War Stories and Poetry

My Thoughts

It doesn’t matter what your belief or thoughts are of war. You could be the person who promotes war or the person who promotes peace. The fact is, war has been around since the beginning of time and will continue to be around until the end of time.

There have been countless wars. There have been war of kings, Spartans, Romans, and wars on our on soil here in America. And on the other side of the coin, there have always been people protesting each war; they are the ones who promote peace.

Are there ever any winners in war? How can you tell? People say that maybe if the battle wasn’t won, the war was won. And people have their own thoughts about each battle or war. For instance, some would say that we suffered terribly at Pearl Harbor, but the US won the war after that. And then some would say that we lost Vietnam because of the total loss. Who decides these things?

Some would also ask, “What exactly is war?” If I had the chance to answer that, it would be a system or strategy. Or better yet, it is a system of strategies. The system of strategy by personnel must be well planned, organized, and disciplined.

What causes war is sometimes a mystery. The mystery is always in the back of someone’s mind. “Why are we sending troops to Iraq or Afghanistan? Those people never did anything to me?” This is a typical question someone would ask. But, an answer to that would be, “Maybe not to you personally. However, there was an attack on the country in general. Do you not feel the sense of obligation to fight that tyranny?” Or, “If you love peace, you should also care about other people’s peace as well right?”

Recently, there has been a debate whether the US is the world’s policemen? And I believe this really aggravates people to think about. Again, it aggravates those who love peace and would never step a foot forward to fight. Where ever there are struggles in the world, the US is always there to help out. And the struggles of others are really never over until we as Americans step in.

An example of that would be in Iraq. The country was run by a tyrant, Suddam Hussein. Whatever reason it was to go to war in that “sandbox,” US troops took down the tyrant. As an American soldier that has been deployed there, I seen with my own eyes the relief that many of the Iraqi’s had.

War is not for the coward. War is for the brave soldier who loves his country and what the country stands for. Sometimes, that could be what the country used to stand for.

The brave take a stand! The few that do stand; stand for the rest of the country. And believe me there are only a few brave. Sometimes, the brave like to fight and that is good. Sometimes, the brave don’t personally like to fight, however they are willing too.

There will always be those that say that they wish they could have done their part. There are those that will come right and say that they are too cowardly; “I couldn’t do that.”

The truth is the brave stand and they stand strong. They look into a bleak future, if only temporary. They face uncertain odds at times. Not concerned with the outcome of each battle they face, they fight and give it their all.

And what about those who do fight? They have no regrets, but guaranteed they will carry those battles with them long after the war is over. They can still hear sounds of the battle, the smell of it, and remember the reactions of everyone with them.

The veteran will undoubtedly feel alone at times unless he is accompanied by a “brother,” another soldier who has gone through similar battles. The World War One vet is a brother to the Iraqi vet. We have all had the same struggles. Maybe, different terrain, nonetheless, it was the same struggles.

What can be said about war? There has been much said throughout the ages about it. There will be much more said about it. But, the one thing that’s true is that you cannot say anything about it until you have fought in it yourself.

-Dale Griggs