[Vision2020] A Recommended MilBlog

[Tom Hansen]

Greetings Visionaires -

If you have ever read a blog maintained by a service member, I strongly
recommend and encourage that you read and bookmark "The Calm Before the
Sand" (a blog maintained by SPC Goodman, stationed in Iraq, and his wife
Anne, living/working at his home base in Hessen, Germany) at: 

http://calmbeforethesand.blogspot.com/

Here is a sampling of SPC Goodman's virtually limitless postings.

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Clarification

I see that Doonesbury linked me. I can't even check my email now. My Inbox
is fifty deep with new messages.

I just want to take a moment and state how grateful I am for all the
responses I've received. I know I've been busy, and I'm sorry for that. I'm
surprised that so many people seem to want to read me. It's overwhelming,
the amount of support I've received, and so I want everyone to know just how
much your encouragement means.

However, I feel I need to post a clarification. It seems that people--on
both sides of the fence--may have come here seeking something they may not
find. Amidst all the comments showing support, it seems I have received a
few messages from unwelcome types.

Given my politics and spirituality, I can't say I'm surprised--I'm not
exactly Captain America. However, I do feel compelled to respond to some of
the ad-hominem attacks leveled against me in recent days. So what follows is
a reminder for readers all over America. Listen, and listen well.

I am a soldier. I am a soldier in arguably the finest Army in the world, and
I am proud of that. However, I must admit I'm frustrated with the course of
things lately. Hence my writing. My morale as of late is low, but I will be
damned if I tolerate anyone who dares to say that I am unfit to serve, or
dares to question my honor. To those who would issue such vitriol and
threats, I say this:

You are not fit to lick our boots, try as hard as you might to do so.

I may be frustrated at times by my fellows, but they are good and worthy
human beings, for the most part, and contrary to popular belief, many of
them--volunteers, as so many of you point out--do not support this war.
There's a difference between disagreeing with the higher-ups and refusing to
obey their orders. So for those of you who would threaten me, or any who
feel as I do, I would remind to you tread carefully. You betray yourself and
your supposed values.

Do I agree with this war? No. Never have. Did I vote for Bush in either
election? No. Am I angry over being deprived my wife and family? Hell yes.
Am I tired of seeing my comrades die in one useless war while they could
have been protecting troops fighting another (Afghanistan)?

Yes.

That being said, never forget this. I AM A SOLDIER, and according to my
leaders, a damned good one. To wish death on me or any of my comrades is an
unforgiveable sin, and one I won't tolerate from anyone, regardless of his
purported rank. I would rather take a bullet than abandon my fellow
soldiers, but I would rather face court-martial than be silenced. My anger
is my own, and my right to bear, and you will not take that. Not as long as
I ensure your right to openly express your wish for my death.

As for the rest, again, thank you all for your encouragement. It means the
world to me. It is people like you who remind me of my country's true
virtues--tolerance, compassion, enlightened value systems, respect for the
beliefs of others. If I may, however, I'd like to offer a warning.

Please don't make me an emblem for a cause.

I am a proud soldier, and I am a proud liberal. There was a time when I
believed that those two things weren't mutually exclusive, but I am
beginning to have my doubts. Nevertheless, duty is duty, and I have a dozen
reasons to continue to suffer through this. Their names are Oz, and Brooks,
and Mueller, and Jameson, and most importantly Anne. These people need me
here, and they need me back in one piece. To do that, I must swallow my
disillusionment with this enterprise and, as Brooks puts it "soldier up."
Don't think for a moment that what I write here can come before my job.

In closing, I thank everyone again for their support, but before my site
collapses again under the weight of another politically-charged flamewar, I
would remind everyone here that, like it or not, I am here for the
long-term. So are my comrades. Shouting each other down won't silence the
opposed, it won't stop the attacks, and it won't bring home the troops. So I
must respectfully request that everyone abandon their illusions about me
before I continue.

Black, white, soldier, pacifist. Whichever of these labels applies to me is
irrelevant.

At the end of the day, I'm just a guy trying to get back home to his wife.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.