They need us.

There are two distinctly different blogs on the net that are both saying important things. One, A Soldier’s Perspective, ran by CJ, An Iraq vet still on active duty, the other, One Marine’s View, by Capt. B. a Marine Corps Captain on active duty in Iraq.

CJ is discussing how soldiers on active duty feel and act about being in a war, CJ states, “We don’t WANT to be there. We NEED to be there.” That just about sums up the way every solder who ever served in a war feels; from 1776 through today. We did not want to be there, but we were sent to do a job. Once there we experience first hand the dichotomy of war, the yin and yang of every soldier who ever faced combat. Not only the fact another human being is shooting at you and to survive you must kill them first, but also the reason you were sent there in the first place. You see first hand the devastation left by a ruler who was so involved in personal wealth and glory that they cared little for the people they served.

We all see the Hollywood movies where a soldier cannot exist anywhere but in a war in which he can kill people. It makes for great stories. It also destroys the image of a true soldier. A soldier no more wants to be in a war than he wants to be away from home. A soldier does not like to kill another human being; we have been taught from birth that it is wrong. Now they are handed weapons and told to kill as many as possible. They do it because it is their duty; their job and they perform it to the best of their ability.

Capt. B. States, “Yes, I’m still here.” He goes on to discuss the fact that Marines are fighting and dieing in Iraq as we speak. Yes, it is easy to forget that fact while we are sitting safely in our homes at night. There are men and women in a war putting their lives on the line, they live, they fight and sometimes they die and they are out of our minds, unless we know them. A lot of people don’t even think about it unless the media is writing a story about the war or discussing the loss of life that day.

There are those against the war, some more aggressive than others. That fact will always remain we will never change it. There were protestors during WWII as there are to this day. Not all humans feel a war is the answer, and who really can question that fact? No one wants to attack another country, but there are cases where it is the only viable solution.

The fact remains, we have men and women in a war zone. We have our friends, neighbors, schoolmates, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters in a place they don’t want to be, doing a job they are trained to do and they are doing it for their country. These men and women together form the greatest military on earth and they need our support. They need our hope and prayers, most of all; they need us, because that is why they are there in the first place.