One vets thoughts on the brotherhood of war |
DUTY HONOR COUNTRY WITH THESE THREE WORDS YOU CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW A COMBAT VETERAN THINKS & FEELS, HOW HE LIVES HIS LIFE, TREATS OTHERS AND HOW DEEPLY HE CAN BE WOUNDED. WOUNDS THAT CANNOT BE SEEN BY OTHERS, WOUNDS THAT CAN FESTER FOR YEARS WITH OUT COMING TO LIGHT, WOUNDS THAT SEEMINGLY CAN’T BE HEALED. THESE WOUNDS ARE LIKE A HEART BEAT, A CONSTANT REMINDER OF A PAIN DEEP WITHIN AND ALSO HOW MUCH HE OWES TO THIS COUNTRY, THE US OF A, THE GRAND OLD USA, LAND OF THE FREE HOME OF THE BRAVE. HE OWES HIS FREEDOM TO THIS COUNTRY AND WOULD GIVE HIS LIFE FOR THIS GIFT. A COUNTRY HE FOUGHT FOR, NO MATTER WHAT YOU PERSONALY THINK OF WAR, HE DID HIS DUTY HONORING HIS COUNTRY WHEN IT CALLED. LIKE A HEART BEAT NOT MISSING A BEAT, NOT SKIPPING, NO FLUTTERING JUST A CONSTANT MUSCULAR PULSING. THIS IS WHAT DRIVES A MAN TO JOIN THE MILITARY A FEELING DEEP WITHIN HIS SOUL A LOVE OF COUNTRY A NEED, NO, MORE LIKE A COMPULSION TO SERVE TO KEEP OUR PRECIOUS GIFT OF FREEDOM. DRIVEN TO JOIN THE BROTHERHOOD, TO BE A BLOOD BROTHER, ONE OF THE BROTHERS IN ARMS, TO JOIN THE BAND OF BROTHERS. I KNEW IN MY HEART THAT I TOO HAD TO JOIN THIS BAND OF BROTHERS, BE ONE OF THEM, A WARRIOR LIKE MY UNCLES WHO FOUGHT FOR WORLD PEACE IN WWII. COULD I DO THIS, COULD I BE ONE OF THEM, DID I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES, DID I DESERVE TO JOIN THEIR RANKS, COULD I GRASP THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PRIVILEGE? THEY SERVED COURAGEOUSLY AND HONORABLY, THEY DID THEIR DUTY, BUT COULD I? THEY PAID THE PRICE, THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL PRICE. THERE IS A SAYING AND I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO GIVE CREDIT TO, IT GOES; ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL. IT MAY NOT ALWAYS HAVE BEEN WITH A FULL EFFORT BEHIND IT, HOWEVER THE THOUGHT WAS THERE IN THE BACKGROUND LIKE A SHADOW; DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY. ONCE THIS BECOMES EMBEDDED IT CANNOT BE ERASED, IT BECOMES A PART OF THE MAN AS IF IT WAS ALWAYS THERE. PART OF THE HERITAGE OF HIS FAMILY IF YOU LIKE THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED. SOMETHING THAT CAN’T BE HIDDEN BY HIM IT MUST COME INTO THE LIGHT. IT WILL DEMAND TO BE RECOGNIZED AND BE GIVEN ITS RIGHT FULL PLACE, ITS HONORABLE PLACE. IT MUST STRIVE TO ACHIEVE WHAT IT IS DESTINE TO BECOME, A SERVANT OF FREEDOM. SERVING IN WHAT EVER CAPACITY HE IS CALLED TO SERVE. MAY IT BE A WARRIOR ON THE FRONT LINE FIGHTING, KILLING AND DIEING. OR IN THE REAR SUPPORTING THE FIGHT WITH BULLETS, BANDAGES AND BEANS SO DESPERATELY NEEDED BY THE MAN IN THE BATTLE TO SUSTAIN HIS LIFE. THEY BRING HIM A MUCH NEEDED LETTER FROM HOME, FROM A LOVED ONE OR A HOT MEAL OR A PATCH UP WHEN HE IS SICK OR WOUNDED. WHAT THEY CAN’T FIX, WHAT GETS LOST IS THE INNOCENCE, THE LITTLE BOY INNOCENCE, THAT’S WHATS GONE THAT’S WHATS ALWAYS KILLED IN WAR THE LITTLE BOY AND HIS WIDE EYED WONDER IS NO MORE. WHAT TAKES ITS PLACE IS THE WARRIOR, THE PROTECTOR OF LIFE, A CHAMPION OF FREEDOM. THIS IS AT A GREAT COST TO THE WARRIOR FOR IN WAR HE LOSES SOME OF HIS TRUST AND HIS FAITH GETS DAMAGED. HIS SENSE OF RIGHT AND WRONG HAS BEEN CHALLENGED, THE VERY CORE OF HIS BEING IS IN TURMOIL. KILL OR BE KILLED, IS HIS NEW CODE. SAVE THE BROTHER BEFORE YOU SAVE YOUR SELF, DON’T DAMAGE THE BROTHERHOOD IS HIS THOUGHT AND PLEASE NOT ME, CAN IT NOT BE ME THAT HAS TO DIE I WANT TO LIVE, I WANT TO GO HOME. THIS IS SOME OF THE THOUGHTS OF A WARRIOR A MEMBER OF THAT BAND OF BROTHERS. LATER COMES THE LARGER PICTURE OF; DUTY, HONOR AND COUNTRY. IT’S WRITTEN IN BLOOD THIS OATH TO THE BROTHERHOOD, HIS BLOOD AND COUNTLESS OTHERS BLOOD IS THE GREAT SEAL ON THIS SACRED DOCUMENT, THE DOCUMENT OF FREEDOM. THE BLOOD IS WHAT MAKES IT REAL WITH OUT THE BLOOD IT’S JUST ANOTHER DOCUMENT, ONE OF MILLIONS. WITH THE BLOOD- OATH IT BECOMES A LIVING BREATHING ENTITY AS IT ROLLS THROUGH THE RANKS OF THE WARRIORS PIERCING THE SOUL OF THE FIGHTING MAN MAKING HIM A LIFE TIME FULL DUES PAID MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE BAND OF BROTHERS. NO KNOW ONE KNOWS THE SILENT STRUGGLES, THE BATTLES LOST AND THE BATTLES THAT MUST BE FAUGHT IN THE MIND AND SPIRIT. SOME OF THE BATTLES MUST BE WON AT ANY COST IF HE IS TO SURIVE, SURVIVE AND BE A HAPPY PRODUCTIVE PERSON. A BOY AGAIN? NEVER A BOY AGAIN, BUT MAYBE THE WIDE EYE WONDER COULD RETURN SOME DAY. THE BATTLES AFTER THE WAR CAN BE JUST AS FEROCIOUS AND CRUEL AS THE WAR ITSELF WITH BLOOD AND GUTS BEING SPILLED EVERY WHERE HE GOES. LIKE A HAUNTING, FELT AND EXPERIENCED FULL BORE WITH OUT THE SEEING AND TOUCHING, WITH OUT THE PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS BUT A HAUNTING NO LESS. A WAR JUST THE SAME NOW BUT WITH NO BOMBS, NO GUNS AND NO BULLETS MORE LIKE FEELINGS, THOUGHTS, HORRORS AND GHOSTS AND THAT SHADOWY HAUNTING ALWAYS THE HAUNTING LIKE A DARK SHADOW UNDERNEATH IT ALL. THE WOUNDED WARRIOR CAN NOT HEAL HIMSELF, HE MUST HAVE HELP TO BRING THE SHADOWS INTO THE LIGHT OF REASON TO FINALLY STOP THE HAUNTING OF HIS BEING. THE TORTURE OF WHATS LEFT OF HIS SOUL AND REMOVE THE DARKNESS OVER HIS SPIRIT. THE COUNTRY ASKED OF HIM TO GIVE HIS ALL BUT, ALL HE HAD WAS NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE HIS BROTHER AND BECAUSE OF THIS HE STILL HURTS AND HIS SOUL CRIES TO MAKE IT RIGHT. THE HEART AND SOUL CRY FOR FORGIVENESS, WE COULD NOT SAVE THEM, NO NOT ONE COULD WE SAVE, SO NOW HE MUST SAVE HIMSELF TO TELL THEIR STORY, THE STORY OF THE BAND OF BROTHERS. WHAT LIVES ON NOW IS THE MEMORY OF THEIR SACRIFICE AND COURAGE IN; DUTY HONOR COUNTRY |