Time To ACT!

My time in Iraq has opened my eyes to plenty. Not just in this country, but in our country. I've watched as we've economically been on the collapse, and the solutions presented have been anything but the American Way. I know that the situation is not an easy one, that our country is dealing with, and it's uneasy because there is sacrifice that has to be made, and is simply not being made. The more and more I think about the injustices our Government is doing for the beloved people, and the injustices they are doing to themselves, has made me realize that I need to do what I can to change things. This is where you separate dreams from reality. That separation is hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance. All things I have a little experience in.

As Thomas Jefferson would say, 'Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.' I certainly have been asking myself a lot of questions about who I am, and who I want to be. Time to ACT! I want to make a difference in the world I live in. On a human perspective. I believe that we can live in a better world, and I'm going to do my best to allow that to happen. It's a tough journey that I've put ahead of myself, and it starts with surviving the next two months and returning back to my beloved United States alive. The next steps are somewhat painful, but a betterment of myself in order to better those around me. Actually a duty to everyone that I might effect, is to make myself as prepared as possible.

I think I had realised this even when I arrived in the Army, in this platoon, even if perhaps I did not recognize it. My ideology in this 'team sport' that we play, is that I need to contribute to the best of my abilities my piece of the pie. If I don't put my piece in at 100%, when the pie is all back together, it might be missing some things. Unless you are a robot, this is an impossibility. This happens to everyone, even Barack Obama. Blasphemy! We all pick each other up in such cases, and help to complete that pie. When I was selected to be the Radio Telephone Operator for this platoon, a lot of responsibility was placed on my shoulders. A big piece of the pie, communication. It's what has won wars since the dawn of time, regardless if it's through the bang of a drum, or the beep of a radio. I had to learn from scratch, because we had no one above me who knew anything about 'commo.' The process was difficult, but I met the challenge, and even exceeded the level that normally is met by a platoon RTO. Not for any personal glory, but because it's important for this platoons operation to be as prepared as possible. That my slice of pie is there, complete, with cool whip on top. Because you can't have pie without cool whip!

The journey ahead of me is a tough one, as well as on a bigger scale than that of handling the platoons commo issues. As all of ours are as people As a society. As a nation. I don't plan on turning my back on the military, the only thing that can ensure our liberty to endure. To protect us from the foreign enemies, as well as our own domestic ones. I feel though, that as a blunt instrument of this tool box I cannot effectively change anything. No matter how complete the slice of pie I contribute, I'm simply not able to bake it in the right oven. Education is in my future, along with commission. It will be tough, to break through the corruption and make a difference. To many have been filling their bellies with greed and dishonesty, it's time for the pure of people to be displayed in a mighty show of force with ensuing change.

We aren't very far from what we need to accomplish. Personal sacrifice, hard work, and good will towards men are certainly the factors needed to achieve victory. The view of outside Baghdad is almost as sad as the views of it's people. Like a wise, big football player pointed out to me once, that people in America have the time to worry about such things as conservation of wildlife, and trees, and fretting over their mocha lattes, along with what gym they'll belong to, because of how free we are. How much liberty we have. How far we've been able to better ourselves. Especially in comparison to these Iraqi people, the contrast is stark. They walk around like beaten dogs, with no ideas of bettering their society. They are not thinking about this tweet or that tweet, they are more concerned with not getting their heads cut off, or being stoned to death. The local national truck drivers we've been dealing with the last week or so, don't even get paid by their boss. And yet they still go to work. Fear with no freedom, certainly not the American way. I know, I sound anti-American sometimes, but I believe in you damn it! I believe in US!


Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.
There has been no definition from the questions I've asked. I'm done asking...


The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. -Thomas Jefferson