[GBlist] Subject: Something for you to think about this memorial day

["Khalil Hassan" <khmet@earthlink.net>]

Subject: Something for you to think about this memorial day


Things to ponder this upcoming Memorial Day, May 28th.
The things they Carried....
They carried P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches and dog tags, insect
repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt tablets, compress bandages,
ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three canteens of water, iodine tablets, sterno,
LRRP- rations, and C-rations stuffed in socks. The carried standard
fatigues,
jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets and steel pots. They carried the M-16
assault rifle. They carried trip flares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine
guns, the M-70 grenade launcher, M-14's, CAR-15's, Stoners, Swedish K's,
66mm
Laws, shotguns, .45 caliber pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets,
rockets, and choppers, and sometimes the sound of silence. They carried C-4
plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades, PRC-25 radios, knives
and
machetes.
Some carried napalm, CBU's and large bombs; some risked their lives to
rescue
others. Some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death and damage.
Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive. They carried
malaria, dysentery, ringworms and leaches. They carried the land itself as
it
hardened on their boots. They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of
their loved ones - real and imagined. They carried love for people in the
real world and love for one another. And sometimes they disguised that love:
"Don't mean nothin'!"
They carried memories for the most part, they carried themselves with poise
and a kind of dignity. Now and then, there were times when panic set in, and
people squealed or wanted to, but couldn't; when they twitched and made
moaning sounds and covered their heads and said "Dear God" and hugged the
earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and begged for the noise
to
stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God and their
parents, hoping not to die.
They carried the traditions of the United States military, and memories and
images of those who served before them. They carried grief, terror, longing
and their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear: the
embarrassment of dishonor. They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and
advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment. They were afraid of
dying, but too afraid to show it. They carried the emotional baggage of men
and women who might die at any moment. They carried the weight of the world.
THEY CARRIED EACH OTHER
Author Unknown
Remember them this Memorial Day May 28th











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