fuck the army

 There was no way I could have ever enlisted in the army.  I thought the war was evil, and the army was doing the war and if I participated in the army I would be participating in the war.   Maybe I was unwise but that is what I thought then.

And even if the army wasn't prosecuting the unpopular war I still would have hated it.  I had one year of ROTC in college, and I hated it.  I did not find it annoying, I hated it.  I hated having to salute some peckerwood, would walk a long way out of my way to never cross paths with some dipshit officer.  I hated having to wear that fucking uniform and have some peckerwood find my shoes or my brass lacking.  I wanted no part of any of that.

And I also was a wise ass.  I would surely be muttering something out of the side of my mouth as sarge was inspecting me, and then when he got in my face I would have something to say about that too.  I would just get deeper in trouble with everything I did.

And I didn't care about learning a useful trade.  I was a hippie remember?

I'm sure the south Pacific would have been much more glamorous but southern Illinois was not without its charms.

but what's the alternative, abject surrender to the forces of evil?

How about this?  Not doing anything?  Well we had to fight in WW II, and maybe Korea, the forgotten war.  But after that we haven't fought in a good war or won one in seventy years.

I can see where we had to go into Afghanistan, revenge, our manhood, it had to be done.   But there was literally no reason (no WMD) to go into Iraq, and no reason to stay in Afghanistan after we drove Osama out.  What did we accomplish, how are things better in any way in Iraq or Afghanistan because of all the lives and money we threw away?  And all those people that we killed, they would still be alive, if that matters to anybody.

I can just imagine what Chicago must look like by now.  I don't have to imagine from 400 miles away.  I live in Chicago and it looks fine.