In 2004, when I returned from my first deployment to Iraq, I went to Hawaii for a week during a near month-long leave. I was suppose to be there with a group of soldiers I deployed with, but one by one, they opted out of a week in Hawaii to spend another week at home.
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After it was all said and done, each one of the soldiers later on told me they wish they had come with me to Hawaii. They all got pretty sick of being home. I knew I would, and that’s why I didn’t spend my entire break at home.
A Touching Moment In Pearl Harbor
I haven’t always been extremely anti-war.
Having never been to Hawaii, I made the most of it I could. I hiked, biked, slept at the beach, roamed Honolulu…heck, I even befriended a local who showed me around the island. Of course, I had to go see Pearl Harbor.
I went to the USS Arizona Memorial. At one point, I looked over the railing and into the water. Knowing there were sailors still trapped in the battleship, I teared up a little. I could only ask myself if I had done enough on my part to live up to what these sailors had.
Fast Forward a Few Years
When I had to go back to the Middle East a second time (when I was called back in to the Army from the IRR), I began to question what we were really doing in the Middle East. In short, all 70 or so of us that were recalled to deploy with the historic 100/442nd Infantry weren’t needed. The mission could have been done without any of us.
*Why are we here?* I constantly found myself pondering. After having another soldier start talking to me about Libertarianism, and books I started to read for the next couple years, I realized we weren’t there to defend freedom.
We were there because Chicken Hawks, both citizens and politicians, wanted us there for either monetary gains or to satisfy their personal war-lust.
What Can You Do this Memorial Day 2020?
Do what I had the bravery to do and open your mind up to the possibility that maybe aggressive war isn’t necessary. Not only is it not necessary, but it is extremely destructive.
Why hasn’t Congress declared war in almost 80 years? It’s amazing to me that those who are so willing to send people they don’t know to go kill and die don’t even have the guts to put their names in writing to send people they don’t know to die and kill other people they don’t know.
If you’re looking for some reading material, I suggest the following:
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