i don't like war.
I don't want to get political. I don't want to talk about the issues. I just don't like war.
I hate what I see it do to my friends who have gone. I hate what I see it do to my friends who don't know if they'll have to go. I can't read about it without crying.
While shamelessly searching for a friend's hidden blog (you know who you are), I found this blog. I could hardly read it because the screen got blurry through the tears in my eyes. I can't stand it.
I couldn't stand the stories that Josh told about Cliff in Afghanistan. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that while Cliff was being shot at I was wrapped up in blankets sleeping soundly in my bed, or perhaps complaining about the weather change. A day after Josh told me those stories, I got an email from Cliff. I hadn't heard from him for at least a year. It was only a few sentences long....it said this:
"love the tunes. i am utterly impressed.
i have had a crazy couple of months with the war and all but this has really lifted my spirits."
It was this reminder...I can't really describe it except that a sense of determination came over me and I realized that if I am able to use music to offer a little hope to a soldier who comes back from war, even if its only temporary hope, that is the greatest privelege.
In 2005 my old friend Joe wrote a blog that I will never forget. It comes to mind often, and then I go on a google hunt for about 10 minutes before I'm able to find it again. I love this perspective. I definitely read it through different filters than I first did when he wrote it, and I'm sure he'd probably edit it if he were to write it now, but it doesn't matter.
Here it is, I hope you enjoy:
"She asked what I would do now. What, would you just pull out? Do you know what would happen if we just pulled out? That's the idea, isn't it, that bad things happen both ways now? That's why we shouldn't have gone in the first place, I told her, because bad things happen both ways now. And just sit and do nothing? Well not necessarily. But sometimes violence is the only choice. And then: Like if someone was going to shoot your grandmother. why is it always 'your grandmother?' and the only way you could stop them was to kill them. Does he have a gun? He's got a gun. How am I going to kill him if he has a gun? Well you have a gun too. But I don't own a gun. But if you did. Ok. And you could save her by shooting him. I'm not good with guns. Well you could save her. What if I accidentally shot her? Say you had a clear shot at the guy and you could kill him or else he would kill your grandmother. Why does he want to kill my grandmother? I don't know - this guy is going to kill your grandmother. How do I know he's going to kill her? You just do. That seems a little- You just know he's going to kill her. Well that's terrible idea. So would you let your grandmother die? Maybe she has something he wants Look, he's going to kill her unless you kill him. Do you do it? I'm not sure I understand...
Does it disprove pacifism to show that it can't resolve a hypothetical situation created around the sole, necessary premise that someone has to die?
reading RADAR magazine:
"My dad grew up on a farm, but the government took it away to build a highway. When my mom abandoned me the first time she brought me a videogame one day and said she was going out. She didn't come back for two and a half years. When I was 12 or 13 I shot one of my buddies. I killed him. The news said I shot hiom over a Sega game. My lawyer told me I didn't have to plead guilty, but I was devastated and I didn't want a trial. I knew what had happened. I pleaded guilty. It brought my mom and dad back together. My mom was a runaway crack addict, and now she works for an online shoe store. All because I killed my best friend. Her and my dad moved out from the projects to the country, and they go shopping together..." - Spc. Kenneth Eastridge, 506th Infantry, age 20
"We tear each other limb from fucking limb" -Salman Rushdie
"My best friend back home just shot himself. Three days ago. Now I only got one friend left at home who isn't dead or in prison. Just one. Fuck that.... There's nothing hard about the army. It ain't even that dangerous for a lot of us, compared to home. It's not even uncomfortable. You should see where half the people in this platoon grew up. Or fuckin' prison. I've seen bad things in Iraq, but I seen bad shit at home, too." - PFC David Nash, 506th Infantry, age 19
Send our troops apple pie, everybody. Send them porno and big, shrinkwrapped bags of the best weed you have and Oreos.
"I'm reading the Koran. It doesn't say none of that shit about killing infidels and foreigners and all that." -Sgt. Hector Rodriguez, 506th Infantry, 41
I hate what I see it do to my friends who have gone. I hate what I see it do to my friends who don't know if they'll have to go. I can't read about it without crying.
While shamelessly searching for a friend's hidden blog (you know who you are), I found this blog. I could hardly read it because the screen got blurry through the tears in my eyes. I can't stand it.
I couldn't stand the stories that Josh told about Cliff in Afghanistan. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that while Cliff was being shot at I was wrapped up in blankets sleeping soundly in my bed, or perhaps complaining about the weather change. A day after Josh told me those stories, I got an email from Cliff. I hadn't heard from him for at least a year. It was only a few sentences long....it said this:
"love the tunes. i am utterly impressed.
i have had a crazy couple of months with the war and all but this has really lifted my spirits."
It was this reminder...I can't really describe it except that a sense of determination came over me and I realized that if I am able to use music to offer a little hope to a soldier who comes back from war, even if its only temporary hope, that is the greatest privelege.
In 2005 my old friend Joe wrote a blog that I will never forget. It comes to mind often, and then I go on a google hunt for about 10 minutes before I'm able to find it again. I love this perspective. I definitely read it through different filters than I first did when he wrote it, and I'm sure he'd probably edit it if he were to write it now, but it doesn't matter.
Here it is, I hope you enjoy:
"She asked what I would do now. What, would you just pull out? Do you know what would happen if we just pulled out? That's the idea, isn't it, that bad things happen both ways now? That's why we shouldn't have gone in the first place, I told her, because bad things happen both ways now. And just sit and do nothing? Well not necessarily. But sometimes violence is the only choice. And then: Like if someone was going to shoot your grandmother. why is it always 'your grandmother?' and the only way you could stop them was to kill them. Does he have a gun? He's got a gun. How am I going to kill him if he has a gun? Well you have a gun too. But I don't own a gun. But if you did. Ok. And you could save her by shooting him. I'm not good with guns. Well you could save her. What if I accidentally shot her? Say you had a clear shot at the guy and you could kill him or else he would kill your grandmother. Why does he want to kill my grandmother? I don't know - this guy is going to kill your grandmother. How do I know he's going to kill her? You just do. That seems a little- You just know he's going to kill her. Well that's terrible idea. So would you let your grandmother die? Maybe she has something he wants Look, he's going to kill her unless you kill him. Do you do it? I'm not sure I understand...
Does it disprove pacifism to show that it can't resolve a hypothetical situation created around the sole, necessary premise that someone has to die?
reading RADAR magazine:
"My dad grew up on a farm, but the government took it away to build a highway. When my mom abandoned me the first time she brought me a videogame one day and said she was going out. She didn't come back for two and a half years. When I was 12 or 13 I shot one of my buddies. I killed him. The news said I shot hiom over a Sega game. My lawyer told me I didn't have to plead guilty, but I was devastated and I didn't want a trial. I knew what had happened. I pleaded guilty. It brought my mom and dad back together. My mom was a runaway crack addict, and now she works for an online shoe store. All because I killed my best friend. Her and my dad moved out from the projects to the country, and they go shopping together..." - Spc. Kenneth Eastridge, 506th Infantry, age 20
"We tear each other limb from fucking limb" -Salman Rushdie
"My best friend back home just shot himself. Three days ago. Now I only got one friend left at home who isn't dead or in prison. Just one. Fuck that.... There's nothing hard about the army. It ain't even that dangerous for a lot of us, compared to home. It's not even uncomfortable. You should see where half the people in this platoon grew up. Or fuckin' prison. I've seen bad things in Iraq, but I seen bad shit at home, too." - PFC David Nash, 506th Infantry, age 19
Send our troops apple pie, everybody. Send them porno and big, shrinkwrapped bags of the best weed you have and Oreos.
"I'm reading the Koran. It doesn't say none of that shit about killing infidels and foreigners and all that." -Sgt. Hector Rodriguez, 506th Infantry, 41
posted by Julie at
7:44 PM
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