Spliced images from army.mil

War, your experience may vary: I don’t blame those that are stationed near the ‘good life’ but having been stationed in the Green Zone at one time, I couldn’t bring myself to jump into the pristine pool at Camp Victory, which had come to epitomize the life between the ‘haves and have nots.’ I knew what the ‘grunts’ were enduring out West, having just completed a tour in the Ramadi of 2006. The Salsa Nights, DJ’s, Restaurants, Pristine Dining Facilities, and ultimately safety of Camp Victory was a bit overwhelming. If you have ever walked into a nasty toilet at a Gas Station, you know the feeling, just dirty. I salute those who did the heavy lifting and lacked the ‘best’ of what Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom had to offer.

Stockphoto sidinfo.com

2. After returning from deployment civilians always ask what I think about the President, War, Iraq, Afghanistan: C’mon Man! As my old Commanding Officer used to tell me, I look into their enquiring eyes and just wonder what the F@&K do they want me to say. If I have to explain to you on a map where Iraq or Afghanistan is, you just don’t rate a REAL discussion on the complexities of the operational environment. Why people feel the need to hear me support their thoughts on the war is beyond me.

Redhour Films, Paramount Pictures ( Four Leaf, Tropic Thunder)

3. No, I am not crazy: PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) afflicts many Veterans whom have served under the stressers of combat. At times these effects begin to cause “a mental health disorder.” According to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), the belief that “you think that your life or others’ lives are in danger” will cause a myriad of symptoms. You can imagine the range of symptoms and the effects those symptoms caused. I have seen a Marine wrecked by PTSD, a good friend, it wore his marriage to pieces and pushed him to the brink. He sought assistance from the VA and is doing much better these days.

4. I begin to lose my mind when AFN Commercials come on: There is nothing like sitting down to eat at the DFAC (Dining Facility) and watching my beloved ESPN segment get interrupted by an AFN commercial about Network Security, Speeding, Getting Married Overseas, Email Hackers, Being Attacked by a Hooded Man, Checking My Pay, Moving, etc. The commercials interrupt my dreamlike state, where I’m imagining that I am not eating boiled meat, yesterday’s rice, and this morning’s leftover vegetables. The mind-numbing commercials, slowly killing my soul and reminding me, as if I didn’t already, that Yes I am in the military.

5. Love me some Near-Beer: Walking to the industrial refrigerators at the DFAC, I carefully balance my food tray when I peer through the glass, eyeing the neatly stacked cans of Coca-Cola, Rip-Its, Water Bottles, and then my heart races when I see the iconic image. The cherry red colors, the lyrical writing, and magnificent badging of Budweiser. Then out of nowhere, the letters NA thrust in like a roman sword into Jesus’s side while on the cross. F%$K, near beer. The travesty of the modern military man deployed in country and teased with Budweiser, are we really being teased? The alcohol amounts in ‘non-alcoholic’ beer is ‘near zero,’ but if one were to rapidly consume in excess of 10–15 beers, the sensation of being buzzed from either the malt liquid making me nauseated or the low amounts of alcohol stacking up finally kicks in. Revenge gents, sweet revenge.

6. Is Veterans Day really for me: You see the commercials, the sales, and flag waving, but is Veteran’s Day really for veterans? If so, how come I don’t feel like it? Maybe it is the extreme commercialization or the politicians ruining it, but sometimes I just want to fire-up the grill, drink a beer, and quietly remember the ‘good guys’ who laid down the ultimate sacrifice or the wounded who left a piece of themselves on some foreign battlefield. Try as I may, I get interrupted by the requests to hit the sales at the Mall or stand in-line at some event that has little or nothing to do with the day. This November make sure you help the nation remember why we give everyone the day off.

7. I feel proud to serve: When my kids ask me about what I do, I struggle to explain what being a Marine is all about. My kids actually understand it pretty well and can easily connect the dots and realize that Dad is a Marine and is normally away for work. I deploy to serve my country because individuals mean our people harm and seek to destroy our way of life. I stay in the military because I am led by some pretty good leaders ( i am lucky) and I got some damn good Marines I get to serve with. I can’t let my Marines down, so I train hard, take my preparation seriously, and focus squarely on the mission and the men. I may be something of an enigma to my kids, as they have yet to fully understand the the time deployed or training, but I am confident they will at some point.

8. Standing Duty: I wish someone would double-tap the requirement to ‘stand duty,’ the archaic requirement constantly ruins my fun while stateside and gives me sleepless nights . Standing duty on a weekend, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday is a necessary chore as old as the Marine Corps. Serving as a watch stander or ‘duty’ means usually sleeping overnight in ‘duty hut’ filling out a green log book with the mundane aspects of what happens in a empty building on a weekend. Entries typically say, “Went to chow, answered phone call from the wrong number, Sgt so and so’s wife is calling because her husband doesn’t like her no more, and Corporal so and so got drunk and puked all over the barracks.” Awesome. In preparation for duty one cannot drink before or during ‘watch.’ Sometimes I just want to suck start a 9mm.

9. Get Some: I love the saying and the moment when you realized you ‘Got Some.’ Yes, it is a saying common to the military, but you will know it when you realize it. At Observation Post VA (OP VA) a young Marine known affectionately as ‘Rocket Man’ was known to have launched over 25 maybe even 30 SMAW rockets at enemy personnel attempting to attack the turbulent post he was stationed at in the middle of Ramadi. I met the young Marine at the DFAC on Camp Ramadi back in 2006, when he rotated back to the main base for some good chow and mail. His fellow Marines bragged to me about his exploits and he slyly smiled at the near hero worship they poured on him. It is also worth mentioning that the Marine certainly deserved it. You can read all about it here. You know it when you got it and it is certainly not going to happen on the couch watching reruns. Get Some.

10. You stand taller: Whether it is at a baseball game or when hearing the National Anthem play at the base movie theater before the show starts, you know it when when you feel it. Something just runs through your body at the sound. I am not sure when or why the media stopped playing the National Anthem late at night, I always felt it was time to sleep when I heard the anthem end. Stand tall when you hear the National Anthem, because you actually defended the meaning of the song. I still get chills. Semper Fidelis.