The Price of Freedom
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Bill Bryson--Funniest Travel Writer Ever
The Professional Tourist
I was introduced to Bill Bryson in Iraq. A care package from my mom had a book called A Short History of Nearly Everything. I didn't have a lot of time to read but I started flipping through it. At first, I was impressed with how knowledgeable the man was. I felt like I was listening to a 70 year old historian/scientist with an incredible sense of humor.About fifteen chapters in, I was amazed at the depth of Bill's research and the best part was that I laughed every other page. The man was brilliant. Imagine my surprise when my Platoon Sergeant mentioned some obscure "travel writer" named Bill Bryson that he thought I would enjoy! He was reading In A Sunburned Country. Hold on. Travel Writer? Clearly this man was some sort of professor or scholar. We compared notes and figured out we were in fact speaking of the same gentleman indeed. We swapped books a week later and I was so impressed by IASC that I wanted to hop on the next plane to Australia and do exactly what he did. Bill travels to Australia for one month and basically drives around and through the island stopping only to get drunk in a sleazy roadside pub or to spin a tale or two on the world's (theoretically) most dangerous continent.
By the time I got home from Iraq I bought all the Bill Bryson books I could get a hold of. I started off with I'm A Stranger Here Myself, The Mother Tongue, A Walk In The Woods, and Neither Here Nor There.
Out of these books, A Walk In The Woods was absolutely the best. It follows Bill on his quest to hike the entire Appalachian Trail with a fat, out of shape friend from his youth and a curious fear of the American Black Bear. I laughed my ass off reading this book and true to reading a Bryson piece, started planning my own hike for one day.
I'm a Stranger Here Myself is about Bill's trip across America. He travels from small town to small town searching for the perfect quaint old city. It is one of his slower books, but we've all been to a lot of these towns and let's face it, there's no words you can use to spice up Murphreesboro, TN or Seeley Lake, MT.
Neither Here Nor There is another inspirational travel piece. Bill's "Eurotrip" prompted me to google an image of every place in the book so I could get a better feel for his adventure. I am planning on spending my Mid-Tour (R&R) Leave in Europe and rest assured, I will be following the path of Bill Bryson.
The Mother Tongue is probably the hardest Bryson book to get through. This could be for two possible reasons: One, that any book on the derivation of all languages couldn't possibly be entertaining or Two, I was sitting in a tent out in the field and it was 14 degrees outside and hailing. Nonetheless, it was a very rewarding read that finally pushed me into signing up for an online Latin class!
Birthday Blowout
This time I have planned my leave (Army vacation time) around my birthday because O.A.R. is opening for the Dave Matthews Band in Dallas. That's a birthday present!
So far a few guys from work are going with Beth and I. We're getting lawn seats for $50 a piece. Anybody that wants to go is welcome. If you are from out of town and would like to see me before OIF V/VI gets a hold of me, this is the perfect opportunity. I will pick you up and drop you off at the airport. And if you want to stay longer than a weekend, there's a place for you in my guest bedroom. Call me!
I'm Slacking
Saturday, July 15, 2006
This video is a short clip from my tour in Iraq during OIF II. We were conducting MSR Security along a high speed avenue of approach from a certain city to another certain city during a certain major operation. Could I be any less specific??
Open War Begins?
Photo of Western Wall (last remaining foundation from the Second Temple of Solomon
and the Dome of the Rock Islamic Shrine) borrowed from David Titherly. Thanks!
"Rut Row Raggy..."
An all out "open war" has been declared by both Israel and Hezbollah. What does that mean for the United States?
Well for starters, we have long been allied with the Israeli State since its very foundations. The US has donated over $90 billion to Israel, more than any other nation has donated to Israel in the world. They are a financial investment ally. They are strategically located in the Middle East. Their enemies, Islamic Fundamentalists, are our enemies (therefore making us friends as the saying goes). I have a unsubstantiated feeling that our early appeasement of Hitler and our later discoveries and eventual liberation of Nazi death camps may have weighed heavily on our conscience and solidified our resolve to aid Israel. Many key leaders in our government are Jewish and, while there is a huge difference between Jews and Israelis, a certain bond has been established between Jewish-Americans and their homeland.
"Oh...That Little Guy? I Wouldn't Worry About That Little Guy..."
Our support of Israel in fact goes deeper than most know. After doing a little inspired research, I found some events that are somewhat disturbing. Apparently, we have overlooked certain "incidents" that would otherwise create a terrible furor in our land had they been perpetuated by any other group of people:
The most incredulous incident is a direct military attack on a US naval vessel. On June 8th, 1967, Israeli Defense Forces launched a sustained air and sea based attack on the USS Liberty, killing 34 US naval personnel (I just can't bring myself to write "seamen," sorry...) Have you heard of this? I must have missed that class. Israel later declared the event a tragic accident. Apparently, they mistook our Technical Research Vessel for an Egyptian resupply freighter. So they say. Key personnel in the US government tend to disagree:
"I can tell you for an absolute certainty (from intercepted communications) that the Israelis knew they were attacking an American ship." -- NSA Deputy Director Oliver Kirby
"That the Liberty could have been mistaken for the Egyptian supply ship El Quseir is unbelievable" -- Special Assistant to the President Clark Clifford, in his report to President Lyndon Johnson
So, yeah, the fact that we have overlooked this event says a lot about our very close ties to Israel. And to be fair, this is not an isolated incident to be sure. We have commited equal atrocities in other countries (presumably on accident) many of which are spoken of in one of my more recent reads, Lies My Teacher Told Me, by Dr. James Loewen. I am not trying to defend Israel's brutal attack on the Liberty, nor our own forays in the name of democracy, but I feel it is necessary to put into perspective. The world's governments are FULL of shady business!
The honorable mention of our ability to "turn the other cheek" for our allies is the mulitple cases of espionage that have led to deportation rather than prosecution. I don't believe the conspiracy theories that Jewish Americans in our government are trying to create a Zionist footprint on our soil, but I do believe that Israel would not turn down anything that would secure their place in the Middle East as rightful owners of Jerusalem (even if it means spying on their best friend). It's all about self-preservation, holmes.
With all this being said, we continue to veto any UN proposal to condemn Israeli retaliation against Islamic extremists.
The Short Answers
To what level will we go to assist Israel against her enemies? Will we commit forces? Highly unlikely.
Will we continue to piss off Islamic Terrorists with our unwavering support of their worst enemy? Absolutely.
My Views
This newest conflict makes me pretty nervous. Hezbollah in Palestine is supported by Hezbollah in Lebanon, who is supported by radical Shiites in Iran, who have close ties with North Korea. That is just an ugly combination. Uncle Jimbo has a link referencing this subject on Blackfive that will make you chuckle nervously.
As far as Israel goes, it is a land that has been possessed by many owners. Jews, Christians, and Muslims (not to mention Pagans and Romans) have layed claim to the same parcels of land for over thirty centuries. It will forever exist in turmoil. When two religions are sworn enemies of one another, how can they possibly have peace? Especially since their nations are founded and remain guided on the principles of their religious beliefs. Thank God for our separation of Church and State!
Personally, I am a Roman Catholic. But I truly admire some of the tenets of Judaism. The most inspiring is that, at least in Hacidic circles, not everyone is supposed to be Jewish! I know, can you believe it? And it gets better: even non-Jews are offered a place in "Heaven." Wow! That thought brings tears to my eye. Christians spend half of their life and money trying to convert heathonous masses in the darkest places of the world so that they may join Jesus in Heaven and not rot in Hell with other non-believers (to include Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, etc.), while Islamic fundamentalists under Sharia would kill every infidel had they the logistics to do so to purify the world according to Allah's Will (oooh, especially those Zionists next door-them first!)
I may be somewhat overexaggerating, but you get the point. Bottom line, the Jews are not trying to take over the World and convert all along the way, unlike the insurgents that have tried to kill me personally on occasion (by the way). While Israel may use tactics that are sketchy or even immoral (which we are all guilty of from time to time, but I am not condoning it--it is still reprehensible), while they may spy on us (we always seem to catch them though), I fail to see why we shouldn't always support Israel for the sake of our own preservation in the Middle East.
Their enemies (Muslim extremists) claim that the Holocaust never existed and that the Zionist pigs are trying to take over the world. I just don't see it. I have been wrong before, but I just don't see it. What I have seen is Islamic extremists who desire to make everyone Muslim or dead. And in essence, try to take over the world.
So my final verdict is: In the battle between Islamic fundamentalist extremists and the State of Israel, we must remain steadfast in our support to our current ally. We do not need to send troops or even weapon systems. But we must represent them as an ally and either back them up when they are doing what we would to defend our country or let them know when they do something horrible and hold them accountable.
I welcome your comments...
Sunday, July 09, 2006
On The Horizon
This is not a picture I took with my own camera, but the sunset is amazing. It's a good transitional picture for the progression of this site. As the last post stated, this website was originally for my family and friends to watch my son grow up. I am not from Central Texas and my nearest family members reside on the Atlantic Coast. But now that David has his own place on the internet (see my links), I am going to turn this into a journal of my preparation for and deployment to Iraq for my second go-around.
During OIF II, I kept a personal journal that I never shared with anyone on my innermost feelings, fears, etc. This time around, I feel called to let the American public witness what war does to an individual and his life.
I will never violate the operational security of my unit, so this will be no place to find what I am doing specifically or anything hot happening in Iraq. As a caveat, this site is not sponsored by the Department of Defense and any opinions that I have are not those of the United States Army or anyone for that matter in my chain of command.
I am not necessarily a political kind of guy either. I am a registered Republican and I did in fact vote for Bush in the last election (while deployed). But my thoughts and opinions are not hardlined. I wish we could start a new political party, but I will speak more on that later. I will post on current issues that are of interest to me and will gladly accept comments from any and all individuals who wish to speak their mind.
The last 16 months since I returned from the CENTCOM AOR have not been relaxing. I have been away from home for months at a time. I have been to NTC twice (one month each time), JRTC for a month, two aerial gunnery exercises (stayed in the field for a month each), two week long field training exercises, the Joint Firepower Course in Nevada for 13 days, etc. Since May of last year (two months upon redeployment), we have been in "prepare for war" mode. It is not uncommon for me to work weekends, through holidays, or more regularly spend over 16 hours a day at the office. This alone should give you some background as far as what we do for a living.
I have missed my birthday, my wife's birthday, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, three weddings (that I was supposed to be in, not to mention others), two funerals, family vacations, the list goes on and on.
But this is what I signed up for and this is my calling. Many people outside of the military will never fully understand why we continue to do what we do. But maybe this site will help. In OIF II, for the first time in my life I felt like I was doing something honorable on such a large scale. When I would go to the DFAC and run into infantry guys who would single me out by the Reaper patch on my chest and cry to me in thanks for saving their life, I knew what I was doing was the right thing, despite the hardships. Despite getting shot at (I was quite the large caliber target in Fallujah!). Despite the strain this job has put on my marriage and family.
Thanks to all of you have been supportive of my career, especially my wife and toddler son. Once again, welcome to the Price of Freedom.
