Memorial Day 2015

This isn't going to be an elaborate post, more a reaction to some of what I've seen on social media.

We in the Veteran community can't make everybody feel this day the way that we do and I don't think it's reasonable to expect that of the general populace.  Simply put, we've done our jobs extremely well, people here have no idea how ugly this world can be, and your average American is extremely isolated from all facets of our military exploits, most especially the sacrifices made by our brothers and sisters who will never return home.  I don't think that being a huge downer is going to help people make that connection much less drive home what those sacrifices really mean.  What will help is being present, letting people come to you on their own terms, and being willing to share stories about your buddies, what y'all went through together, and what those Heros mean to you.

I don't think there's any shame in enjoying this day.  I think all the brothers that I at least lost would want us to be happy.  That doesn't mean that I push their memories down, far from it, but I remember that in a more perfect world they'd be laughing and joking with me next to the grill today.

To any non-veterans reading this: by all means enjoy this holiday.  As much as I'd like you to appreciate the loss of my friends today, I'd much rather you appreciate it on Election Day.  Whatever your political beliefs, please honor the sacrifices made by our veterans by being an educated voter and voting for effective, capable leaders who will respect the fact that the rights we enjoy were paid for in blood.

So... it's been a while

Truthfully I'm not sure who would even view this blog anymore but I feel like I have a few things I need to get off my chest (I guess mainly due to the election cycle).  Over the next few weeks I'm going to try and write a few reasoned, researched posts on these issues but in the meantime, here's some back story:

I left off when I was attending my military job training to become an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician and a couple of months before I got married.  I graduated school and worked as an EOD technician for the next five years.  Essentially I stopped writing because of the DoD's policies regarding blogs and social media and also because, frankly, I was just too damn busy.  Looking back on that part of my life, I got to do an amazing job with some incredible people which gave me some unique insights along the way but it came at a steep cost, namely in that several men who I love like brothers now find their names on the EOD Memorial at Eglin Air Force Base.  During that time I deployed to Afghanistan, did a lot of EOD responses here in the US, got into two motorcycle accidents, and my thyroid crapped out on me.  I also need to mention that my wife sacrificed immensely as well as those men were also her friends and her career had to be put on standby due to the nature of Army life.

Following my time in the Army I did a brief stint as a UXO contractor before returning to the Printing industry.  I'm currently trying to figure out what the Hell I'm going to do with my GI Bill benefits and the rest of my life.

So why go back to this blog?  I guess because I'm worried about the future of my country.  When I went into the Army I was concerned about the activities of the Authoritarian Left and Right when it comes to our civil liberties.  I was concerned that that both the Democrat and Republican parties had descended into a toxic codependent relationship which puts the interests of the parties and certain special interests above what's best for the nation.  All these years later I don't see any less reason to be concerned and while I recognize that there's not much I can do about it, I can at least speak up about it.