"On another note, there was this soft little man (who just passed away) on PBS, gentle and quiet. Mr. Rogers is another one of those you would least suspect of being anything but what he now portrays to our youth. But Mr. Rogers was a U.S. Navy Seal, combat proven in Vietnam with over twenty-five confirmed kills to his name. He wore a long sleeve sweater to cover the many tattoo's on his forearm and biceps. A master in small arms and hand-to-hand combat, able to disarm or kill in a heartbeat. He hid that away and won our hearts with his quiet wit and charm."
Sorry, but as with most other "heart warming" stories, that is not the entire
truth. Well, actually, its a load of poop! Please read:
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/kangaroo.html
That bit about Mr. Marvin saying that other guys got shot carrying the wounded
down the mountain was probably the only truth in it.
I felt a lot of pain when I read this thing, and I had to think for a while before I realized why. I know this wasn't intended as a slap in the face, but believe it or not, it really hurts that even nice people who are against war, fail to understand the real cost; fail to understand the guilt, terror, and self loathing that veterans feel. Fail to know what will re-open the scars.
The truth is that people who have been to war are scared forever. They are never "right" again. How could they be given what they have to do? Read Mark Twain's War Prayer Veterans do NOT devote their lives to guiding children though happy, happy TV shows, because they haven't quite enough confidence that life is worth living. They do NOT become soft-spoken, gentle people filled with love. They have been forced to face the harshest reality of life, and on a scale from 1 to 10... well, it's not good at all. We are lucky if we can keep from killing ourselves outright or drinking ourselves to death. What incompetence!
I do try to be sensitive to the needs of people to live in this "rose colored world," but it hurts to have some soft handed little TV poof held up as an example of how kind and sensitive one can be despite having "confirmed kills". The implication (probably not intended) is that I just need to try a bit harder. I'm grateful to even be able to sleep without being drunk and get out of bed when morning comes around. Soft and kind is well beyond my abilities.
I've come to live by my fathers words "If you aren't pissing off 10% of the population, you aren't doing anything worth while." The simple fact is that as a veteran, I feel compelled to guide my children to grow their own food, look for the lie in every advertisement, mistrust authority, and run to the hills when the next draft comes around if they can't find some other way to "...make the other poor bastard die for his country." (hint: there are two possible meaning for that last quote)
We now return you to your version of reality.