Bo Burks

DAY 100 (265 M&Ms)

Welcome to my diary as a soldier deployed in the Global War on Terror.

Some days I have writer’s cramp and some days stories just fall in my lap. Today is one of those days.

On my last blog I extolled the virtues of Miss Faith Steele and the East Valley Military Support Group. Well, as it turns out, the local paper did a story on her and the other volunteers. Inside the story her email address was posted so that people could donate items or volunteer their time.

What follows is an email she received.

 On Wed, 2/3/10, Hans Waardenburg <1playbox@gmail.com> wrote:

       Don't you think your food donations could be more useful here than overseas. The employed military make enough money and should not be supported. Your are supporting criminal activity overseas. The U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan have killed thousands of innocent people and have appropriated their natural resources (oil, opium, and natural gas) to satisfy the evil leadership of this country. You are misguided in your ignorant enthusiam and are therefore criminal in your endeavor. HCW

This is my correct response;

I replied to Miss Faith and the Group. I reminded them that our service and sacrifice was not just for my family, but for Mr. Waardenburg as well. One of the greatest gifts we provide to him is his freedom of speech. The irony is that if the gentleman was here in Afghanistan, the Taliban would probably cut his tongue out before he would be publicly stoned to death. We're here to stop tyranny like that.

Mr. Waardenburg; no thank you is required, Miss Faith's will do just fine.

This is my preferred response;

Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

Colonel Nathan Jessop, USMC ( Jack Nickelson -"A Few Good Men")