|
Question: Why did you join the armed forces?
I was young and after a year and a half in college I realized I need some discipline, direction, adventure, and college money. The Marine Corps offered me all those things.
Question: How would you have described yourself the day before you went to war?
Prior going into Afghanistan I was still full of anger from the September 11th attacks. I was in Australia when they happened and I knew my unit was going to be the first on the scene. I was proud to be able to “defend” my country and was anxious to put all my training to practical use. I wasn’t mature enough to think about how countries must exercise restraint during times of great hardship and confusion. All I knew was what was being told to me and we didn’t have access to news channels or the web or independent news articles that may have explained to us (me) the reasons why as a leader and “superpower” we have a responsibility to ensure the protection of our people and that of innocent people worldwide, including the very country we were to attack.
Once given the opportunity to seek out truth and to educate myself, my views, beliefs, and opinions began to fundamentally shift. I was among the first 100,000 members of moveon.org. I began to search out news from independent news sources and began to question why it was so important to invade Iraq. I remember thinking that it seemed very improbable that there were WMD there. I thought “if we are so sure why am I looking at a cartoon drawing of this mobile weapon lab and not a real one?” I remembered back to how not so long ago Saddam was an ally just as the Taliban were. I thought about how was it that the country was not seeing what I was seeing. I also wasn’t sure (still am not) how we weren’t breaking international law by invading a country without the Security Council’s approval.
But I also remembered that I was a Marine, and that it was my responsibility to ensure the mission was accomplished and make sure every one of my men were returned home to their loved ones. I was just a man that wanted to not let down others. I guess that is one of my fears, letting down others.
Question: What about you has changed the most since that day?
I am a very cynical man. I have little respect for the elected officials that are supposed to represent me. I see a majority of my country against the occupation of Iraq, yet no real change of policy has come forth. We have no right to impose our way of life on anyone. I fear that my fellow countrymen would not exercise restraint, even knowing the lies we’ve been told, if some sort of incident were to happens against us again. I think that as a nation, as a species, we enjoy war.
Question: What was the most defining moment of your time at war?
During my first tour in Afghanistan, I didn't really have much time or energy to think over matters that are important to me or my country. I just did my job as best I could. The most defining moment of my time at war actually happened before I went. It happened when my unit told me that I was going to be involuntarily extended so as to be able to go to Iraq. I had just returned 7 months prior and I had taken the time to gather a better understanding of what the war on terror actually meant. I began to get vocal. I told my family, friends, and my fellow Marines that I didn't think we were being told the truth. I was looking forward to my end of active service date, to be out as a civilian and able to march on the streets and do all I could to prevent my friends from being wrongly deployed.
I was told that even though I was against the Iraq war, I would be going and that my unit would be looking to my leadership because of my previous experience. I was not willing to give up the military benefits I earned during my nearly 4 years of service, so I went and I led and I left. I accepted that I was going to live up to my sworn commitment to "protect" my country. I swallowed everything I knew and believed so that I wouldn't lose my ability to continue my college education or buy a home. Right or wrong.
Question: Now that you have returned, what does peace mean to you?
Peace is harmony and harmony is how everything in this planet survives. The one exception is us, human beings. We are more like a cancer; we do not understand what it is to be one with each other, the planet, or other species. We simply take and take. We are trained to think that this planet was made for us and that we are the most important aspect of it. Peace is harmony. Peace cannot be brought about through war as we are often told. Peace to me is simple, pure, beautiful, and natural. Peace can be found in the eyes and actions of those who truly understand balance and harmony and in the eyes of the innocent. I see peace and feel it when I am surrounded by my loving family and when I am holding onto my youngest of cousins.
|