Milblogs4

The soldier from the first milblog I read this week talked about his “alive day.” He had never heard of an “alive day” and neither had I, but it was the title from an HBO special where wounded soldiers told about their near death war experiences. The soldier had almost been hit by an RPG. He described the moment as if he had transcended time and all the laws of physics were broken. He decided to get the date of his alive day tattooed on his fore arm as a reminder. Although his story was fascinating, I found the most relevant part to be his conclusion, which was that even a bad day alive is better than a good day being dead. It reminded me of how ungrateful I am sometimes over little things in life and how I should be more thankful for the time I have.

The next milblog was an excellent slideshow put together by an operations officer. The slideshow had “Like a Rock,” by Bob Seager playing as the pictures progressed. The slideshow showed a lot of happy pictures of soldiers and what they do everyday. Some pictures showed soldiers drinking, soldiers joking, soldiers repairing vehicles, soldiers posing with weapons, and just soldiers enjoying themselves. It was a very happy look at the soldiers in Iraq.

The last post I read was by an RN. She posted about 9/11 and about remembering the terrified people running down the street and all the other events that happened that day. The smoke and black clouds made her realize that day that this country was no longer safe. She took part in a freedom walk to remember the victims and the soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. A marine told her during the walk that he was often asked why although he has been on three tours already he still wants to go back, and he said this (referring to the march) is the reason why. I thought it was great to see a march out of respect like this going on.