Deployed Soldiers: Fully Automatic Heroes? Part 3

The following are excerpts from Facebook group, "Soldiers Are Not Heroes." I have voiced my opinion on each of the opposing sites.


As a soldier I agree...

...that it's absurd that soldiers feel entitled to hero status. I had several jobs before joining the army and this has been the easiest. They shouldn't all be called evil or murderers either. This is simple obvious logic, and somewhere in this mess of posting the same point must have already been made, hopefully more than once.

Most soldiers, if giving honest answers about the other soldiers they know would admit that a lot are "stupid," "gay (usually meaning weak rather than homosexual)," or "pussies." But point a finger at the group and we get defensive for other soldiers. That is after all, how it all works, a team effort for survival.

There are good people who want peace in spite of history and the impossibility of it in the future. I would like to hold the same dream. But people within this site seem to be spewing more hatred than what I've ever heard from the most hateful of soldiers.

What gets lost is a good point - a lot of soldiers returning home from "combat" do not deserve any kind of hero status or special treatment, in particular...violent criminals. A lot of soldiers are big babies, and make excuses for their stupidity by playing the war card.

It's very true. Got drunk with a buddy of mine at a bar before deployment and in his lit condition announced that he was a war veteran and while in that condition expected to be treated heroic...till we were kicked out for his being an ass. Fact is, as a mechanic, I know he never went out past the wire but for arriving in Iraq, and when leaving. It was embarrassing.

So to all the overly excited jumping on the band wagon...chill, or nobody will listen to the intelligence beneath all that Jerry Springer talk. To soldiers, you know there's a good point. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

SPC Burkley


Benjamin Bradford

Please explain why a well-educated and thoughtful person like yourself would want to engage in acts of war? Not a wind-up question, I am generally interested.


Mickey Caster (Syracuse, NY)

Absolutely. After being in for 10 years, I can say I know enough soldiers that it would be ridiculous to consider them all to be heroes. Heroic acts make someone a hero, and there are very few who fit that category. However, soldiers are like everyone else, capable of heroism, but also capable of cowardice.


Me -

The only acts of war I've engaged in are treating trauma injuries, American and Iraqi patients at Ibn Sina, Baghdad Iraq. As far as the acts of war you have in mind, thankfully I haven't encountered a situation where that's been necessary. If by "act of war" you mean joining the army, I did so for a complicated mix of reasons. I actually posted on that very subject at my blog, www.versavice.blogspot.com, if interested. There you might also find another view point as to what soldiering is. It's not just Rangers killing babies - which does happen BTW - and can never be justified.


Agnes Ng

In the past decade,millions of innocent people have been killed in barbaric wars. History shows that wars are driven by greed and ideologies that conflict with justice and human rights. Despite that, wars are well packaged, for the mob and the naive among us, under the guise of religion, defending democracy and freedom, patriotism, national security, and recently TERRORISM. Those factors are the drive for the gullible among us to believe, participate in a war and die, or get maimed, or scarred for life (emotionally, physically, or both).

At this point there were several varied posts with opinions on why peace is better than war, which were redundant and I omitted here.


Me -

No war. Great. Great Idea. Not a new one though. The idea of peace is as old as the act of war. As far as history reaches war is the most consistent and natural thing for humans. Natural, but not green eh? There are plenty of discussions elsewhere for that.

What's new is the discussion on members of the military feeling entitled to an elevated status, something that actually irks me, from within the military, as a soldier myself, and the public's self made obligation to give this special status.

It hurts the discussion to imply wild things like what I've seen elsewhere on this site. Soldiers as murderers and mindless killers. If for no other reason - nobody really thinks that's true. So they'll throw your baby out with their bathwater. Don't let them. Stay steady, focused, and non-emotional.

Fact is - the majority of the military are proletarian middle income middle class who lack a political voice in most discussions, and are too busy with daily tasks like paying bills and feeding kids to give much thought to these issues in any detail.

They'll simply except the free drink with a nod, or say thanks in return if you say thanks for their service.

Unfortunately there is a huge shitload of vain and extremely non-heroic vets who are going back out into the military and civilian population with a chip on their shoulder, a hand out, and getting sympathetic reactions to both.

This is a dishonor to the handful of truly brave, men and women who served beyond the duty of the average soldier. They deserve that recognition. They are the ones you'll almost never meet, the very same people that may never even mention their prior service.

Be aware of the difference. It's real.

Deployed Soldiers: Fully Automatic Heroes? Part 2

This subject continues to interest me. It's mostly the wide range of opinions on the subject and the conviction that individuals have for their different positions. The other issue is free speech, even when one has an unpopular view that is deemed unpatriotic by another group, the right to free speech still exists. Am I a big proponant of Soldiers Are Not Heroes on Facebook? No, there's a lot of low-wit angry baby talk from anti-military people. But that doesn't mean there's no valid issue.

I've noticed that it's the older non-military that insist all soldiers are heroes, and the younger within the military that feel the same way. Whereas the older current or former military members that agree that every joe is not a hero.

Just to make it clear, I don't argue over the book read definition of the word - I have an issue with an individual feeling entitled to elevated status, and the false obligation of others to honor that entitlement.

The following is an excerpt from "Petition to remove Soldiers are Not Heroes" on Facebook. It's a direct cut and paste so there are original typos et cetera. Since the forum is public, I left the names in.


Me -

As a soldier I have to say that there is a point in stating that "soldiers are not heroes" just by virtue of the fact alone, I mean, obviously. You don't get a damn hero card for serving or deploying, and you shouldn't either. There's a good point to be made for someone pointing this out, on the internet or anywhere. The freedom and the right to burn a flag, or have a "soldier's are not heroes" web site is what it means to be American. To shut them down would be very unAmerican.

These seem to me, to be obvious points, that someone somewhere here must have already made. I'm a "group member" here as I am on the SANH site only so I could post and make comments on both.

SPC Burkley


Keith Matthews (Atlanta, GA)

actually there is no "right to burn an american flag" . just like taxes there are federal guidlines as to how a flag must be treated and flown. this comes out of great respect for those that have died defending the flag. when someone burns a flag it isnt a show of discontent for our government, it is a slap in the face to all the gave thier lives for that government.


Me -

Ok, there's no law against burning a flag, and you have to be left alone by the police till they have probable cause to arrest you. So, no there's no explicit right to burn a flag, but being free to have an opinion and demonstrate it is protected by law.


Greselle Ramos (Chicago, IL)

I know that you say that we should not have the "soldiers are not heroes" page shut down, but I think your wrong. We have that right, soldiers are heroes, and freedom is not free, every war, every fight, every deployment, I am not a soldier but the ones that are out there fighting for me are my heroes. I know that freedom of speech is clear but this page is just wrong. Our military people are just doing what they are told, they do it because they have to. We need to keep there moral up and not let these petty infantile people harass them. It is not right.


Me -

How can all soldiers be heroes? That's just mindless. Most soldiers don't even think that. Acts of heroism make heroes. You lessen the word when you give it away to every joker in the ranks.

On the other side of the coin - Calling us murderers and killers is almost comical, but there are fruit loops who do think like that, so it isn't funny. Most soldiers are just regular people like non-military people, no better no worse, we deserve no special treatment, respect yes, hero treatment no.

As an aside too many scumbag soldiers are returning to the states and becoming violent criminals, and using the war card as an excuse. This is unacceptable by any military standard.



Marshall Chriscoe (Winston-Salem, NC)

Hear hear. As former mil myself, I can attest to the nausea that overwhelms me when I consider some of the guys I've been stationed with are being called "heroes". As you said, brudda, we're not all heroes, and we're not all psychopaths. I'm sure there's some of each at every command, but for the most part, we're all normal folks.



Greselle Ramos (Chicago, IL)

Wow, I was not rude to you! I have two uncles that were in the military for 25 years each. They are my heroes, I understand that not everyone in the military are good people. You need not have said that my statement was mindless. That was very dismissive, how is it that someone who is preaching about freedom of speech can turn around someone else's opinion. I made the statement that soldiers are heroes, I never made the statement that all soldiers are heroes. I stated the ones that are fighting for me are, maybe you should reread the statement and not react to a phrase in such a manor. I thought you might have had an opinion on the part of the comment where I stated that the sanh page was wrong. But I guess you did not think that was important, you just wanted to make a statement the way David does by belittling my opinion and not even getting the statement right. Thank you I see what type of people are on this sanh now.


Patrick Kent (Davenport, IA)

HERO: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

it’s all in ones opinion on who is a hero or not and I am in the military and I have seen many that I would not even come close to calling them a hero but others yes they have the will the and the mind to do whatever it takes to defend this country that we call home I can say that not all should be called heroes but most can be or just brave men and woman


Nathan Clauss (Saginaw / Bay City, MI)

no were not but what u been saying is point less your a fucking retard who need to shut the hell up hey the first mother fucker who burns a flag infront of me will not live to see tomarrow i will rip there head of there shoulders and shit in the neck

Charlotte Barfield
and their is a right its called the first admendment look up Texas v. Johnson

Deployed Soldiers: Fully Automatic Heroes?

Of course not. A question raised originally from facebook groups.

1) Petition to remove "Soldiers are not Heroes."

2) Soldiers Are Not Heroes

To me, it seems obvious that being a soldier and being deployed doesn't make one an automatic hero. America after the Vietnam War offered the opposite reception to men and women of the military returning home. The populous now seems to have an unstated obligation to welcome with open arms. It also should go without saying that not everyone returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan is a criminal or murderer as is suggested by the Anti-Hero site. Though it does happen, very low are these numbers in fact.

Below is a dialogue, a dialectic on the subject. This is something different for Versa Vice, but I think this issue could become a larger one as more and more veterans re-enter the population. Soldiers with opposing views, along with a civilian, are copied directly from the discussion.


Me, on Facebook, on the sites/links above:

Burning the flag is only as un-American as saying you can't burn it. Both are protected acts in America. We have the freedom to be as smart or stupid as we can possibly be. In reference to the Petition to shut down “Soldiers Are Not Heroes:” Petitioning against a site because it challenges your entitlement to automatic "hero status" when you get back from Iraq is also un-American and an act of hubris.

LC (US Soldier) - think some angry firefighter that wasn't getting enough praise, and lost his wife to a soldier returning from iraq made that group. with or without that group, the hero status will be there regardless, so I don't care

Me - That's the problem. I don't think you read what I wrote.

LC - i did but im confused. either way, im going to have a lot of free drinks due to this hero status, as will you, so forget I said anything

DS (US Soldier) - i see it as we're just doin our job..don't really care much about a hero status...

LC - true DS... but whatever gets drinks in my hands and me on the floor by the end of it, will be fine by me :]

RP (US Soldier) - Ugh. I already went through this. Use your common sense when it comes to this crap.

The definition of hero.

1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.

So who is being arrogant.

TB (US Soldier) - I agree. A lot of the stuff on that board is kind of silly, but I save myself a headache by choosing not to read it. If anything, the 'soldiers are not heroes' group gets more attention *because* of that petition than if it were just ignored. In the end though it is free speech and the 'soldiers are not heroes' group should be allowed to exist regardless of your position on the issue.

RP - Just as it is there freedom of speech to say it shouldnt exist. haha. Isnt that hypocritical?

TB - I think the issue is rather than challenging the beliefs of the group, they're trying to get it shut down completely. Freedom of speech, used to argue against freedom of speech? You're right, it is hypocritical.

"I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
- Evelyn Beatrice Hall

Me - BTW RP, I just read your definition, I didn't mention arrogance, but you're demonstrating it quite well. Folks - you don't have to be a hero to be a good soldier. It's commendable that you joined the army and were deployed...it's not heroic.

RP - But you did mention hubris. Im not saying im a hero. I am merely saying that your definition of hero is different from others. It is not very clear. Your making a lot of assumptions. And we all know, assuming things can make you look like an asshole. Once again, you are pushing your opinion of what a hero entitles onto other people. Why cant you just let them decide. The definition says, admired for his brave deeds. Isnt joining the army brave?

Me - Society offers too much hero worship. It's a mixed bag, commerials making you feel bad about yourself without certain products, then Hollywood et cetera putting unrealistic figures on the screen and in the media. There's no need to live up to the bullshit. I'm not pushing any of it. Fact is and remains: any clear thinking adult knows soldier = soldier, not hero. This is so rediculous. An argument I never thought I would have.

RP - Why do you keep ignoring the definition. Haha. You wont even acknowledge it. You just think that your interpretation of it should be everyones. Well im sorry to say but it is not. That is ignorant. Should I explain what I mean by arrogant?

Me - You're being arrogant young man! Read your own unsourced definition and you'll see it still remains in the eye of the beholder, a point it seems like you might be trying to make, so why defend with your "definition" your entitlement to heroism. Absurd. Show me the word "soldier" or "entitled." How is the fact that I'm arguing against being an insta-hero, make me the arrogant one? You're out of your fucking mind.

KF (my family) - I'm not in the military, but I would have to say that joining doesn't have to be about bravery. IN fact sometimes it is about cowardice as I have found quite a few people that signed up because a family member was military and they felt they had to. It was easier to kowtow to their father than to stand up for what they really wanted. Also my dad ... Read Morejoined back in the day and it had nothing to do with a moral compass and everything to do with having no direction in life. And since his parents demanded that he make some kind of decision about his role in the world, I can't even say he was brave for making a decision. I am not getting into the argument about the website, as I honestly can see both sides points to a certain extent. But I just couldn't keep my mouth shut about that "Isn't joining the army brave?" line.

RP -Ugh Burkley. The definition came from websters. Im not going to repeat myself over and over. Your arrogant to think that your interpretation is supreme over everyone elses. Why cant you have an open mind and see that point. KF, I was just throwing something out there. We cannot however ignore the fact that someones perception of what a hero is might be as simple as joining the army, or as complex as jumping onto a grenade to save his/her buddies. That is all im trying to say.

LC - how about we are doing what every civilian in the states right now is not. that sets us apart from them, because they don't have it in them, the end. anyways, in someones eyes we are heroes. get over it. I mean, why even be upset or argue about something like that? sure training Iraqi Police is fucking retarded, or PSD for the president of iraq ...

KF - LC someone has to be in the states doing what you are not because otherwise you would not be getting paid. You guys are making "hero" seem very common. I sure hope people have higher expectations out of their heroes than that they joined a group or are doing something that some other people are not doing.

What make's you think you speak for "everyone" RP? I.E. - "your interpretation is supreme over everyone elses."

And I'll say it again, your definition, wherever it came from makes my point. Seriously, take what it says, can you say that it applies to every soldier in our unit? Any soldier in our unit? Cerainly not to every soldier coming home from a deployment.

RP - But that is just the thing we are arguing. What a hero is, is different to every person. Also that is not what LC meant. I guess you just didnt realize it.

Burkley, you choose to ignore what im saying. I already posted the definition of hero. If you dont think they are right. I suggest sending them a complaint? Haha.

a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

I believe that this can be applied to every single person. I think... Read More you are a hero, based on what you have done here in Iraq. I think according to the dictionary definition you can call every single person a hero. That is just my opinion.


LC - I have a giant headache. ill just say it, since apparently everyone thinks they are, with those assumptions being thrown around. everyone in the military is a hero because they show courage you people in the states will never show. I wouldn't be getting paid? I'm hardly fucking getting paid stateside as it is, lady. I made more delivering floral wholesale goods to shops throughout Kansas. Maybe even more or the same delivering pizzas and earning tips. and joining technically doesn't have to be about bravery. yea, sure, it could be the person just was done dealing drugs and needed a job (I). was 30 years old headed nowhere, and needed something to get done in life. wanted a head start. needed college money. wanted to make something of themself. all different reasons, but with the same result. a person joining the military is brave, because it takes a brave person to serve. fuck this. I can't believe I just spent time dealing with this. I have a broken or sprained or simply just hurting pinky toe and a wisdom tooth coming in burkley. but I know there's nothing you can do for me, so I just wanted to tell you that so you can laugh about me being in pain to get your mind off of this retardedness that has taken over our lives the past couple hours.

ME - As I look back at the whole thing, above, I think DS and TB were making the most sense, and nobody paid any attention because it didn't push an emotional button.

KF - LC, so sorry for helping cause your headache. I'm sure you will get many drinks in the states and I hope you enjoy them. I just enjoy thinking and appreciated a conversation on FB for once instead of the standard quizes and games.

LC - shaw always makes sense that's why every time he sees me, I don't even have to say anything and he shakes his head. it's just natural, he knows I'm thinking of something stupid. anyways, thanks for all the fun, I gotta be up at 4 in the morning. adios

Me - Hey KF, thanks BTW, and I apologize, they're not bad guys, we're all just stewing in our juices with little to do, and too much to think about.

Versa Vice

It's only appropriate that, after the last blog, on the 25th, I do something more inward here, something vain, or superficial even. Keep the balance. As if writing your opinions on a blog isn't vanity enough, I'll look at Versa Vice itself. I've noticed my little counter counting up a range of views, from 2-5 per day a few months ago, and now 10-60 per day. Since that time I've spread the word amongst family and friends, put my ego on the twitter block, put a link on my Myspace and Facebook, and had an on-air interview with Mark Parton in Canberra Australia about Versa Vice. I get an occasional comment from Jenn Adventures in Palestine, Hi Jenn, or from brother Ben, back in Florida, who's the proud father of a second son, Levi. But I know my Mom, Uncle Mike and cousins are looking on as well. All in all though, I write for myself.

As far as the blog goes, it's almost 3 years old, and requires a bit of history and explanation. The name came from a music project that I had back in Gainesville Florida. If we ever got to the point where we played live, we were going to call ourselves either Mechanism, or Versa Vice. That was 2004-2005. Shortly after that I got fed up with Gainesville, the rut I was in, and the way I was living and got a job with the USPS. I was a rural carrier and moved to Saint Augustine where I went in early every morning, sorting mail non-stop till noon, and then delivering till 5 PM. It was a great job, I made good money, I had escaped from Gainesville, I was living closer to the beach again, surfing on a regular basis, and everything seemed perfect...but I hated it. In my gut I was terrified at the thought of doing THAT job as a career, and for the rest of my healthy life.

During this time I ran into an old High School aquaintance. She was newly divorced and had two kids. We were both in our own personal kind of pickle. I began to theorize that the lost feeling I had was from not being further along in my adult development, being 32 at the time, with no wife or children. My subconscious saw Amber and her two wonderful kids as a quick way to catch up. I had "empty nest" and she had no nest. It's obvious now, but you can't make short cuts like that. And certainly, it didn't make sense to quit the Post Office job soon after, and then take a new one as a lifeguard on the beach. Clear as day now, this behavior is the classic conflits of mid-life crisis acted out. I wanted to grow up and stay young at the same time.


The old 2006 Versa Vice was born into this period. Pre-Post Office, I attended community college in Gainesville, off and on, from 1999 to 2004, living off student loans and grants, studying English, Psychology, Philosophy, Graphic Design, and any other class that suited my whims from semester to semester. I drank a lot did a variety of drugs, from time to time, and wasted time and money. As well, I managed to squeek out a book during this time period, The James King Version, which is about Gainesville, drugs, music, and other such self centered existentialist ennui. I saw myself as a genuine beat poet. A Kerouac Black Jack. An invisible rock star. But ol' Jack died a miserable drunk didn't he? His gut rotted and he died in his mother's house. The only person who would take him in the end. This is the life (and death) I was moving toward, feared, and was weary of when I joined the Post Office.

Anyway, "the old stuff" written in Versa Vice is a combination of the beatific drug influenced Gainesville writing, and my maladjustment to sudden family life. So there, in 2006, when the going got tough (as it would), when the diapers hit the fan, and when I couldn't move in any direction, gripped with raw and painful confusion, I did what both my dad and I always did, the only thing we had in common, I hit the road. I went to see The Church (a long standing favorite band of mine that has manages to put out plenty of music to match my 20 year afficianado status)in Orlando, and then Jacksonville. This was a lot of driving, and it left me broke and Amber more than perplexed I'm sure. An odd thing to do, mid-fight, take off, and disappear for a week, but as my mother knows, this is family tradition. Amber is a wonderful person whom I will always owe the world, now happily remarried, and has a new baby girl.

So how the hell did I end up in the Army?! The answer is, "all the above." That's why when people ask me, why did you join? I hesitate, I don't even know where to begin. Fact is, I was at the end of my rope and I knew I needed to do something drastic. In early 2006 the war (in Iraq) was coming off the hinges and I heard on NPR that the military had raised the age limit for enlistment. This combined with the influence of a fellow Beach Rescue Lieutenant, Mr Hans Embry, who was a Navy Corpsman, I soon found myself in the recruiter's office, in Saint Augustine, looking for papers to sign. Everyone thought I was nuts. I knew I was nuts. I had to get away from myself. And I did.

The navy recruiters, weren't there two visits in a row, and the army sergeant in the joint branch office roped me in the second time. The rest is history. The rest is Versa Vice: Versing my vices and the pendulum swinging between them. A metal between magnets, just out of range, no full contact, no fountain of youth, no ultimate high, no satisfaction, no glory on stage after a double encore show, no interview with Charlie Rose about my silly book, which sold a whopping 50 copies. Just life, sunrise, and sunset, day after day. Taking a hard look at reality. At how to see one's place in the world, seeing the way other people live. After seeing life in Iraq for Iraqis, I will forever be careful with the word hardship. As a platoon medic, I've been on stand-by daily to help soldiers with a sprained ankles, a new rash, headaches, real and imaginary. They even feel free to come knocking at two in the morning (and have done so without apology), but I honestly, wouldn't have it any other way.

Something Less Superficial

I don’t like going to the gym, and I can’t stand hearing some people describing trips to the gym with enthusiasm like they’re on the verge of discovering a magic combination of reps and protein supplements that will unlock the ultimate human shape of eternal happiness. I have enjoyed being healthy and appreciate this gift by finding physical activity outdoors. For me, why pay for a workout indoors when there’s a better, free, and all natural scenic workout in the mountains, ocean, and forests?

Gym or no gym it seems we spend more time taking care of that thin surface layer of dead skin than on any other organ in our bodies. “Taking care of our head” is likely a matter of doing something with our (dead) hair rather than any kind of learning. Then there’s the obsession with clothes et cetera. Even deeper within, beyond our used but unseen organs, lies the less tangible and further underdeveloped consciousness. There, unexplored emotions, unutilized instincts and innate wisdom remain on the back burners while the societies we live in thrive on quantifiable intelligence that has evolved into the dogma of marketing and the religious usury of spirituality.


Articles in Time, and Newsweek, and on CNN say today’s generation of self-centered youth are part of narcissistic epidemic. The compounded effects of a youth obsessed pop culture constantly focusing on teens and college age people who feel entitled to automatic satisfaction is deemed a sure sign of humanity in decline. Young adults equipped with parental plastic feel entitled to the best in personalized product demographics.

Human history is decorated with a long list of individuals who became wayward souls due to the distractions of vanity. The introductory lesson in the Old Testament is of Eve breaking the only rule in the universe at the time, only to follow reptilian advice on how to accessorize the human ego.

The Greco-Roman lesson of Narcissus described a young character being so impressed with his appearance that he ignored the love, emotions, and thoughts of others till cursed by the gods as a result, and became catatonic and lost in a fatal reflection of himself. He reduced himself first to his image, and then was further reduced to isolation, and then the further solitude of death.

In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, it is suggested that we are all born into an environment where we see superficial shadows as reality rather than the source of the light, and the forms between that cause the shadow shapes. But picking any one piece, the light, forms, or the shadows, and saying it alone, along with the metaphorical meaning we assign is the true reality, is still superficial. Taking all components in and seeing past the horizon is difficult, but not impossible.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, tells of a young man who is much like Narcissus, recognized as beautiful while in an age of hedonism, and hopes to sell his soul believing the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and desires. Fearing time and its effects on his appearance, he trades the aging process off to a portrait of himself only to lose his moral compass, sanity, and eventually every remaining shred of happiness.

A non-mythological version of the characters I’ve listed is the Spanish Explorer Ponce De Leon who lost track of his original mission and died searching for The Fountain of Youth. As the first governor of Puerto Rico, he heard stories from the natives of a spring that offered eternal youth to those who drank from it. See the pattern here? He took off to an area that he felt was described, and ended up in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida, one of my hometowns. He never found the Fountain of Youth, and the one you visit in town is based on nothing but the story.

Are we more obsessed with ourselves than ever before? Like anyone else living in these times, I can only speculate on the vanity level of any past generation in history. It's safe to say though that there is a support system in place for the vain like never before. Becoming self-centered seems to be part of our natural psychology. It's as if our primordial survival instincts wander astray and self preservation becomes self love. But even that's a misphrase. The vain are miserable. Michael Jackson, just as an example, had a clinically narcissistic, if not solipsistic view of reality. Pedophile? Musical genius? I don't know, but he was lost in illusions of himself that made him miserable, and if today's youth are in an epidemic of selfishness, they may "feel good" from time but they're not happy for any lasting period. Not knowing the difference between happiness and feeling good might just be the very root of our problems.

Night Moves

Restrictions as a sign of progress. Anymore, our missions take place at night. This is how it's been for almost a month now, and in the next couple weeks of being here it will stay the same. Various objectives, as simple as moving personnel, or other night moves of a more tactical nature, have to be done with IP escorts within the city. A mission that takes place along main routes still moves without Iraqi escort. This may be difficult to picture back in the states, but it makes sense. Main routes have long since been established and are typically busy like a major interstate back home with supply and fuel convoys.

The restrictions for me mean limited photo opportunities and a lessened opportunity for any kind of contact with locals. But the following set of pictures are fairly interesting. The blurred lights of travel after sunset could be almost any city, and in fact at times, as I'm dreary eyed, and on a mission long enough that I've even become bored with my ipod, it can appear, for a moment, in that lapse of full consciousness, that I'm back in the states, in Colorado Springs, Jacksonville, or passing through Daytona.

A Look Back: My April '09 Favorites

A Look Back: My March '09 Favorites

Chicken Tastes Like Karaoke

I've been guilty of singing Karaoke a few times...well, more than a few times, I've played open mic night alone and with groups over the years as well. Versa Vice was originally the name of one band years before I joined the army or had a blog. But typically, no matter how many times I've done it, singing, speaking in front of people, or playing guitar, I'm always nervous at first. But I've found something out about myself over the years. Things that I'm nervous about are the things I enjoy the most, and tend to actually be good at.

Ok, I know, "good at karaoke!" That's almost an oxymoron, but I do get into it, like I said, by the end of the first song and afterwards. Serious medical situations as well I get a loud "aaaah!" echoing through my head at first. Just for a second or two, that seems to last longer, but then I refocus on the task at hand and the fear becomes an energy, sort of how people channel anger.

So, two nights ago, I did an interview with Mark Parton about this blog and the kids and situation in Iraq. I got the usual lump in my throat, with words coming out all weird at first, but by the end, when I got loosened up, I was chatty like an old lady with friends at a bingo table. Check out the interview and Mark's blog:

http://2cc.net.au/



http://partonwords.blogspot.com/

Summer Music Selections

1) Wooden Shjips: Spelled with the j, by the way, recorded with one or two burning as well, one could safely say (accidental poetry). I first heard "We Ask You to Ride" on an UNCUT magazine collection titled Interstellar Overdrive.

WS jams a live in the studio feeling via guitars rich with acid distortion, but only overtop a deap seated base layer of a rhythm section droning along in the way that rock drone can be good, rather than boring. The resulting hypnotic atmospheric jam will have you travelling to your destinations in no time flat. Wooden Shjips is code for time machine.

Dos, and the self titled CD are the two I have. I would start off with Dos.



2) Viva Voce: This band is a bit like Low or Yo La Lengo. Basically built around the male/female vocals, delivered with casual emotion, and taking a back seat to the guitars which are often toned in a reverbed surf/spy effects setting. It's not as ambient as that might sound though. Rose City is a rock guitar album and was made for the long or short drive to the beach...and to think...I'm within two months of doing just that!

Iraq: T-Wall as Monolith

I'm a fan of Space Odyssey 2001. It is a love it or hate it kind of film. Still, most are surprised to learn it was made in the mid-sixties rather than the 1980s, and no matter how one feels about the abstract and somewhat over-long movie, it paved the way for Star Wars which came 15 years later.

Everywhere here, these Stonehenge-headstone-monolith T-walls that block scenery even as they provide protection create islands, safety zones, and subsequently contain and become targets. They go unnoticed until an artist stops with his/her pallet/spray can, or these slabs of concrete catch your eye when damaged by explosions. Unseen for now, like trees for the forest, these t-walls, seen first in this conflict and none other, industrialized human separators, may just become a deeper symbol over time.
The Wall, the '79 album, and '82 movie by Pink Floyd held symbolic meanings pertaining to WW2, War itself and the Berlin Wall, but led to more abstract conclusions as the Kubrick Monolith did. These days the Berlin Wall which separated east and west Germany is something that seems to have left the zeitgeist altogether. Most college students would know little of it even though pop culture adopted the dilemma in the 80's. It was perhaps President Reagan presiding over the walls destruction, at least in a single ceremony, that stole the thunder from the standing advocates of "tearing down the wall."

mono·lith·ic
Function: adjective
Date: 1825
1 a: of, relating to, or resembling a monolith : huge, massive b (1): formed from a single crystal, a monolithic silicon chip (2): produced in or on a monolithic chip, a monolithic circuit
2 a: cast as a single piece, a monolithic concrete wall b: formed or composed of material without joints or seams, a monolithic floor covering c: consisting of or constituting a single unit
3 a: constituting a massive undifferentiated and often rigid whole, a monolithic society, b: exhibiting or characterized by often rigidly fixed uniformity, monolithic party unity

A Monolith is often the symbol for concepts that suggest a single and indivisible truth. Platonic concepts of synthesis rather than analysis. Something like the scientific paradox of quantum physics and string theory, a seamless unified field between things that exist in opposition to each other but independently. What is the commonality? Throughout the country of Iraq there are thousands of monoliths, like hadiths, separate and singular, unmoving, and waiting to be broken.


When I visited ancient Sumarian ruins here in Iraq with my unit (see: Temple of Enlil, Versa Vice, June), I actually thought about Space Odyssey 2001. The scene where the scientists descend a ramp onto the site simultaneously representing the distant past and the not too distant future. It was a real and terrestrial version of this movie scene, costumed with digicam body armor and helmets, sifting and drifting through ziggurat halls, and squinting at cuneiform, it felt a lot like being from another planet.

Simple and lost, but right in front of us, in all of our histories of war an theory, the individual. The unescaped existentialist format of pleasure, pain, and daily living. Peace and war world over, with everything in between, every human at any age remains an island, walls, often unmoving monoliths, pretending to be forever.

July 4: Kalsu

Last July 4, in Baghdad, no fireworks were planned or expected. The joke was that any fireworks at all would be unwanted and of another sort. This year, at Kalsu, I didn't know what, if any festivities were planned, in fact, I was in my room watching season 1 of Battlestar Galactica when I heard the fireworks. Earlier in the day I did take a look at what was going on for the fourth: cookouts, loud country music, strangers in "civies," but still felt out of place.