WAR

This is the true face of war. It's not a game. It's not Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. You don't get to re-spawn. Your kill/death ratio doesn't mean squat. Here, you only get to die once. Your buddy's character doesn't die while you two talk on the headset about what an awesome shot that was. Here, you get to watch your buddy get blown apart and you get to be soaked in the blood of your best friends and the best men you will ever know. The true face of war is not some leftist media deluged, Google/Wikipedia educated hipster protester with a sign in the middle of the street who has never known the fight and the struggle for life or the thrill of knowing this could be the day you come face to face with whatever god you worship. It is not some disgruntled OWS lackey, sitting behind a keyboard and monitor praising himself for his pseudo-fame and trash-media inherited glory, while he condemns those who leave family, country, and home, to ensure that he ALWAYS has the right to do just that. It is not some politician in a suit behind a desk in an air conditioned office who has never been anywhere out of the country that doesn't have valets and ridiculously priced drinks. The true face of war is not the halls of Congress or the White House. The true face of war is that of Death, Brotherhood like no other, Hell like you cannot imagine. It is in the dust and dirt and mud. It is covered with the blood of servicemen and women, of patriots, and of heroes deserving of a berth in the halls of Valhalla. Look past the garbage spewed forth by the media, and your own leaders, Republican and Democrat alike. Do NOT go quietly into that good night. Do not be somnambulantly, consciously, willingly ignorant. DO NOT BE SILENT!!! Fight, kick, scream. Make yourself heard!!! The surest way to be enslaved is to lay down, do nothing, say nothing, and placidly accept the life that ANY government surreptitiously lays before you. Wake up!!! Before this horror, this true face of war-is brought into your streets, your neighborhoods, even your very homes.

No Reintegration, No Assimilation

I keep hearing the words  "re-integrate" and "assimilate" and I absolutely detest them. 

Why should we have to "re-integrate?" We were trained to become what we are. We were taught, forced, beaten, and trained to become stronger, faster, tougher, better, something more. We learned to adapt and overcome. We gained a 360 state of mind. We learned to soldier through it and drive on. We lived, fought, operated, and in some cases, died on a separate plane of existence. We survived, and did what we could to make sure our brothers beside us survived as well. We were broken down so they could rebuild us into something better than we once were. 

But now, when they are done with us, they tell us "Reintegrate!" 
"Don't be like that!"
"Don't think like that!"
"Don't act like that!"
"Go back to what you were."
"Assimilate!"

Fuck "reintegration." 

We are NOT who we once were! We are NOT what we once were. We are the sword and the shield. When things bump in the night, we bump back. We are the invisible force. We are the sleeping giant. We have gone to hell, and some of us came back. We have been beaten and battered, but we are NOT broken. We have forged bonds that transcend blood and race and creed, to create a united brotherhood capable of holding the dark of night at bay. Through training, through war, even through hell, we have become the nightmare's nightmare. 

"Reintegration" is not possible. There is no switch, no 'delete', no 'backspace.' We are what we had to become to survive, and we carry that badge with pride. There is no shame in what we are, though the media, the suits, and the cowards would have us think so. "Reintegration" implies no further purpose or use. It implies a sense of shame in one's being, enough to desire to fade back into the uninitiated, untested, unworthy masses. 

 Yet, our purpose is clear and never ending. We exist that we may descend into hell and trod it's gruesome paths that those without the ability, even those without the heart, never have to. We exist to check Hell's fiery advance and keep it's smoke, ash, and destruction away from our doors. We are the righteous retribution of the flag under which we are all united.

By all means, take up the standard, follow the colors, and press onward with us. But telling us to "reintegrate" is like telling a lion to go back to being a cub. We will not reintegrate. We will not assimilate.