I am a veteran... but I dont feel like one... I dont want to be one, and certainly not one who parades with flags and berets. I fought 15 years for my country: secret wars, covert ops, dirty ops, but actually... I did not feel I “served”, even if I did. I was a fighter and as far as I can remember I always wanted to fight. First in a dojo learning the bushido through Karate, Aikido and Iaido, then I joined the military. Back then I wanted to beat the crap out of the communists and the islamists who harmed my country, even if it meant I would not return. Today, even if the communists rule but under a different name and the islamists are all over, I did my job. People are responsible for this mess for having watched soldiers fight while stabbing them in the back, by capitulating and opening the doors soldiers were trying to keep closed, or even protesting against those who wanted to protect them. I fought and saw horrible things, learned a lot from them. I experienced things I could never have experienced anywhere else, things money cant buy. I Got scared, got wounded a couple of times, got real friends, had fun. I loved my job and returned. I dont know what is this PTSD thing, may be a made up disease for guys who should never have been soldiers to begin. I dont feel I am a veteran, one because I am still a fighter and I am not done yet. Second, because I am one privileged for having had the life of a fighter and for having done something for a cause. I cannot say enough how empty is the life of “normal” people, those who are not veterans, those who commute every day and work in the same place for years and years doing something they dont even like. You, people dont know what you are missing and what you missed and what you gave up for a complacent and easy life. That is why I will never parade, what I did: I consider it normal. To me, it is the other way around, not having done it is not normal. People should parade, not vets, because what people do, I cant do it, I could not, never will. Those who sacrifice their lives are not the soldiers, I can tell you that. There is no god, yet I cant agree more with the parachutist prayer from aspirant André Zirnheld, french parachutist in the resistance who was killed in combat in 1942. It is in french, google translate if you want to learn something. Je m’adresse à vous, Mon Dieu, Car vous donnez Ce qu’on ne peut obtenir que de soi. Donnez-moi, mon Dieu, ce qui vous reste Donnez-moi ce qu’on ne vous demande jamais. Je ne vous demande pas le repos Ni la tranquillité, Ni celle de l’âme, ni celle du corps. Je ne vous demande pas la richesse Ni le succès, ni même la santé. Tout ça, mon Dieu, on vous le demande tellement Que vous ne devez plus en avoir. Donnez-moi, mon Dieu, ce qui vous reste. Donnez-moi ce que l’on vous refuse. Je veux l’insécurité et l’inquiétude. Je veux la tourmente et la bagarre Et que vous me les donniez, mon Dieu, définitivement. Que je sois sûr de les avoir toujours, Car je n’aurai pas toujours le courage De vous les demander. Donnez-moi, mon Dieu, ce qui vous reste. Donnez-moi ce dont les autres ne veulent pas. Mais donnez-moi aussi le courage Et la force et la Foi.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 23:15:32 +0000
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