Sometimes it is the lil things in life that remind us of why we live where we do.
This is one of those lil things.
Rock Candy
WHEN THE MUSIC STOPPED
For those who are unaware, at military theaters, the National Anthem
is played before every movie. The following was written by a
Chaplain in Iraq:
“I recently attended a showing of 'Superman 3' here at LSA Anaconda.
We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial
services and other large gatherings.
”As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to
attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature.
All was going as planned until about three-quarters of the way
through The National Anthem the music stopped.
“Now, what would happen if this occurred with a thousand eighteen-
to-22-year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots,
catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments; and everyone would sit down
and call for a movie. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the
National Anthem in the first place.
”Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed
forward. The music started again. The Soldiers continued to quietly
stand at attention. And again, at the same point, the music stopped.
“What would you expect to happen? Even here I would imagine
laughter, as everyone finally sat down and expected the movie to
start. But here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every Soldier
continued to stand at attention.
“Suddenly there was a lone voice, then a dozen, and quickly the room
was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where
the recording left off:
"And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof
through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that
Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the
home of the brave."
“It was the most inspiring moment I have had here in Iraq. I wanted
you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving you here.
Pass this along as a reminder to others to be ever in prayer for all
our soldiers serving us here at home and abroad, for many have
already paid the ultimate price.
Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins
LSA Anaconda is at the Ballad Airport in Iraq, north of Baghdad.
[soapbox]
I came across this a few years ago. Recently I have had reason to remember it again.
This is one of those things that is important in life. Some say if you care, share this.
I say if you care, dare to stand up for what is right.
[/soapbox]
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Guy:"Lets have sex right now."
Girl: "Can we do what?"
Guy: "You know, can I be your first, finally?"
Girl: "Um.....no."
Guy: "Why?"
Girl: "Because, 1. you have a girlfriend, who happens to be myfriend......."
Guy: "So, if you don't tell, I won't tell."
Girl: "Besides that, I'm waiting for someone special. Someone thatI want to be with for the rest of my life to be my first."
Guy: "I'm not special to you?"
Girl: "You're my friend. That's all."
Guy: looks forward and keeps driving.
5 minutes pass.......
Guy: starts to run his hand up the girl's thigh.
Girl: moves his hand, "Don't touch me.".
Guy: tries to kiss her.
Girl: screams, "Would you stop."
Guy: continues trying.
Girl: moves to the back seat
Guy: parks on an abandoned street and gets in the backseat with thegirl. Starts to kiss her.
Girl: pushes him off and scoots over, "Please, don't dothis."
Guy: "Don't do what, I know you want it, I can see it in youreyes." Moves over to her and starts to unbutton her pants.
Girl: pushes him harder and says, "No, don't."
Guy: getting aggravated, punches her and tells her to stop "playing hard to get".
Girl: crying, continues to fight.
Guy: punches her harder, pulls her pants off, and holds herdown.
Girl: screams as he penetrates her, "NO, please don't do this to me!"
Guy: puts his hand over her mouth.
An hour passes......... [he lasted that long?]
Guy: pulls back and wipes himself off.
Girl: sits on the corner of the seat, crying.
Guy: looks at her and says, "You better not tell anybody about this. If you're really my friend, you won't tell anybody aboutthis. You know I love you." He reaches out his hand to touch her cheek.
Girl: pulls back, "Just take me home, now."
Guy: says, "Alright." Gets in the front seat and drives her home.
2 months later.........
Girl: "Doctor, what's wrong with me. I haven't had my time of the month in 2 months."
Doctor: looks at her, "You haven't been having your "time" for areason."
Girl: looks at him and says, "Why?" dreading the answer that she was sure to receive.
Doctor: "You are pregnant."
Girl: faints.
The story gets out that she is pregnant, and people start looking to the Guy. He claims that it isn't his because she was sleeping with every guy in the school (which was a lie). He goes to her andtells her, "I'm telling you, if you lie to people and say that I raped you, I'll kill you."
The Girl is completely devastated. First, he took her virginity and got her pregnant....then he lied about it. So completely depressed......the girl commits suicide by drug over dose while the guy lives on in denial .......
“America at war” as a phrase it has become so commonplace that no one even bothers to use an exclamation point or capitalize it any longer. “In the news today a car bomb …” the rest is tuned out as we have heard similar stories before. In a general sense, we have tuned out what goes on in the Middle East. It is nothing more than a footnote in our daily lives and to achieve this, a price had to be paid. To nullify it, everything has been reduced down to emotionless facts and figures, nothing but data. “Nothing but a number,” is how some soldiers refer to it now. This did not occur over night though and it can be traced back through our history.
Conflict and warfare are part of human history no matter what section of the world you go back in time and review. One group goes to do battle with another. At that time, technology was simple in combat, whatever could you get your hands on is what you used. Do not be fooled by romantic notions that these fights raged on and on. These were simple times and language was nothing more than a series of grunts. Sheer numbers is what normally won the battles. As a species, we evolved over time and created tools. The knife, spear, bow and arrow, ax, and hammer were tools of the hunter and the warrior. Our social groups evolved as well from small family groups to clans, tribes, villages, towns, city-states, kingdoms, and nation states. The smaller societies knew and felt the impact of warfare on their communities. Larger ones did as well, but the impact was somewhat lessened by its size. One constant held true though, the more bodies you had on your side meant the odds were in your favor to win. Scotland’s folk hero William Wallace was one of the first to engage in combat against a larger force and win. In September of 1297, he used tactics during the Battle of Stirling Bridge (bbc.co.uk); he knew every person was needed for the fight ahead, and every person had a stake in it as well. Emotions ran high amongst the warriors (they were nothing more than farmers and simple ‘country’ nobles) and their families in the towns and villages. Everyone waited for the runner that carried news of the battles that fought. Everyone wanted to hear if a loved one had fallen. At that time, no one was ‘nothing but a number’ and yet they were.
Countries fought each other as empires were being carved out of the world. It has happened in more than one period of our history. As our knowledge of Earth’s size grew, so did the size of our empires. Where at one time runners could spread the news in a sufficient manner, riders on horseback soon replaced them. They in turn were replaced by other means; imagine trying to keep the horses head above water crossing an ocean. The Portuguese caravel, a light sailing ship, was a larger version of the Islamic qârib (nautarch.tamu.edu). It, and other technological advances of the late Middle Ages (1000 to 1500 AD), gave growing European countries the ability to create colonies and empires. The most successful of these was the United Kingdom. By filling ships full of people, they quickly had the largest population in the ‘New World’. These same ships that carried supplies and resources between the colonies and Great Britain also brought news to families separated by the Atlantic Ocean. According to research done by Professor Salvatore Codina, it was the sheer mass of people that enabled “thirteen oh so troublesome, yet profitable, colonies” to succeed economically above the colonies of other nations. To the British monarchy it was a game of ‘nothing but a number’ to keep the money coming in and fill the royal coffers.
Iraq … the word alone can cause different reactions. According to some opinions, oil was the reason to invade. That is not for me to say, nor is it an expression of my own opinion. What I do know is that on January 30, 2009, the Washington Post reported current American troop levels as approximately 155,000. Since 2003 icasualties.org states 4,271 have died, 51 of those in 2009 alone. Those are large and numbing numbers, so view this on another scale. The Army National Guard is has militias in all 50 States and as well as in American territories (NGB.Army.mil). Of those, California has the largest with 20,059 service members. Now stop and think if that number could be higher had 3,273 not died? As American soldiers, we volunteer to serve our country. It is our choice and we make it freely. What we learn during the course of that service is a startling truth. It is a tradition that reaches back to our days as cave dwellers. When the call comes to go overseas, all they care about is how many bodies they can get over there; when we return home, all they want to report to the media is how many made it back, when the general public hears about the dead and wounded they are shocked. Honestly what is all this? What is it to them? What is this truth soldiers learn? It is that we are nothing but a number, for a number has no face.