A topic often misunderstood by today's youth.

I've notcied that all throughout my training in the Marine Corps, there has been a lot of people that say that they want to go out and "Get some, slay bodies and kill hodgies." and all of that other macho bullshit.

I feel like combat has been glorified in all of the games that they play and the moviesaqq they watch. These things are all a part of their day to say life. Joking and smoking with the boys, playing Call ofa Duty and other first person shooter games that are set up so that a person dies, they respond ten seconds later and the fun and games resume... After they've had enough for the night, the game is turned off and they go to bed so that they can do it all over again the next day.
One day, as you're sitting there playing these games with your homies bro's. A thought strikes you and you bring it up to your buddies. "How awesome and badass would it be if we could do this in real life, bro?! Dude! Hell yeah! Let's do it! Let's go talk to a recruiter and get this s**t set up!" So they talk to the recruiter going in thinking that the military and combat experience is going to be all fun and what not shooting guns and rappelling down 30 story buildings. Kicking a*s and taking names. Just like they did in their basement with the bro's. Why do they think this? Because it's the only exposure to the military they've had and there has been nothing to contest that.

Let's fast forward about half a year and all of their training has been completed.
You get orders to Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan. Your buddy looks over at you and asks what did you get? You tell him and he says "Me too, dude!" there's a bro bump and conversation about how you're one step closer to being able to finally get some. To slay bodies and kill hodgies.

You and homeboy arrive at Camp Leatherneck and get all settled in. Surprise, surprise! You're roommates! After everything is settled in, you're out on your first patrol. Everything is going great, it's all routine until all of a sudden you hear "CONTACT LEFT!!!!!!" You look over at homeboy who you've been best friends with for the majority of your life and mouth the words "Hell yes" with a nod and a smile.

This is it. This is what you've been waiting for. You're about to kick a*s and take names with your bro, just like old times down in the basement on the PS3 and 60inch.

Fist bump to the bro before getting into the kneeling position and sighting in on the first "towel head" you see and start sending rounds down range. 500,550,600,700,1000! Who knows how many! All you know is that you've got your trusty M16 A4 service rifle and you are sending rounds down range because nothing can stop you! You are a United States Marine! You are INVINCIBLE! Dropping the enemy left and right. One after another. Nothing can stop you.

As you're doing your thing, you shout over to your buddy "Hell yeah!!! This is what the f**k I signed up for!"
You're answered with a splash of something warm and wet. You disregard it because you've just spotted the last opposing enemy hiding behind a boulder. He's popping out just a bit. A bit too far as you sight in and squeeze that trigger effectively ending his life along with the firefight.

You put your fist up for a brobump "Saying f**k yeah! That was AWESOME! I SWEAR! I got at LEAST 16 of them fuckers! Can you say" killstreak, bro?! Mess with us! Get slayeddddd!!! Oooorah!!"....... A minute goes by....
"Bro? Yo, did you hear me? I said I got at least 16 of them! "
Still.. No answer... You finally look over at him and see him slumped down. But you don't really see him because you're body is still alive with the rush of adrenaline. You don't notice the bubbles of blood dripping out of his mouth as he expelled his last breath. You go to wipe the dust off your face and as you're bringing it back down, you notice blood on it... Then it hits you. You think back to that splash of something warm and wet. You look from your hand to your homie. It's sinking in now but you're still saying "Come on, man. Get up. It's over, we won. Come on, let's go." you go over to him and start shaking him yelling now. "Come on! It's time to go! No no no no no. Come on, man. Please. Let's go. " it's not working.. He's gone. And he's not coming back.
As you're being pulled away by your squad leader, everything hits you. All of those nights spent talking about girls, sneaking dad's beers, and playing Call of Duty for hours. Laughing every time you win or groaning and punching him in the shoulder every time you lose. Those things will never happen again. Because the blood on your hand and face, is REAL. The smell of spent gun powder is REAL. His face disappearing as it's being zipped up in a body bag is an image you'll never forget. The dirt falling on the casket as he's being buried, is real. Your fun and games on the TV have turned into reality. This is war. And it's NOTHING like you expected it to be. The reality of all of the zings and riccohets that were bouncing off the wall behind you coming within 3 inches of killing you hits you like a brick to the face. And you come to realize, that maybe the prize isn't worth the price. Because all you've got are some f*****g dog tags and memories but no bro.

Since combat has been experienced, your perspective on it has changed. It's not just fun and games on the TV anymore. This is the real deal. The deal where if you make one wrong move, you're done for good and there is no pressing restart or waiting ten seconds. You are DONE. You've seen war for what it is now and you'll never forget it. It is not something to smoke and joke about. And it is not something to anticipate. It is something that will change you from a boy to a man way too soon because you've been forced to look at things in a different perspective so that you're able to just stay alive. It makes you more cautious in the things you say and do because you never know what's going to happen from one minute to the next because you've experienced first hand that your world can change in a single instant.

I just don't get why the young ones are excited to get deployed to Iraq. Walking around knocking on doors saying with a smile on your face "We're going to war." you fool. You have no idea what war is. It is nothing but a word and pixilated images on a f*****g screen in the middle of a gated community for you. I hope that whoever reads this takes it to heart and realizes that it is something to take seriously. For those who discard it as a bunch of rambling. Oh well. Some people just have to learn things the hard way and I am sorry for that because lessons learned the hard way normally suck. I know. I've learned quite a few that way.But they stick with you.

I wish I had a more eloquent ending for this, but some things just don't need to be pretty, as long as you know what they are.

Author's Note

I'd like thoughts on this passage. I'm just curious as to what others think about this topic.