What happened to "One Fight, One Team" ? Job Descriptions? What the hell is a Job Description? I am a U.S. Navy SAILOR in a land locked country! What the hell am I supposed to do within my 'Job Description'? We are here to help. We are here to win a war. A war I do not either support or believe in, but I am here, working hard each and every day, not because I have to, but to support the Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine fighting next to me. This is a Joint Effort, and we are all in it together, like it or not. We sink, we swim; we rise, we fall, we will do it together as one TEAM. Come on Air Force, get on board with the plan and start doing your part! People are dying, and the Air Farce is Crying... "Boo Hoo, we don't do this in the Air Force!"

My recomendation is that they take 100mgs of "Suckitup" and come on in for the big win. I have never seen such an embaressing disgrace...

The President Has Not Attended the Funeral of ANY Fallen Soldiers, Sailor, Airmen or Marines!

Published: July 05, 2006 3:20 PM ET

NEW YORK When Stars and Stripes nabbed anexclusive interview with President Bush on July 4 -- aboard Air Force One -- it devoted most of the questions to ones submitted by service members.

One, put to the commander-in-chief by the newspaper's Jeff Schogol: Has he attended even one funeral for a fallen soldier from Iraq? No, he replied. “Because which funeral do you go to? In my judgment, I think if I go to one I should go to all. How do you honor one person but not another?” he said.

A soldier now serving in Iraq asked how many times he would have to return to the war zone in the next five years. Bush said he did not know. “The conditions on the ground will determine our troop levels, and one of the main conditions on the ground is the capacity for the Iraqis to take the fight to the enemy, and therefore it is very difficult for me to predict with certainty how many times this particular person would be sent back to Iraq,” Bush said, in the article published on Wednesday.

Another soldier asked if Army rotations in Iraq could be shortened from one year to six months. Bush: Not likely. A question about special benefits for troops who had served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan brought pretty much the same response, with Bush explaining that he had already boosted normal benefits.

The newspaper's reporter put forth his own query: Would the president accept a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in return for a cease-fire by insurgents?

Bush called the question hypothetical. Reminded by Schogol that the media had reported just such an offer from Sunni insurgents, Bush answered, “I’m not sure they have or haven’t. … I will tell you that whatever decisions I make will be made upon the recommendations of commanders and and with one thing in my mind: Can we win?”

Bush was also asked if the strategy of putting relatively few U.S. troops in Afghanistan had backfired, with the Taliban reviving. He replied: “The strategy all along was to help internationalize the effort, and NATO troops are now moving into where the Taliban thinks that they may be able to make a foothold, or gain a foothold."

Whereas I don't believe any of these people are actually willing to die to bring us home, I am damn glad to see someone is doing something to bring this idiotic war to an end. Hopefully if a few of these people stick to their convictions enough to actually starve to death, the American people might demand that we end our ridiculaous campaign of terror against the world.

Anti-war protesters begin July 4 fast

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 150 protesters sat in front of the White House on Monday to savor their last meal before starting a hunger strike that some said will continue until American troops return from Iraq.

The demonstration marking the Independence Day holiday was organized by CodePink, a women's anti-war group that called on volunteers to abstain from eating for 24 hours from midnight on Monday.

Some protesters said their fast would continue beyond July 4th.
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, said she would drink only water throughout the summer, which she said she would spend outside President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. "This war is a crime," Sheehan told a crowd of clapping, cheering protesters. "We represent millions of Americans who withdraw their support from this government."

The demonstrators crouched in the muggy evening next to a piece of pink plastic, spread down the road as a table and table-cloth in one. It was covered with wilted pink sunflowers and plates of vegetarian curry, white rice, and beans. The demonstration aimed at highlighting the costs of the war, in which more than 2,500 U.S. soldiers and thousands of Iraqis have died, said CodePink spokeswoman Meredith Dearborn. "We have to put our own lives on the line, and I'm willing to do that," said activist Diane Wilson, who pledged to fast until the United States withdraws from Iraq. Dearborn said 2,700 other activists nationwide, including actors Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, would work as a relay team passing the fast daily from one to another