He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.



You talk trash about your 'buddies' that aren't with you.


He knows he may not see some of his buddies again..





You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.


He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.





You complain about how hot it is.


He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.





You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.


He doesn't get to eat today.





Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.


He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.





You go to the mall and get your hair redone.


He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.





You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.


He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.





You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.


He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.





You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.


He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.





You roll your eyes as a baby cries.


He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.





You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.


He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.





You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.


He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.





You see only what the media wants you to see.


He sees the broken bodies lying around him.





You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.


He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.





You stay at home and watch TV.


He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.





You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.


He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.





If you support your troops, send this to 7 people..


If you don't support your troops well, then don't send this out. You won't die in 7 days, your love life won't be affected, and you won't have the worst day ever.


You don't have to email this. It's not like you know the men and women that are dying to preserve your rights.





REMEMBER our Troops, and do not forget them LATER


Lest we forget -

hurf durf chain letters

has a good point though

...okay, let me be frank, the e-mail is good an all, but why the troops? Seriously. It's not like there aren't civil people whose lives are like that, or dear God, worse. At least the soldiers have the perspective of one day returning home, and well, they are being paid for it, albeit poorly, but there are people just as miserable who have absolutely no hope whatsoever, and while I've seen many e-mails about "Support the troops", I've seen almost none of "Support the hobo across the street"

Shouldn't this be "Support the end of the war", at any rate? Supporting the troops wouldn't do nearly as good as supporting their safe, quick return so they can also complain in a restaurant with the rest of the family.

Then we come to the point that it's a chain mail. Seriously, it would be beautiful, but it's a chain mail, if it was a letter that really wanted to express concern for the troops wouldn't end with "And BTW, send this to more 7 people if you agree with me, aye?" I mean, why 7 people? It's almost that the message it's trying to pass is "Either you care enough for sent to at least 7 people or you do not support the troops as much as you claim."

It's also falling into the "You should feel guilty ya sinner!" symdrom. Okay, I get it, the troops have shitty lives, what the fuck can I do about it? It was not me who gave them the shitty lives, and I'm in no power of changing the current system, and believe me, sending this to 7 people will not, I repeat, will not make their lives any better.
The whole text isn't even about the message at it's end. The real meaning of this text is "You should give more valor to the things you have, because not everyone has them" not "You should totally support the troops out there."

Also, this one of those e-mails that you just know people will think over for like, 3 minutes before their YouTube videos of Best Moments of Freakazoid! finishes loading, then they send to other 7 people (because they don't want to be mistaken by someone who does not support the troops) before they forget the whole thing and go eat a pizza.

Also, this:

Yes, he is fighting because he can't just turn back to his home, if he did, he'd be a derserter and God knows what happens if he is caught.
I'm also pretty sure the fact he knows what he is fighting about does not, in fact, changes the fact war is a miserable stupid shit that does no good to anyone. When you come down to it, you can bet he is fighting just because he knows if he doesn't he'll be killed, and quite frankly, this is what war truly is.

Now let me put this cleary: I do not have any hatred towards, nor I do not support the troops, be whichiever country they are. I just think this chain e-mail is over-emotional, unhelpful, contradictory, and quite frankly is no better than normal ENLARGE YOUR PENIS spam. It does not means I do not agree with it's (supposed) message, I fully support the troops, it is war which I hate.


I also claim to be in a bad mood, so apologies in advance for any offense.


*sits and waits flames*

^
I believe this letter is for support for Canadian PeaceKeepers.

But this part confuses me. (Unless we're talking about WWII)

Its for troops in general.

Damnit, now I'm sad. It reminds me that a close family friend's son was called back to Iraq.

I can't feel bad for someone who took up the cause willingly.

-It's not like they weren't warned. Call me back when the draft starts

I agree with that guy. They signed up.

ALSO, war doesn't solve anything but being rid of other wars, then causing new ones. So, were it not for war in general, there would be no issue.

Chain letters don't make me feel anything. Once you feel like typing the damned thing out yourself and emailing it to me, I'll start caring. It's not like I have anything against our troops, it's what I have against chain letters.

A short message from all of my buddies who actually took the time to read what you said:

Fuck Off!

~ From the Soldiers of 1st Maint. Co.

We do agree that the idea of a chain letter is ridiculous enough. But there are quite a few of us that happen to appreciate that some people keep sending these.

To Mew: I can't blame you for that point of view. We did willingly sign up. Hell, I did a four year contract, got out and came back in after two years. I'm even thinking of reenlisting again. We don't want people to feel sorry for us. We would like for those that don't want to be in to be thankful that there are still people like us to volunteer. Otherwise there would be a draft.

Hey. You american?

What's that? No? Then why the fuck should we care if you do or do not support american troops? I can understand if we should be shocked/appalled if you did or did not support brazilian troops.

However, I concur with Mewchu. And despite the obvious guilt trip, regardless of how much or how little I support whatever war, I respect the military.

Hobos don't have to live with the moral and psychological stress of taking another human being's life, nor do they have to deal with it for the rest of their lives.

Sure they're most likely starving, but they still have a chance for a normal life if they TRY.

War affects you deeper than homelessness, whether you believe it or not.

My reaction to these sorts of things is basically:

Piss off. You chose to be there and you chose to accept whatever happens to you.

Love you too Alice. :;D:

You know, it's really easy to criticize something you don't have to see and deal with every day. Most of us would sing a different tune if they were fighting on our home turf. Just be happy that there is no draft, that we have people willing, and that we have a country nice enough to not send kids into a war, like some other countries have done. Personally, I'm to confused with liberals and media saying one thing, and politicians saying another thing to really understand why we're still in Iraq. However, I've figured it's probably for the greater good.

-Oh yeah, and fuck Obama. There, I said it.

Oh, hey, I thought the flames wouldn't ever come! Sorry to hear you're in the battlefront, keep up the good work, wish this madness ends soon so you guys may go home.
I understand it must be hell over there, but still, telling me to fuck off? I cleary said that I support you guys, what, now you're being picky about your supporters?
At any rate, here's cheering for you and your buddies, regardless of what you or they might think of me.

Yes. South American. People aways seem to forget that. I'll just assume you asked "citizen of the U.S.A."

Because my opinion is as good as any others?
Because I, for one, would care to hear foreigner's opinions about my country and it's policies?
Because, whether I want or not, this e-mail was shown to me, with someone telling me to "think about" it?
Because if people just cared what the fuck other people think, there would be no need for soldiers in the first place?
Because when 9/11 happened, everyone pretty much demanded that I care for them?
Because it would be foolish to disregard outsider's opinions because they are outsiders?
Because we both know you would care if I wrote something you agreed with?
Because even so, you care so much as to feel the need to swear over it?
Gee, I dunno.

Good argument, aside the fact you seem to think that all hobos have conditions to change their lives just by trying. But you brought to my attention that the e-mail does not, in fact, says anything about the stress of killing. It was a major point, silly of them leaving it out.
Here, I'll even make one:
"You feel guilty after running over a dog.

He kills men in a daily basis."
But I suppose they didn't put anything about feeling guilty about killing in the e-mail because it would ruin the image of "poor victim" it tries to pin in the soldiers.

I respect the military, man, but you guys will get no sympathy from me, ever (and yes, I realized you said earlier that you didn't want sympathy). You guys chose to enlist and you chose to be canon fodder in explosionville, so meh.

I just wanted to show some respect for the soldiers.
And no, South America doesn't count. :C

Oh, darn, I'll have to ask the North Americans then. Any canadians or mexicans in the house?

..........
No one tell him, he'll figure it out eventually.

Isn't that expecting a bit much MYKE?

EDIT: Hey Grandy, did I ever say that I was over there? No, I never said that. I have been over there twice though, so I know what it is like.

Now, now, I think this is getting a bit... uncool.

I think we all agree that we respect the people who are there. Whether or not we sympathize for their problems is definitely another story.

The somewhat unnecessary choices that "the man" has made are what make it so bad. I am a pacifist, and I don't believe war is ever really the best option... But it seems like they have changed their goals over there so many times, and all they are accomplishing is pissing off more and more people.

Of course, I could be missing a big part of the bigger picture.

It's not canadian? Gee, dunno, excuse me for not having english as my first language. We call them "canadenses".

That's great, means you're out of danger and safe.


EDIT: Oh, wait, I think I got it MYKE, I'm judging from the rest of the thread, but you mean to say that you're canadian, correct me if I'm wrong. Well, if that's the case, it was stupid of me for making an assumption that you were not, but I don't think you even talked to me outside this thread, and apparently your location is "on the toilet" so I had really no way of knowing otherwise.

Ding ding ding
Winner.
Technically I'm not Canadian either, I'm german. But whatever.

Der gibt kein beer auf Brasile der gibt kein beer.

Just a reminder:

Please keep it civil guys.

:;D:

...

West German fag. >:C

The Patriotic Half of me says I support my troops, but don't sympathize for them.

Then my Anarchist Half says they have it coming.

- Squeezed in the Middle, you and I

:;D:

Well, technically I'm half german and half portuguese, mixed together for maximum flavor.

E eu não tenho a mínima idea do que você acabou de escrever.

Is alastor mad cause I'm from the better half :<

More like pussy half.

Pussy half?
We didn't get our ass kicked by Ivan and friends.

Wait...

So, Mike is a fag-pussy? Does that even work?

You crazy Germans and your shenanigans.

Stability made you weak.

Hey, anti-war fags. Quit fagging up the air with your gay. I'm trying to be a real American over here.

And I'm under him in texas. America is always on top, even on top of its own states.

Fucking right. I eat my steak bleeding, you communist buttfaggots.

Make love, not war.

:peacesmiliedoesnotexist:

I'll make love to your face..

with a bullet.



... faggot.