TRP: Haze Gray and Underway
Twenty years ago today I was haze gray and underway to the North Arabian Sea as part of Battle Force Zulu. Back then, I shot film and 5.56x45mm NATO. Today, I shoot digital and my rifle is my own. I still have my cammies and web gear, but they have a lot less room inside than they used to. I am a different man now, a father and a husband, with bad knees and a new life. Inside though, is the soul of a warrior, older and wiser but with a firmer resolve than ever before.
Today, new warriors are returning home battered and broken, but no less valiant. Our country for the most part has forgotten them. While we haven't spat on them, or actively turned our back on them, they are a reminder that many do not want to recognize. They are in wheelchairs for life. They walk on crutches and false limbs. They have lost eyes, been disfigured, and many struggle with traumatic brain injuries. The most painful scars are inside however. Those wounds are reopened each time a veteran in a wheelchair sees people avert their eyes. They hurt each time they must ask for assistance. They did not want it to be this way.
You can help. Thank a vet. Smile at a man or woman in a wheelchair or on crutches. Then do something. Visit the Wounded Warrior Project and get involved with more than lip service. They did. You can too.
The Rogue Players: Twenty Years Ago Today
Strobist: AlienBee 800 with diffused HOBD-W camera right. Gold reflector camera left. Triggered by Cybersync.
TRP: Haze Gray and Underway
Twenty years ago today I was haze gray and underway to the North Arabian Sea as part of Battle Force Zulu. Back then, I shot film and 5.56x45mm NATO. Today, I shoot digital and my rifle is my own. I still have my cammies and web gear, but they have a lot less room inside than they used to. I am a different man now, a father and a husband, with bad knees and a new life. Inside though, is the soul of a warrior, older and wiser but with a firmer resolve than ever before.
Today, new warriors are returning home battered and broken, but no less valiant. Our country for the most part has forgotten them. While we haven't spat on them, or actively turned our back on them, they are a reminder that many do not want to recognize. They are in wheelchairs for life. They walk on crutches and false limbs. They have lost eyes, been disfigured, and many struggle with traumatic brain injuries. The most painful scars are inside however. Those wounds are reopened each time a veteran in a wheelchair sees people avert their eyes. They hurt each time they must ask for assistance. They did not want it to be this way.
You can help. Thank a vet. Smile at a man or woman in a wheelchair or on crutches. Then do something. Visit the Wounded Warrior Project and get involved with more than lip service. They did. You can too.
The Rogue Players: Twenty Years Ago Today
Strobist: AlienBee 800 with diffused HOBD-W camera right. Gold reflector camera left. Triggered by Cybersync.