As I sit here at my computer tonight.... I think back how the war on terrorism started..... the people in the planes... the people in the buildings.... the families at home watching on TV.... the loves ones sharing one last word over a phone and then hearing nothing.... then I think about the troops over in the sand fighting for me and you.... our country and our way of life.... I am a Marine/Soldier and my heart is sad..... I recall what it was like and how the things I did were so important to me in the war in Vietnam.... but in the end I find that it is only I who can recall the fighting... the dieing... the days of living in the jungle.... I know others were there also... but I am the only one that knows what I did and what I lived with each day..... the pictures and the feelings are never far from my mind.... my life is shaped by those times.... what I'm trying to say is many people since September 11, 2001 now have their own Vietnams..... the troops coming back home.... many will be OK.... but the troops that have been doing the killing for you and me will not find the world as they left it.... at first things will be just fine... happy to be home.... after that life goes back to what life really is... day to day... and these troops will come to realize that the freedom they fought to preserve can never be theirs again.... their life�s forever molded by being there in a war.... being the killers.... I don't know what else to say..... people will care at first but then labels are passed out and troops who were fighting for us become known as the ones who can never come home.... the reason my heart is sad is because there is nothing that can be done to change the outcome.... many a man will die on the battle field, but many more will die in their souls........ God Bless All.
"The Last Firebase Deer Camp"