abandonconflict
Well-Known Member
First off, don't come in here barking details of your service, expecting that others will respect you because you had an almost combat MOS, 2 years after the invasions. Nobody cares. Nobody supports the wars who I am unwilling to troll. I don't give a shit if you have a purple heart.
There was once a US paratrooper named Jeremy Hinzman. I say 'was' because he is no longer a paratrooper and also no longer self describes as a US citizen. He served from 1999 until he went awol to Canada in 2003. He was the most skilled M240B gunner in my brigade. He was also the most courageous warrior I have ever known. Before our battalion received orders to deploy to Afghanistan, he expressed his disagreement with the invasion, which at the time was unquestioned and very popular. For this alone, he deserves great praise, if you know how a platoon full of young men can treat one person who isn't brainwashed. He then told our commander that he objected to the war conscientiously. The reply he received was that cowardice would not be tolerated and that he would deploy. Within a week, he was punished for an infraction and demoted to private (it doesn't matter for what, he was punished because he didn't agree with the war) and during the entire deployment, he was treated with disrespect by everyone in the unit. He was on extra duty the whole time also. I never once heard him complain about it. All his complaints always had to do with the political and diplomatic lies that people were so quick to believe which had our nation rushed into war. We treated him like a traitor. I wish I would have told him then how much respect I had for him.
When our unit came home, we already had orders to deploy in support of the invasion of Iraq. This time, he didn't waste his time with following legal channels of conscientious objection, as he knew he would be deployed anyway and probably murdered. He went to Canada and instead of hiding from the army, he raised his voice. It was a clarion call and I was inspired. I was still on the fence about my feelings, I didn't support the wars, but I conformed. From then on, I had the courage to express unpopular convictions. The views I expressed didn't make me popular and I believe that is why everyone in my unit was given stop-loss orders but myself, as I was honorably discharged after my Iraq deployment, only to be involuntarily reactivated a year later but this story is not about me.
If he would have just conformed and kept his mouth shut, he would have medals, an honorable discharge and probably a very good income in what ever sector he would have moved onto. People would treat him as an upstanding and honorable citizen and never question his jurisprudence. Some people would even kiss his ass with 'thank you for your service' bullshit. He gave that up for a life of poverty, because his convictions mean something to him. So when I hear myself or anyone else start to enjoy the instant respect they get when they simply mention that they are a veteran, I remind myself that what this guy did, took a whole lot more balls than what I did, killing barefoot Muslims, and yet he was regarded as a traitor, and is now in the margin.
There was once a US paratrooper named Jeremy Hinzman. I say 'was' because he is no longer a paratrooper and also no longer self describes as a US citizen. He served from 1999 until he went awol to Canada in 2003. He was the most skilled M240B gunner in my brigade. He was also the most courageous warrior I have ever known. Before our battalion received orders to deploy to Afghanistan, he expressed his disagreement with the invasion, which at the time was unquestioned and very popular. For this alone, he deserves great praise, if you know how a platoon full of young men can treat one person who isn't brainwashed. He then told our commander that he objected to the war conscientiously. The reply he received was that cowardice would not be tolerated and that he would deploy. Within a week, he was punished for an infraction and demoted to private (it doesn't matter for what, he was punished because he didn't agree with the war) and during the entire deployment, he was treated with disrespect by everyone in the unit. He was on extra duty the whole time also. I never once heard him complain about it. All his complaints always had to do with the political and diplomatic lies that people were so quick to believe which had our nation rushed into war. We treated him like a traitor. I wish I would have told him then how much respect I had for him.
When our unit came home, we already had orders to deploy in support of the invasion of Iraq. This time, he didn't waste his time with following legal channels of conscientious objection, as he knew he would be deployed anyway and probably murdered. He went to Canada and instead of hiding from the army, he raised his voice. It was a clarion call and I was inspired. I was still on the fence about my feelings, I didn't support the wars, but I conformed. From then on, I had the courage to express unpopular convictions. The views I expressed didn't make me popular and I believe that is why everyone in my unit was given stop-loss orders but myself, as I was honorably discharged after my Iraq deployment, only to be involuntarily reactivated a year later but this story is not about me.
If he would have just conformed and kept his mouth shut, he would have medals, an honorable discharge and probably a very good income in what ever sector he would have moved onto. People would treat him as an upstanding and honorable citizen and never question his jurisprudence. Some people would even kiss his ass with 'thank you for your service' bullshit. He gave that up for a life of poverty, because his convictions mean something to him. So when I hear myself or anyone else start to enjoy the instant respect they get when they simply mention that they are a veteran, I remind myself that what this guy did, took a whole lot more balls than what I did, killing barefoot Muslims, and yet he was regarded as a traitor, and is now in the margin.
