Monday, May 26, 2008

The Unknown Soldier

For Memorial Day a re-post of something I wrote on my old blog. This was posted January 1, 2004 -- 4-and-a-half long years ago. Since then, thousands have died and tens of thousands have been maimed for the sake of vain politicians. I still hope this guy wasn't one of them, that he somehow made it home in one piece -- from that tour and the second and third. I hope he was not another Unnecessary Casualty in the Stupidest War and the greatest foreign policy fiasco in American history.

THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER

2 a.m. – Ho-Chunk Casino, Wisconsin Dells – 12/29/03

I must have sat at the blackjack table with the guy for an hour or more. Sometimes the tables get a little chatty – sometimes obnoxiously so, such as the next table over, where some idiot was thrown out for making racial slurs – but this table was quiet. We placed our bets, we got the cards, we studied the cards, the dealer took the chips away (more often than not). I was in the middle of the table, right next to a cranky chain-smoker on a losing streak and an Asian woman, muttering under her breath (cursing?).

I barely noticed him at the end of the table to my right ("first base"). He was playing quietly as was I, except he was spared the cigarette fumes from the guy next to me. I couldn’t even tell if he was winning or losing. He was in his late 20s or early 30s, head shaved down to a stubble, thin, healthy. He wasn’t smoking or drinking that I could tell. Just hanging out on a late night. He might have been talking to the person next to him quietly and I paid no attention. Then I heard him say:

"I’m going to Baghdad, Sunni triangle, next week."

Well, that got my attention, even through the haze of noise, smoke, gambling adrenalin and late-night exhaustion. Now I looked at him, really, for the first time. He had none of the false bravura you often see in military men. His affect was flat – not happy, not sad. He seemed accepting of his unknown fate. But concerned enough to share his upcoming adventure with anyone within earshot at a blackjack table.

I’m pretty shy and usually don’t interject myself in other people’s conversation or talk to strangers. But this was too much. As I looked over, whoever he was talking to and the Asian woman left the table and now there was no one between him and me. As the dealer shuffled, I asked him if he had been there before. "Nope, I was in Japan when this whole thing started," he said matter-of-factly. "It’s pretty rough over there, isn’t it?" I said, my brilliant conversational style in full effect. "Yeah," said the soldier, as the cards hit the table again.

I wanted to say more, of course. I wanted to tell him that the invasion was based on lies and he shouldn’t be put in harm’s way for the dreamy geopolitical designs of Wolfowitz and Cheney. I wanted to tell him that I would be working like hell in ‘04 for an end to the radical Bush regime and, hopefully, an end to the impossible occupation he was about to join. He seemed to have an attitude that was far from gung-ho and maybe he’d appreciate my concern for his safety and give a tacit (or even overt) endorsement of my (our) campaign to free the nation from this madness. But, out of respect for the predicament he apparently had come to terms with, I kept quiet as I played just a couple more hands. When he wasn’t looking, I snuck a few peeks at him – the human face of the Bush Tragedies.

As I got up to leave, I quietly said "take care" to him, but I don’t think he heard me, since he was talking to someone else. I took a few steps away from the table and then circled back. "Hey, good luck," I said as I tapped him on the elbow. I never meant it so much in my whole life. He looked at me, but didn’t say anything. I walked out in the cold and drove back to the hotel in silence.

My dad served in the Navy in WWII and I used to love rummaging around in his artifacts as a kid (my brother and I still have his dogtags). But I formed my first opinions about military people while in high school, while the Vietnam War raged. The stories of the My Lai massacre and other tragedies helped me to think the worst about the potential behavior of those in uniform.

Since then, I have been educated about the impossible situation the soldiers were put in by politicians who couldn’t care less about the human cost of their grand designs. History books, movies like Apocalypse Now and personal stories from my brave brother-in-law John and others have brought into full focus the irresponsibility of the Masters of War.

Sure, a few people still use their time in the service as an excuse to brag, bully and otherwise act like jerks. But the volunteer military is mostly made up of the sons and daughters of the poor and working class, who are willing to take the risk of hostile fire to get a leg up in education or job skills. We owe them more respect than they are shown by throwing them into Unnecessary Wars and Impossible Occupations. There are now almost 500 soldiers dead in Bush’s Folly in Iraq. Not one of those deaths and not one of the thousands of injuries were Necessary.

That handsome young man at the end of the table is about to be shipped off and serve as a Walking Target for Iraqi nationalists, fighting off – as nationalists always do and always will – the illegal occupation of their country. I’ll watch for his face in lists of the dead and injured while I fight this year for an end to the Bush regime and everything it stands for.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

When did it become sexy to stop showing respect for our leaders and to stop supporting our troops? I wonder. When did it stop being cool to love your country? When did you decide that you know more than the most learned minds in our country? Do you believe that our President doesnt want to pull out now because he is afraid to lose face? WOW! I wonder, how sad is it to believe that our leaders dont care about our children?

Mike Plaisted said...

Anony:

Respecting our leaders and supporting our troops are two different things. "Leaders", if that's what they are pretending to be get the respect they deserve -- in the case of the Bush crowd, none at all. The troops get support 100% from everyone, especially those who are trying to get them out of harm's way.

Do I have to agree with you to "love my country"? Why would that be? This is the greatest place on earth, ill-served by 8 years of profit-taking by greedy Republicans.

"Learned minds"? Uh, not this bunch.

There are a lot of reasons Bush doesn't want to pull out -- he has no face to lose.

How sad is it that our leaders actually don't care about our children. They are cannon fodder in their global designs.

Thanks for playing. Write back soon.

Zach W. said...

What I can't help but wonder is why some folks...like the anonymous poster, for instance, can't understand that one can support our troops and be a patriot without supporting a leader they may have had no hand in electing?

I'm proud to support those folks in uniform who've been put in harm's way, and I consider myself as patriotic as the next person, which is why I vigorously question the decisions made by individuals who were elected to lead but have done a poor job of it.

Prosqtor said...

Lots of DNC talking points in those two comments (by Mike and Zach).

I therefore follow the model on this site and choose to ignore them, rather than address the merits.

Zach W. said...

Prosqtor, I'm sorry that you think my personal opinions are "talking points." I guess you're just a cynic who sees things as being far more cut and dry than I do.

Anonymous said...

Zach:

Your response has merit but is also ironic: Plaisted himself dismisses any opinion opposed to his own n as "talking points".

As to the larger issue this thread reminds me of a caller I heard on Rush Limbaugh this afternoon (I listen only for entertainment purposes - and for good reason). She literally started crying because apparently McClellan's book is just further evidence that we no longer love our country or respect our leadership. I would have mimicked playing the world's smallest fiddle were I not driving. I was able to ask the radio what her reaction would be if the only difference was the letter after the President's name was a "D" instead of an "R", knowing full well it would have been exactly opposite.

Anyway the point of that monologue is that she was a lot like Plaisted: she was convinced that if only us gullible Americans would "wake up" we'd see how right she is and how if we'd only accept her brilliance we'd all be better off.

*insert laugh line*

Anyway Mike I thought I'd ask again what your plan is to address the problem of $4 a gallon gas and also once again if you're aware that your posts represent the emotional dribblings of a 12 year-old girl?

Prosqtor said...

"Prosqtor, I'm sorry that you think my personal opinions are "talking points." I guess you're just a cynic who sees things as being far more cut and dry than I do."

As usual, sarcasm escapes the Enlightened Left.

*shakes head*

Mike Plaisted said...

I'm sorry if I keep pointing out that radio and blogging wing-nuts who just happen to say the same thing in the same way on the same day are reading GOP talking-points. I mean, when every nut with a webpage tries to diminish McClellan's expose by saying that he is "disgruntled" or when the same clowns dissect Obama's Memorial Day speech in a new effort to portray him as a gaffe machine, I think that's really all you have to say about it. The fact that they are the most unoriginal lackeys in the world is their problem, not mine.

Good luck finding the same kind of orthodoxy on the left -- you won't find it. The first thing that would happen if somebody tried is someone -- maybe everyone -- would break ranks and criticize such a foolish effort.

In other words, show me some substance and I'll deal with it. Idiotic "you don't love the country" nonsense is not serious and I refuse to deal with it as such.

Says the 12 year-old girl ghost-writing for Plaisted tonight. Nah nah nah boo boo.

Prosqtor said...

Let's see:

"Bush lied, kids died"
"This is a personal matter"
"[Insert GOP Candidate] wants to take away your Social Security."

It's almost 11, and I'm exhausted from a day of trampling on people's rights :), and yet there's three lefty talking points repeated over and over and over and over again.

Ever been to DailyKos? Or DemocraticUnderground? It's the same shit over and over again.

So don't get all high and mighty about "only conservatives do it."

Liberals seek orthodoxy even more than conservatives -- it's what's made fascism a leftist tendency since the 1920s. Combine portions of will-to-power, hatred of others-in-power, a youth movement, and an elitist bent and mix together on college campuses and hippie communes, and what do you get but a desire for violent overthrow of the authorities?

(Go ahead and call me a name-caller for that; but Heaven forbid you actually address the similarities between the presidencies of Wilson, FDR, and LBJ and the dictatorships of Mussolini and Hitler pre-1942)

Mike Plaisted said...

OK - Name-caller! I love this right-wing campaign to charactorize Obama as a facist and/or communist. It just shows how desperate and vapid they are. What a joke. "Violent overthrow of authorities"? Where do you get that (and don't say William Ayers)?

I don't see anything but using democracy to become the "authority", or, rather, to get ourselves in a position to stop the bad (all things Bush), repair the damage and do good. The difference is we do it with truth, not with lies.

Sure -- Wilson, FDR and LBJ as Hilter/Mussolini...call me when you get back from visiting Mars. We'll have a safe place all ready for you -- and universal health care to boot!

AnotherTosaVoter said...

Mike said,

"I'm sorry if I keep pointing out that radio and blogging wing-nuts who just happen to say the same thing in the same way on the same day are reading GOP talking-points."

Indeed they do. They're partisan hacks with nary an original thought in their brains. Just like every liberal wing nut like you.

Big oil. Big pharma. Bush lied people died. Blah blah blah blah.

Mike I hate to break this to you, but you and the Fraleys and Sykes' and Robinsons of the world are just different sides of the same coin.

"I mean, when every nut with a webpage tries to diminish McClellan's expose by saying that he is "disgruntled" or when the same clowns dissect Obama's Memorial Day speech in a new effort to portray him as a gaffe machine,"

And you and liberal hacks do the same when they have an "R" after their name.

You're no different.

"I think that's really all you have to say about it. The fact that they are the most unoriginal lackeys in the world is their problem, not mine."

Your arguments are no more original.

You're no different.

"Good luck finding the same kind of orthodoxy on the left -- you won't find it. The first thing that would happen if somebody tried is someone -- maybe everyone -- would break ranks and criticize such a foolish effort."

LOL. You've got to be kidding.

Sure you occasionally get in fights over which identity is more oppressed and therefore more deserving of speaking their moronic complaints first at your little protest marches, but that's about as far apart as any of you ever get.

"In other words, show me some substance and I'll deal with it."

I gave you an opportunity to delve into substance by explaining how you'd deal with the problem of $4/gallon gas and you have yet to respond.

All you're capable of on this blog is finding new sentences in which to include "wing nut". You're like a Britney Spears song - same old crap remixed here and there to sound different.

"Idiotic "you don't love the country" nonsense is not serious and I refuse to deal with it as such."

Did you read what I wrote? I said exactly the same thing.

"Says the 12 year-old girl ghost-writing for Plaisted tonight. Nah nah nah boo boo."

Serious, substantive question you can tackle along with the issue of $4/gallon gas: is your blog representative of the way you deal with people in real life? Please tell me it's just a juvenile way to let off steam.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Mikey just got bitch-slapped by anothertosavoter. Wow. That was beautiful.

Other Side said...

Anony: Wrong about ATV. It was more akin to a hissy fit.