As I said in one of my comments on a "milblog", I don't know a lot about what is continually going on in the Middle East. I am not related (by blood or just relationship) to anyone who is serving over there. Even news about the "war"--as we all seem prone to call it--has been hard to come by in recent months.
However, there are always the so-called typical war stories. We have certainly all heard them, and we certainly all feel for the soldiers who are forced to live with that in their heads for the rest of their lives.
But do we really know? I can't say I've ever experienced the brutal killing of a good friend. The comraderie in a group thrown together by chance. Waking up every morning knowing that today could be the last day of life on earth.
I read a post from a soldier who took a trip back to his/her station and reflected on all the things that have changed from serving in the war. I read another about a captain who posted on the lengthy process of shooting practice and it's metaphor to how we are not getting things done in Iraq. I read yet another on the experiences of war, both good and bad.
There are millions of American soldiers over in the Middle East, just like the ones who posted on the "milblog." They don't have to be there. Many of them probably don't even want to be there in the first place. And yet the news continues to produce a vacancy in all reports: a vacancy that the "war" used to fill.
If I could label one thing I learned from reading a "milblog", it would be that I need to continually remember what is taking place not only the Middle East, but in countries all over the world. Men and women are sacrificing everything they hold dear in the name of our country.
I personally find it an outrage that the media finds Michael Jackson more important than the "war." It would not hurt us to be a little grateful.
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The biggest point from your blog that I have to agree with is that Michael Jackson was made more important than the war in a sense, by the media. A lot of our blogs have one thing in common: people in our country, even us, sometimes take forgranted what we have and what others are doing for us.
ReplyDeleteThe milblog seems to give us and anyone who reads it a dose of reality. The situation overseas varies with soldiers and where they are stationed. We cannot judge or say how it is unless we have evidence, which many people today assume one thing or another. It is kind of annoying after reading these blogs, but I appreciate being able to know what is really taking place from our actual soldiers.
You thought of some things I overlooked and I really like that you pushed taking things forgranted and the media.
Your last statement honestly gave be goosebumps. I completely agree that it is an outrage that we have given more media time to a man that many say has ruined parts of our culture than to men and women risking their lives to save it. Futhermore, why can't we hear more of the good things aboout what the military is doing, rather than hearing every bit of depressing happenings overseas?
ReplyDeleteGood post!