Once a Soldier...always a Soldier

It's been more than 16 months since I last put on my uniform. Everyday I go through photographs and think about days gone by. Everytime I try and talk to someone about this, I hear the same thing: being a soldier is an ugly, dirty and wrong job. It consists of killing people, training to kill people, or assisting others in killing people. I've been told that the work of a soldier (to protect his country) is just a bullshit excuse governments use to push us into fighting wars for them that will bring them more money and power. They tell us we're not noble...we're not courageous...

Here's my response - I'm a soldier. I did not join to fight wars. I did not join to be perceived as noble by anyone but myself. Until I joined, I had never fired a gun. Until I joined, I never trained in hand-to-hand combat. I never did want to kill a person, but one-day, I had to - not out of personal necessity, but from an order from some old guy sitting in New Delhi. And that scares the shit out of me. But I'm in the United Nations International Guard. And when that day came, for better or worse I did my duty. I did whatever it took. Does that not make me courageous, even noble? The army, soldiers, me - we protect you. We fight for you. I have had to kill someone I don't know - for you. I live with that - for you. Whether you appreciate it, whether you realize you need it, whether you think you'd rather not need us, we are YOUR army. Tell me you don't need me. Tell me I'm a stupid gun-touting fool. But don't say I'm not noble.

I've seen the pain, I've seen the suffering, I've lost brothers, I've lost friends - now go f**k yourself.