BORROWED EMOTIONS

My son found this and posted it on his Myspace page.
I found it moving, and decided to share it.
Sort of like the frozen dinner version of posting.
It moved me deeply.
Let me know what you think.

We love you Matt! Happy Valentines Day! Come home safe!





You stay up for 16 hours.
He stays up for days on end.




You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.




You complain of a "headache", and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.




You put on your anti-war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.
He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.


EIGHT PEOPLE GOT RUN OVER AND KILLED YESTERDAY WHEN A DRAG RACING CAR WENT OUT OF CONTROL ON A STRETCH OF ROAD IN RURAL MARYLAND.....WHERE'S AN OUT OF CONTROL CAR WHEN YOU NEED ONE?

If I was god, (now there's a stretch), I'd take a little time from my busy day to strike these idiots down with a bolt of lightning, and dispatch a garbage truck to scoop em up.

Want to know what I realy think?

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 loves 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.

Take a minute or two to think about it.

Have a nice day.

BITCH DAY

I’m officially proclaiming Tuesday as bitch day at Infantrydad.blogspot.com.
I’ll start a bitch, and everyone can chime in by adding to it, or posting their own bitch by commenting.
First the rules.
Rule # 1. Anything goes.
Rule #2. Refer to rule #1.

Now that we have the formalities out of the way, here it is, the first bitch.

I hate it when a newspaper breaks an article like the one today. NINE US SOLDIERS KILLED IN IRAQ. The article goes on to tell where these unfortunate soldiers were at the time of their death. "Six soldiers were killed in Salahuddin province when a bomb went off near their vehicle"."Three others were killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala province". "All were assigned to,Task Force Lightning". Then the last sentence. "Names withheld pending family notification". .
The assholes that do this in the interest of being the first ones to break the news should be thinking about the families of the fallen soldiers!!
The families should be notified prior to any reporting making it to the press!!!
As the parent of a soldier who will soon be in Iraq, I don’t want to read this shit!!
If my son's unit is in Baghdad, and a group of soldiers gets blown up and he is wounded or, worse yet, killed. I want to hear about it from the Army prior to reading about it in the paper or seeing it on the evening news, then worrying about being one of the families to be notified.
There should be no reporting pending the notification of family, period!!
Reporters need to put themselves in the shoes of loved ones.
Every time I see this, I wonder how many poor souls are waiting for the phone to ring with the dreaded news!!