Views of the Military

I have never before thought about what the soldiers of our military go through on a daily basis. It is one of those things that I just, put out of mind. I know there are soldiers in Iraq, men and women who give their lives for our freedoms and to help others in the world, but I do not think about it. It is not part of my daily life. I do have friends, very close friends, who have married military men and have to face the realities of war on a daily basis. My uncle just got back from a deployment in Iraq as well. But as I said, nothing seemed to tough me personally about the war and the sacrifices people make toward it.

I am glad that we had to read these posts from people who are in the military. Truth be told, I was all set to kind of skim these sites, comment a one or two word response to a few of them, then write a response that was just general, or generic. But I could not do that. I read the posts and felt a connection with some of these men. They opened themselves up, not caring what people would say. And it really touched me what these people had to say. So much has happened that I can never understand. But I want to, and I believe that makes all the difference. Reading these thoughts showed me more respect for those who fight for us. They chose the hard life they live, and if they do not do it, who will? It takes an extraordinary person to go through the trials of war, and then to share those experiences so openly on the web. And the best thing about this is that the men and women do not want credit. They just want to share their thoughts.

The post that touched me the most was one by a man with the name Citizen Soldier Sojack. He wrote about his experiences in the war zone. Though he was not physically wounded, this man was wounded mentally, and has changed dramatically because of it. His post talks about his feelings, how he wishes that he was the same man, but cannot possibly go back to how he was. War changes people, and his post explains that in a way I had never imagined. He even goes on to talk about the veterans of previous wars, and how they are treated today. It is a realistic fear of the soldiers today that in twenty years, they will be in the place of today’s Veterans. It is incredibly sad that those people who the soldiers have put their lives on the line for, will not be more understanding and help support those who come back from war mentally wounded.

Overall, this military blog site was an eye opener. It is a great way to get a feeling for what soldiers go through in their lives. If you want to view the overall site, here is it’s web listing: http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/ . And if you want to check out the site that I spoke about, here is the site: http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/2008/01/the-realities-.html?cid=97915954#comment-97915954.