Saturday, September 19, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Chaplain, What Should I Tell Them?
Tonight I had a young Trooper ask me the question. "When I get home, what should I tell them?" He continued, "They will never understand the suck we went through." He is exactly right. There are many people who get a little glimpse of it, or, unless you are a veteran, Americans just won't understand. I'll answer his question here in just a minute.
I knew from my training that I was going to change, and so would everyone else by virtue of coming here and doing what we do. It's College Football season. I've been a Penn State fan since as long as I can remember, having attended many games home and away. I pulled up their YouTube "2009 Pump Up" video. The remarks under it stated, "Best one ever," and things like that. I was never so unimpressed. Maybe it is, I don't know. My perspective on sports is completely different now. Athletes are the subconscious pseudo-heroes of the American psyche. Paratroopers are real heroes, and going mostly unsung.
What men especially like to do on the playing field is a mere shadow of what men actually do on the battlefield. Kudos to the finest college athletes in our nation. But, it's nothing compared to what the average American kid does everyday on the battlefield with no stadiums filled with screaming fans up to the tens of thousands at a time. How can anyone know, other than a Trooper, what it is like to drive down the most dangerous road in Baghdad, sometimes in the dead of night, ready, waiting for anything, for a year? Besides the Band of Brothers, only God sees us.
I am completely grateful to the invisible myriad of prayers that are offered up from your side of the earth to Heaven on a regular basis for the safety of our Troops, whether I know who you are or not. That is priceless and more often than not, goes completely unseen as well. I'll take prayers for me and my Troopers over care packages any day of the week. But, nonetheless the care packages are truly appreciated.
What was so important seems only trivial now. There is a need for triviality, but it's put into perspective. As the high cost of sacrifice overshadows it.
"What should I tell them?" Tell them that you are a Paratrooper that sometimes fought in the toughest part of Baghdad, Sadr City, Iraq. Having been shot at, mortared, rocketed, blown up, etc. Some earned their Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) others their Combat Action Badge (CAB). This wasn't an every day occurrence, but it happened to them, to us.
Tell them that we worked in a high operational tempo up to June 30th, until the Iraqi Security Forces took full control of the lead. They are in the lead now, just as they are supposed to be. We helped to get them there. We were the beginning of the end. We are in the process of turning out the lights. The war is ceasing for us. We were one of the last units there.
It's not quite over for us, nor for the Iraqis. Speaking with an Iraqi NCO the other day, I hadn't seen him in a while, he reiterated how life in Iraq is so much better than when Saddam was in power. "You were not allowed to say anything to anyone." "There were always people listening to you." "You had to be very careful of what you said or you could be killed." "We now walk down the street with cell phones and say anything we want." "We are free." "It is worth some dying so that freedom can come." Freedom trumps oppression any day of the week.
There are different levels of knowing, so to speak. There is knowledge from a newspaper journalist, or the ivory tower analysts, and then there is first-hand experience boots on the ground. Veterans know the cost of freedom more than anyone else. What we have in the U.S.A. is precious. We can all enjoy watching football and tailgating, and all the other freedoms that come with the package of Democracy. But, it only comes because of the men I know and work with over here in Baghdad, Iraq. Thank God there hasn't been another 9/11.
I knew from my training that I was going to change, and so would everyone else by virtue of coming here and doing what we do. It's College Football season. I've been a Penn State fan since as long as I can remember, having attended many games home and away. I pulled up their YouTube "2009 Pump Up" video. The remarks under it stated, "Best one ever," and things like that. I was never so unimpressed. Maybe it is, I don't know. My perspective on sports is completely different now. Athletes are the subconscious pseudo-heroes of the American psyche. Paratroopers are real heroes, and going mostly unsung.
What men especially like to do on the playing field is a mere shadow of what men actually do on the battlefield. Kudos to the finest college athletes in our nation. But, it's nothing compared to what the average American kid does everyday on the battlefield with no stadiums filled with screaming fans up to the tens of thousands at a time. How can anyone know, other than a Trooper, what it is like to drive down the most dangerous road in Baghdad, sometimes in the dead of night, ready, waiting for anything, for a year? Besides the Band of Brothers, only God sees us.
I am completely grateful to the invisible myriad of prayers that are offered up from your side of the earth to Heaven on a regular basis for the safety of our Troops, whether I know who you are or not. That is priceless and more often than not, goes completely unseen as well. I'll take prayers for me and my Troopers over care packages any day of the week. But, nonetheless the care packages are truly appreciated.
What was so important seems only trivial now. There is a need for triviality, but it's put into perspective. As the high cost of sacrifice overshadows it.
"What should I tell them?" Tell them that you are a Paratrooper that sometimes fought in the toughest part of Baghdad, Sadr City, Iraq. Having been shot at, mortared, rocketed, blown up, etc. Some earned their Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) others their Combat Action Badge (CAB). This wasn't an every day occurrence, but it happened to them, to us.
Tell them that we worked in a high operational tempo up to June 30th, until the Iraqi Security Forces took full control of the lead. They are in the lead now, just as they are supposed to be. We helped to get them there. We were the beginning of the end. We are in the process of turning out the lights. The war is ceasing for us. We were one of the last units there.
It's not quite over for us, nor for the Iraqis. Speaking with an Iraqi NCO the other day, I hadn't seen him in a while, he reiterated how life in Iraq is so much better than when Saddam was in power. "You were not allowed to say anything to anyone." "There were always people listening to you." "You had to be very careful of what you said or you could be killed." "We now walk down the street with cell phones and say anything we want." "We are free." "It is worth some dying so that freedom can come." Freedom trumps oppression any day of the week.
There are different levels of knowing, so to speak. There is knowledge from a newspaper journalist, or the ivory tower analysts, and then there is first-hand experience boots on the ground. Veterans know the cost of freedom more than anyone else. What we have in the U.S.A. is precious. We can all enjoy watching football and tailgating, and all the other freedoms that come with the package of Democracy. But, it only comes because of the men I know and work with over here in Baghdad, Iraq. Thank God there hasn't been another 9/11.
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Friday, September 04, 2009
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