There is an NY Times blog titled "Home Fires" that includes contributions by returning US military vets of Iraq. One remarkable contributor is an ex-Marine corporal who lost both eyes in the war, had his forehead crushed and removed, and experienced massive damage to one hand. He's proud of the way he looks now, saying: "I now rock some wicked cool scars that include a 14 inch-long one that runs from temple to temple across the top of my head. I still wear a regulation high and tight haircut and all my friends tell me I should grow my hair out. My chest puffs out and I tell them you don’t need medals when you have scars like mine." Apparently his wife was not so pleased. The ex-Marine also writes: "Not long after I came home to St. Petersburg, Fla., it became apparent to me that my wife had lost interest. Two years and two months after my injury we were divorced. When we split I found out that she had spent all of the money I had earned plus all of the money given to us in private donations."
This vet also reports that he was honored by being invited to lunch at the US Senate. He says the experience was somewhat disorienting because he was befogged by painkillers, reporting: "Just as a piece of advice, if you are ever hallucinating on pain medication, do not talk to Ted Kennedy — the man can be a buzz kill." A couple of readers responding to the blog sympathized with this comment and found it uproariously funny.
So, here's a guy who's been permanently mutilated and had his marriage destroyed by a senseless war, yet *still* he's a Semper-Fi-All-the Way Marine and takes pride in ridiculing one of the Senate's most outspoken war critics.
I honestly don't understand why working-class Americans are so positively *thrilled* to get fucked over and over and over by an establishment that has so little compunctions about squandering their lives.
<http://homefires.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/will-i-ever-be-ok-again/>
Carl
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