With the pull out Afghanistan is quickly falling. I met a former Marine infantryman after coming back from my second deployment to Afghanistan. He did three tours in Vietnam, and he said "some day, you will know how we fell." Today I do. All of the killing, death, and friends I have lost , I cant help but feel betrayed. We gave our youth, sanity, and morals in that place and they just walk away. Fuck.
I feel you brother, I tracked every medevac and casualty in RC/SW from Feb 2012 to Feb 2013 as the C3 COPS Watch Chief personally and while I might have been riding a desk in a warzone it still hurts to know what happened, who it happened to and then know that in the end the only people that they really fought for were their brothers to the left and right of their position because no one else really cared in the end...
Last edited by rcbusmc24; 07-14-2021 at 10:34 PM.
"So strong is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts." - James Madison, Federalist No 10
I was there 2010,2011, and 2012... We killed a lot of bad guys, gave up our youth and sanity with the idea that it was for something. I feel so betrayed it isn't funny.Originally Posted by rcbusmc24
Wars may be started by statesmen for some noble or nefarious purpose, Wars may be ended by greater statesmen for a nobler purpose, but for those who do the fighting it never really matters the purpose but to care for those under our charge and to do our best to bring as many home as we are able, that is our victory, and none that have never experienced it can ever grasp the bond that we inevitably have due to it. Take solace in the fact that it was not because of US that things did not go the way we wanted them to there...
"So strong is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts." - James Madison, Federalist No 10
I'm truly sorry for the Afghan vets who are experiencing this. I know how I feel, felt about various events in & around Baghdad in the last several years.
I gots Iraq on the mind as well....Got hit in Baghdad in 2003, went back again in 2004, out on the border with Syria.....same thoughts as with Afghanistan, can't help what you can't help...help what you can help.
"So strong is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts." - James Madison, Federalist No 10
OEF 1, OIF 1.
While I was in Afghanistan, my wife frequently felt like no one realized we were even at war.
Christmas Eve 2005, a young soldier I’d mentored was killed on a convoy. Just some random idiot with an RPG warhead he wanted to shoot at an American truck, and a single mom lost her only child.
We have been at war for so long. I feel like there should be a conclusion, but can’t get on board with any of the attempts at that we’ve seen so far.
I was there '03-'04. One of the things I read was to the effect of "America's military is at war, and the rest of America is at the mall."
One thing stood out when I returned - when we got off the plane, there was a line of Vietnam veterans waiting to welcome us home. They had been ignored when they got back and were determined that it wasn't going to happen to us.
I remember reading that line in a newspaper back then too. I never served, but I thought that line did sum the situation up pretty well.
During Obama's first term, when he was making noises about pulling out, I told a friend how it would end. One day we'll have had enough, and say that all objectives have been met, and Afghanistan will look the same as it has for decades. Not that I'm some kind of genius, but Afghanistan is Afghanistan.
When the news quits covering a war, that's a sign. I read KIA reports to remind myself that we're at war. Some people got numb, some never cared, but know that some of us tried really hard to never forget you were there.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
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