Memoirs written in prose of Sergeant Robertson, Damon M. USMC while in Iraq | ...with frequent appearances of King Hammurabi.
If you are new to this journal, make sure to start reading in chronological order by scrolling down to the bottom of the oldest post in October 2004. Damon's letters from August 20th, 2004 - October 23rd, 2004 were all added to this blog on Oct. 23rd, 2004. All subsequent letters are posted in real time.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Re: Hammurabi, USMC - DMR
Dear Family and Friends, and particularly the Liberals among you: ... Please pay attention, this is actually going to have some conciliatory admissions in it for you. ... I was originally going to phrase this next bit in another Hammurabi conversation but I figure i'd just get it over and done with. Some days here I don't have the energy to be all that creative with my time. :[ I know a lot of intelligent folks who identify themselves with the political left. My best friend Nillin, and a former co-worker of mine, the frighteningly articulate Mr. Hillburn, are among them. The most skilled director I know, "Kamikaze," believes very much in the liberal path and yeah, still loves Jesus. Mercy (this is her real name, not made up) is there, too. What am I saying. Nillin called me to task on some of the things I've said regarding John Kerry's service record in Viet Nam. The man has seen combat action, has three purple hearts. Nillin's step-dad, a man I spoke with just before going to boot camp, is a Nam vet with purple hearts (!) of his own. He told me not to go. I will remember his words forever: "Did you know that a Marine is the only animal in the world that's trained to run *towards* the sound of enemy machine gun fire?" By the time I was taught that in my basic training, it made sense to me then. Get out of the "kill zone." Surprise the enemy by immediately attacking and seizing the initiative. Overrun what they consider to be an impervious position. Kill them. Ironically, and not to get off the subject, that sort of initiative works very well here. The iraqis generally don't shoot at Marines. They light the army up, who're so cought up in rules of engagement that they're hands are tied. Soldiers die because the officer corps of the army is too worried about how their after-action report will look. God knows we aren't here to hurt anyone's feelings. But I'm getting off subject. Mr. Kerry. He has seen combat action. I have not. He was wounded in action, three times, and whether or not you accept the stories that he exaggerated his wounds to get the medals is beside the point. He has them. I heard once, though I'm not certain, that he also has a bronze star, which is given for conspicuous valor in the face of enemy fire. There are people on my mailing list who I acknowledge as being patriots, even though they would vote for a man who returned from VN to lambast his fellow service members with tales of rape and plunder. Nillin put it this way "we acknowledge the general F*ed up-edness of viet nam..." and I agree. In general. The same way that the media will not let the American people ever forget Abu Ghraib for the next 30 years. A generalization was made, and no one seems to care when someone stands up and says "yeah, but most of our men and women served faithfully, doing their duty, and behaved in all ways within the scope of human compassion and ethics... " As much as anyone can in war. I have wondered often whether Kerry, returning from viet nam, may have really believed that he didn't deserve his medals. But why? Why throw them away, or burn them as other vets did? Was it because he knew he'd exaggerated the stories of his own wounding to get them, or was it really that he'd seen something he was so repulsed by that he couldn't stand to be numbered as "one of the heroes." I don't know. Only John and God know that. ... The bottom line: if Wrathful Buddha, Nillin, The Hillburn, Mercy, and Kamikaze still read these mails of mine; there is room for people to get p.o.'d at the way this war was engendered. False reports? Who knows. Apparently that's the way things are shaking down. Why did I get sent here? Apparently on a fool's errand to find something that isn't here. Why am I still here? The Iraqi Police officer I met, the one who cried at his Marine buddy's funeral; the 14 year old kid who believes there's something better, and that good men have to be willing to sweat buckets and bleed to achieve it. Why on earth, you may ask, do I criticize a man like Kerry? Heroism has at its core the virtue of humility. Politics are depraved, we all know, or at least we all say they are. Standing up and declaring "I'm running for office" is tantamount to inviting a public hazing and "background check" the likes of which even the NSA isn't capable of achieving. Kerry knew we'd all hear about the medals being thrown away, about all his days spent testifying that U.S. soldiers are rapists and murdering thieves. Only his most staunch supporters would be the ones standing up to say "Yeah, but he was awarded three purple hearts..." and if he'd never said that, our media would have never reported it. At least that's likely. I'm offended, and I gripe and slam at J.K., because I know humble men who earned their scars, who never stood up in public and said everything but "i'm a hero." If you're lucky you'll find their medals hanging on a wall in their house, not even well lit, if they're in open view at all. These are the men with PTSD who sleep three hours a night and still work 40 hours a week and still love their wives and pay their taxes and NEVER COMPLAIN. Nor do they ever tell anyone they are a hero. But they do, and one did, take time to tell an idealistic (maybe plain stupid) Marine recruit that service in the corps is just not all it's cracked up to be. "Trust me. I know." he'd said. Yeah. But I want to be a hero. ... :D
# posted by chevas @ 6:30 PM 