Young Men And War

My Two Cents:

I finally got to meet T's nephew, D, along with his friends who are also serving in the Marines. The resemblance is uncanny, a young T, and just as real a human being as T. Can the world be so lucky?

D is in the Marines, training here in Hawaii. The odds that he would be here on the island and T bumping into him at the Waikiki Sand Villa Resort checking into a room was an amazing work of bon chance.

Hearing T and D talking, solidified the stories T told us of his nephew and brothers and sister. What a family. T's really proud of D. Easy to understand that.

It pains me that he may have to go to Iraq, unless there is a sharp change in war plans. To join the military puts you in a position to pull duty you may not care for. I wonder if he understands that? I convinced myself that I did when I joined the Army and ended up going to Viet Nam. I realized, of course, I didn't have a clue. And me from a military family!

My wish for D is that he does his duty well and not succumb to the propoganda machine worth a couple of long paragraphs, but I shan't go there.

I don't care what some people may negatively say about a young person serving in the military. It can be done if you remember who you are, where you came from and why you joined in the first place. From what I've gathered from T, D's a fine boy from a good Italian family with good solid upbringing. My wish is that T's nephew survives the military unscathed.

He's no terrorist for the US of A as some would suggest. He's just a boy who feels he's doing the right thing. I can understand that.