Military opinions and war experience, page 9

Why is it that there are some people around here who seem to believe that because there are members that are in favor of this war that we must not want the safety of those men and women who are serving right now in the front lines?...

Would i prefer if no soldier of ours died in this or any war? Of course i do. i would prefer if everyone of them was at home safe, but that's not what the military is for.

Wars are hell, all wars, and people do die in wars. Those are the facts.

I was in the Navy and served in Aircrew/AW. Was i ever in a front line with a rifle? no, I was an aircrewman in Seaconron VS 24 "The Scouts", an S-3 Viking squadron. We were last stationed in NAS Jax Florida where i served last til August 1998. Aircrewmen are inside either an S-3 Viking or a P-3 Orion, hunting subs, so we don't really use m-16s or other small arms, except 9 mm berettas, althou I did get training in some other small arms.

What i don't get is that some people seem to want to claim that they have more right to cast their vote about this war than others because they percieve to have done more for the US than other service men and service women? Sorry but that's bs.

I guess aircraft pilots also shouldn't have a vote on the matter because many of them have never picked up a gun to shoot at someone else up close? How about all the other servicemen and servicewomen who are in support duties and have not served in the front lines?

I have friends that are right now in Iraq and althou most of them want to come home, quite a lot of them know why we are there and they support it.

Of course there are sailors, marines, airmen and other soldiers that want to come home and don't want to be in any war, whether or not they agree with it.

Perhaps this man has more vote than anyone in here because he died for what he believed in.

Shortly after the 3rd Battalion made its way to Iraq early last year, Corporal Dunham extended his four-year enlistment so he could stay with his men through their entire combat tour. "I want to make sure everyone makes it home alive," he told a buddy. It was a decision he didn't share with Dan and Deb, to whom he wrote: "Don't worry too much, Mom. I'll be home as soon as the time's right. Love you all."

The top Marines in Kilo Company pegged Dunham as a born leader and put him in charge of a squad of frontline grunts, the guys who head toward the gunfire instead of away from it. So on April 14, 2004, during a patrol through Karabilah, Dunham's men clambered into their Humvees when they heard that insurgents had ambushed a Marine convoy.

Soon Dunham and six other men were zigzagging through a sun-baked stretch of walled compounds and rutted dire streets, until they came upon a line of vehicles stopped on a dusty lane.

Dunham and PFC Kelly Miller, a 21-year-old from Eureka, Calif, charged up the lane to search a white Toyota Land Cruiser for weapons. The driver, a slender Iraqi man in a black crack suit and loafers, leaped from the SUV, grabbed Dunham by the neck and cocked his arm to punch the corporal. Dunham caught the man's fist and drove a knee into his stomach. The Iraqi doubled over, and both men fell to the ground.

PFC Miller pulled out his telescoping police baton, snapping it down to extend it to its full length. The Iraqi was lying face-up, so Miller planted his knee in the man's ribs and twice slammed the butt of the baton into his forehead Lance Cpl. Bill Hampton, a big 22-year-old rifleman from Woodinville, Wash., raced toward the melee, his adrenaline surging. He aimed his rifle but worried that he might hit Miller. So Hampton decided to spear the man's head with his rifle barrel. He pulled his M-16 back to get some force behind it.

At that instant, Dunham apparently saw the Iraqi drop an armed hand grenade. "No, no, no!" Dunham yelled. "Watch his hand!" Hampton caught a fleeting glimpse of Dunham's helmet on the ground.

Dunham was on his stomach, his arms wrapped around the sides of the helmet. Jason had evidenc1y covered the grenade with his helmet to protect his Marines from the blast.

The explosion shredded the helmet and peppered Miller and Hampton with shrapnel, wounding-but not killing-them. Dunham lay in a halo of his own blood, a metal fragment the size of a pencil eraser buried deep in his brain.

Excerpted from.
www.stevequayle.com...

He died because he wanted to stay with those soldiers he spent his first tour with and wanted to make sure they all returned safely.

There are many stories like this one. Some men and women support the war, others don't. This has been the same for centuries and will never change.

if you want to see the reason why i support this war, even though i have given more than enough reason and evidence before, here is another link with info about it.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

If you don't agree with it, that's fine. But there is more than enough evidence to support this war, and a couple of men writing some books talking about their own views and changing some facts so it can fit their agenda, whatever it is, is not going to change my mind. I change my mind on facts, and all the facts i have seen point to what i have stated so many times before.

Would i join the military again? i am 33 years old right now, and if i could i would. But all those times i spent jumping off planes, helos, etc did take a toll on my left knee.

I have no glorious thoughts about dying or killing, neither one is pretty, but i would fight for this country again if i could.

i would prefer if people lived in peace and harmony but in reality that is just a fantasy. It is not the real world.

---edited for errors---

[edit on 31-5-2005 by Muaddib]