I want to tell y'all about my old classmate Ray. Ray was our star athlete in football, basketball, and track. He led all three teams to state championships. He was a good guy, smart, kind, a friend to everyone. He was recruited for the US Army after high school. He immediately left after basic to the Gulf War. The first one. He served his country and decided that he was good at being a military man. He married a beautiful woman and they started a family, they traveled back and forth from the US to Germany to the Middle East for the next 15 years. He was made a captain and his men loved him.
Ray specialized in the worst job there is in modern warfare: he was the leader of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team . If you've seen The Hurt Locker, that's what he did. He has been blown up three times. This last time he didn't walk away. Now, he wasn't killed, he just couldn't walk away from it. He has literally had every single bone in his body - from his skull to his toes - broken. He has pins in his limbs and pins holding his ribs in place. He is confined to a wheelchair most of the time because it's incredibly painful and difficult for him to walk. (He still tries because he's that guy. He's impressive, to say the least.) He was forced into retirement when his rehabilitation wasn't going anywhere. He didn't want to leave his men. He was given a mission, and he hadn't accomplished it yet.
His mission was to clear the way for elite troops to find and kill Osama Bin Laden. The first thing I did this morning was thank him for making it possible, because even though he's been stateside for a year, he's a part of this. And make no mistake: I think of it as a victory. A dangerous man that killed Ray's men (and 5,885 of our soldiers, not to mention the 276 British troops, 153 Canadians, etc.) was stopped from hurting anymore people. This will not end al-Quaeda but this will go a long way into defusing their power.
I am not dancing in the streets because a life was ended. I'm bursting with pride for those amazing 22 men of the SEALs that made a precise strike and took out the key element to this stupid war. I do not feel bad for one ounce of emotion I'm carrying. I know we all want to be thoughtful, non-violent people, but a rabid dog was put down and we're a little safer for it. I will not apologize for smiling and pumping my fist in the air at the news.
Every person that puts their life on the line for their country has made an amazing sacrifice - one that the vast majority of us will never do. I, for one, am grateful for that and will not split hairs to decide the level of satisfaction/thoughtfulness that should be considered appropriate today. Feel what you feel. And thank a serviceman/woman for knowing they could have ended up like Ray (or dead) for trying to keep people safe from madmen.
Ray specialized in the worst job there is in modern warfare: he was the leader of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team . If you've seen The Hurt Locker, that's what he did. He has been blown up three times. This last time he didn't walk away. Now, he wasn't killed, he just couldn't walk away from it. He has literally had every single bone in his body - from his skull to his toes - broken. He has pins in his limbs and pins holding his ribs in place. He is confined to a wheelchair most of the time because it's incredibly painful and difficult for him to walk. (He still tries because he's that guy. He's impressive, to say the least.) He was forced into retirement when his rehabilitation wasn't going anywhere. He didn't want to leave his men. He was given a mission, and he hadn't accomplished it yet.
His mission was to clear the way for elite troops to find and kill Osama Bin Laden. The first thing I did this morning was thank him for making it possible, because even though he's been stateside for a year, he's a part of this. And make no mistake: I think of it as a victory. A dangerous man that killed Ray's men (and 5,885 of our soldiers, not to mention the 276 British troops, 153 Canadians, etc.) was stopped from hurting anymore people. This will not end al-Quaeda but this will go a long way into defusing their power.
I am not dancing in the streets because a life was ended. I'm bursting with pride for those amazing 22 men of the SEALs that made a precise strike and took out the key element to this stupid war. I do not feel bad for one ounce of emotion I'm carrying. I know we all want to be thoughtful, non-violent people, but a rabid dog was put down and we're a little safer for it. I will not apologize for smiling and pumping my fist in the air at the news.
Every person that puts their life on the line for their country has made an amazing sacrifice - one that the vast majority of us will never do. I, for one, am grateful for that and will not split hairs to decide the level of satisfaction/thoughtfulness that should be considered appropriate today. Feel what you feel. And thank a serviceman/woman for knowing they could have ended up like Ray (or dead) for trying to keep people safe from madmen.
- Spock is::
indescribable
'Oos dis bint, then?
stoney321- Laura Stone
- Hey, Don't Judge Me
Comments
I am not ashamed to be glad OBL is gone.
I wish wars weren't necessary, but God damn, am I PROUD of our military.
Signed -
Military brat
Another Military Brat. And a proud one.
Thanks Stoney - that post was beautifully put.
I love this post. Our men and women in uniform have been fighting a long time, and have been deserving of our gratitude and respect for years now. This accomplishment just brings it all home. I'm not sorry Bin Laden is dead - he was evil. I'm less thrilled than grateful and relieved that such a mass murderer is gone. All those involved should be proud of what they've achieved here, especially those who've lost loved ones to this war.
I'm not sorry bin Laden is dead, either.
I went to nursery school in Saigon when my dad was on his second tour -- before being evacuated. There are so many aspects to every military story: not just the injuries and deaths, but the sadness of separation from family and the issues with reintegration into the family after the war.
Your friend Ray sounds like a brave man, and he deserves every honor we can give him.
I did not fist pump today. I think a trial, had one been possible, would have been better for the world -- lancing the boil of extremism more effectively. However, I hope and believe this will be the beginning of the end for Al-Qaeda and that soon more of our troops will be home with those who love them.
I, too, hope for our troops to be sent home for good - and with the supportive services they so clearly deserve.
"I know we all want to be thoughtful, non-violent people, but a rabid dog was put down and we're a little safer for it"
I don't believe to be true. If anything, we just opened ourselves up for an attack of which we've probably never seen because we put the rabid dog down. This whole ordeal just makes me really, really uneasy. It also makes me really, really sad that the only thing this country can unite over is the loss of human life.. Not even just with Osama, but the lives that were lost in the tornadoes, Katrina, 9/11.
*sigh*
But my two cents, your two cents, etc.
I hope Donald Trump and the idiot "birthers" are feeling very very small right now. (But I'm afraid that's another fantasy.)
(I too share in that fantasy. We can always hope...)
And that really shouldn't sound dirty, dammit. Not the vibe I was going for at all.
You're right, he was evil, and he inspired evil in the world. I'm not sorry he's gone.
ANd lol, I didn't take it dirty. :)