Ambush

Let’s make this fast. I’ve been meaning to write this piece for forever and for whatever reason I have been avoiding doing so. So without further ado, here goes it.

After 17 hours of riding in the back of a track (amphibious assault vehicle) we finally take a break (I equate riding in the back of a track with stuffing yourself into an aluminum trash can and rolling yourself down a flight of stairs). By break I mean eat half an MRI, take off our Kevlar for a few seconds and burn one. Afterwards my company is designated lead element for the battalion. I don’t give a shit, I’m just pissed that I have to put out my 3^rd cig in 15 minutes. I load back into the aluminum trash can and we set off. 

It’s hard to explain what a track looks like if you have never seen one. A track looks like a tank but without the armor because a track can float on water. The inside resembles a mini locker room with benches on either side of the inner compartment. On either the side you can detach the ceiling and stand up and get eyes on. At this particular time the guys across from me are on watch. As they stand guard I look down and realize my lucky rubber band is missing from my wrist. This will not do, so irrationally I start digging through my assault pack in the process removing most of its contents. I’m almost frantic, when all of a sudden the Marines across standing watch begin to fire their weapons. What the fuck are these idiots doing is my first thought, what are you shooting at? 17 hours in a track will definitely take some of the killer edge off. I’m in the middle of searching for my missing rubber band and these trigger happy Jarheads are firing at God knows what. Then they’re ducking back into the cabin and I feel the track starting to pivot to the right. I hear the .50 cal open up, the sound is deafening and I’m fucking confused, what the fuck is happening? Then the rear door of the track begins to lower, my CO is jumping from the front of the track yelling for me to get comm up, “where being ambushed”! My confusion turns into absolute panic. I start stuffing everything back into my pack grab my rifle, and rush out of the back fresh on the heels of the CO. The .50 cal is louder than ever, like a malfunctioning chainsaw trying to cut down a tree far too large, but there is also now this weird swooshing sound directly above. I realize its rounds being fired just above my head…. To Be Continued

Boots on the Ground

September 11, 2001- I awake from my slumber in the barracks of Camp San Mateo, Camp Pendleton California. My bunkmate is shaking me and telling me I have to see this. I groggily get out of bed and apprehensively follow him. My bunkmate is prone to exaggeration and hyperbole, so I’m skeptical that I actually have to see anything he finds as “has to see”. I make my way to a room where one of the few Marines in the barracks has a television and cable. I look at the screen and realize how wrong I was to question my bunkmate’s motivation to wake me up… I get dressed and make my way to the shop where I work and upon arrival there is a buzz I can feel with all 5 senses. Someone has brought a television from home and we all gather around to watch the news. I scan the room and gauge the mixed reactions from my fellow Marines; some are in shock and awe, some are inexplicably pissed off, and some are like myself. I feel an overwhelming sense of foreboding.

July 2002- We have just returned from deployment in Japan, and suddenly we are doing work-ups: exceptional and constant amounts of physical fitness (exceptional even by Marine Corps standards). We start doing a lot of gas mask training: multiple trips to the gas chamber, hiking in gas masks, gas mask drills etc. It is not as if we’ve forgotten about 9/11 but we put it on the back burner to focus on our recent deployment. My world is so small that I am oblivious to what is going on in the news. The writing is on the wall, as they say, yet I fail to recognize it. War is inevitable. Or perhaps I do see the writing on the wall, but I subconsciously don’t want to believe that that’s exactly where we are headed. Even when we touch down in Kuwait I am still uncertain that we will actually be doing any fighting.

As a Marine you are trained not to question orders, so when you are told that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction and he needs to be taken out of power, you accept it without discrimination. You believe it to be true regardless if it is so. There is no room for intellectual examination on the merits of what you are told; it simply is what it is. When you are cleaning your weapon, checking your sites, and loading your magazines preparing for combat it’s futile as well as detrimental to contemplate the reason why you are doing these things. As I look back now it is almost laughable to believe the assertion that we went into Iraq based on the idea that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. However, since WWII what legitimate premise has the U.S. had for engaging in a war? Let’s rewind back to the Vietnam War. Leaving aside the U.S. underlying interests in Vietnam, official U.S. involvement began in January of 1962 when materials, U.S. military advisors, and helicopter pilots began arriving. In 1962, by request of President Johnson, the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed by U.S. congress which authorized military action in Southeast Asia more or less setting the stage for what was to come. Air raids then began in 1965 and by 1966 there were 190,000 U.S. military “boots on the ground”. U.S. involvement would not end until 1975

Fast forward to present day. This past Friday Pentagon officials announced that military advisors (1,500 American troops) would be deployed to Iraq. If the Vietnam War taught us anything, is that military advisors are a pre-cursor to something much more involved then what that term should mean at face value. Another fact that should be noted is three days prior to the Pentagon’s announcement the mid-term elections took place where Republicans took control of the Senate. I am fairly sure it is well known that conservatism is synonymous with the deployment of American troops to foreign countries; however vague...or questionable the reasoning. It has been suggested by Jennifer Griffin and affiliates from Fox News, that Obama strategically waited to announce the addition of 1,500 troops to Iraq in order to place responsibility on the Republican Party and/or his successor. A statement which Rear Admiral John Kirby, Press Secretary, refutes based on the need of Iraq’s recent willingness to combat ISIS. Even if you believe the premise that Obama intentionally waited to make this move is not even the most troubling issue involved in this scenario.

Whether you believe in U.S. isolationism, or you believe the U.S. should intervene whenever a child’s nose bleeds in a country that the majority of us can’t even pronounce is irrelevant. As a nation we should be keener on recognizing deception, which ultimately is truth masked by fabrication, and understand the objective reality of military intervention. When we are told Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, or when we send military advisors (boots on the ground) to Southeast Asia we should understand why, as opposed to accepting why. As a soldier I was not granted the opportunity to decipher between understanding why, I simply had to accept why and do my job. Now when I hear the term “boots on the ground” it takes on a whole new meaning. In Chuck Klosterman’s book, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs he writes:

…. all their political insights are unabashed propaganda, even when they happen to be right: They sometimes tell the truth, but they’re always subtracting facts. That’s what they get paid to do. They are paid to manipulate and simplify issues that are too complex for casual observers to understand independently…

It doesn’t matter whether it is America’s duty to stop ISIS (which some argue is a result of Obama pulling out the troops in 2011). Ultimately what we should be concerned with as a nation is, when whoever tells you we should send military advisors someplace we can ask why, before you’re waving goodbye to your brother, sister, mother, boyfriend, cousin, nephew.

Pieces and Creases

My Teach For America Q&A

Why do you seek to join Teach For America?

Let me start by saying that this will not be an ideal statement of purpose if you will. The reason I am interested in joining Teach for America is because frankly I have run out of options. I have fought a war, I have got an education and put myself in situations where I made lots of money. Unfortunately, it is not money that I seek. As cliché as it may sound, I would like to make a difference in a society that I believe is faltering which can only be recouped by our youth. I believe that currently a valid education can only be attained by the affluent. Something that irritates me to the core; brilliant minds do not only exist in private schools catered to the rich. To me it is a travesty to know that a child from a poor community, who is just as brilliant if not more brilliant, is not given the same opportunity as a kid who is considered ahead of the curve simply because of the school he/she went to. My schooling is not as impressive as someone who went to Harvard or Yale but I still believe I can go toe-to-toe with these so called scholars. And that's exactly what I would instill in the kids that I would potentially teach. That is the reason why I seek to join TFA. Can I teach? Hell if I know. What I do know is I would do whatever it took for those kids to have the tools to stand toe-to-toe with the Ivy League  

As you know, our corps members teach in predominantly low-income communities. What experiences (in life, work, volunteering, etc.) have you had that could inform your success teaching in low-income communities?

I have lived in low-income communities- where I'm from we call it the hood. I don't fully understand what "inform my success" actually means. All I can say is I have been there so I can relate... will I be successful is something only the future can provide the answer to.

Describe your most meaningful accomplishment (personal, professional, academic, athletic, etc.) to date. Why is this accomplishment meaningful to you and what did it require of you?

I don't feel I have realized my most meaningful accomplishment yet. Yes, I have accomplishments but I don't feel they are all that meaningful at this point.

Is there any additional information you were not able to share on the application that you think might be relevant to our Selection Committee? If so, you may share it here. (optional)

In the Marine Corps I was a radio operator. Not just any radio operator, I was a line radio operator, meaning I handled all communication that ran through India Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment during an actual war! So I cannot speak on my ability to teach children, but I can attest to my ability to lead. Take it for what it is and hopefully children will get the education they deserve, rich or poor

21.5 Jump Street

I remember 21 Jump Street about as much as I remember Head of the class. Which is not to say much. I just watched the most recent 21 Jump Street…. again. I was at the library looking at movies to rent (yes you can checkout movies from your local library). I grabbed 21 Jump Street because I couldn’t remember what happened in the movie the first time I checked it out. I’d bet a horse and a few CD’s that I passed out during my first viewing of this film. So after my second take, I feel obligated to express my thoughts on a television show that was re-made into a movie.

If you haven’t seen 21 Jump Street it was a show from the late 80’s that starred a young Johnny Depp (one of my nonblack heroes), Holly Robinson, and Richard Grieco. These individuals played police officers who agree to go undercover to infiltrate a potential drug ring taking place in a local high school. These particular cops, due to their prepubescent appearance, are given this assignment.

The stars of the re-make are Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. They are the flunkie cops who are assigned to revive 21 Jump Street, which apparently died during the 80’s. I enjoyed the movie; who would have thunk to pair Tatum with Hill… brilliant. Tatum is an actor which I believe has aspirations to become a serious actor so I take my hat off to him for taking on this role. And, Hill… well he plays another version of his character in Superbad with less weight. So the classic jock meets nerd and become friends story. What I liked most about the movie is how they conveyed what was cool in their high school days and what is considered cool in the present time. The dumb Neanderthal jock persona, which makes Tatum popular during his time, is replaced by a liberal eco-friendly sexual preference sensitive “popular” kid played by David Franco. This plays right into the hands of Hill’s character which essentially makes Hill the popular kid and Tatum the out of date Alpha male.

That is where my attraction to the film ends, except for the cameo appearances by Johnny, Holly, and Peter. Tatum shows some range by doing a major comedic role. I have always thought the he had some talent outside of dancing and playing the white/black guy (you should see him in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints). Not much to say about Jonah other than I think he blows both the Franco brothers. Kidding player you were the bomb when you blew Brad Pitt in Moneyball to win an Oscar. I don’t know where this is coming from Jonah, it might be my desire to blow Brad…. I just went and saw Fury and it blew. 

Peaces and Creases

P.S. Fury is not a bad movie, it was pretty entertaining

I May Be Behind the Curve

It is interesting and/or confusing to sit in a room where everyone but yourself is staring into their phone. How do you conduct yourself when your not exactly sure if someone is actually talking to you or creating a snapchat (a term I just learned literally 3 seconds ago)? Am I behind technology or am I simply socially incapable of understanding staring at an object the size of a billfold without comprehending my surroundings? It may seem odd (or typical) but it is happening as I type this. I realize this is not a new phenomenon, perhaps I am getting old. When surrogates begin to take over I will be wearing Converse and listening to Bob Marley as I hunt down rogue droids.

Happiness continued

I was recently engaged in a discussion with a friend about my latest blog regarding happiness. He had a problem with what I wrote. So I would like to follow up on this particular piece. Now, if you misconstrue my writing as saying that if you live below the poverty line you should give up, you need to look again. All I am saying is the system is designed for the rich to get richer. As soon as you can accept this fact, the sooner you can come to grips with wherever you are in life. There is a camp that believes in the American Dream, which is laughable. The American Dream was created to encourage people to strive for something that may not necessarily be attainable. I could go into the housing boom in the 50's where cookie cutter houses were being thrown up on every block in "Pleasantville" , which was recreated during the Bush era which caused the economy took a nose dive. But lets not get into specifics, I would prefer to look at the bigger picture. When banks started offering bottom level interest mortgage rates, why did those who could not afford to buy a home start buying homes? They believed in a 'Dream' like we once believed in the Toothfairy.

So what it boils down to is, we need to recognize that the system is setup for those less fortunate to fail. I don't know any other way to say it. The truth hurts, however as soon as you can understand the basic concept that the system is not in favor for everyone to be rich, than you are better equipped to accept where you are in life. There is a reason why the disparity between the rich and poor continues to widen. The bottom line is this: find happiness in something else other than money, a fancy car, and a big house. Happiness is right in front of you if you look close enough. You don't have to feed the machine in order to be happy. Do whatever makes you happy and or content and the rest is just smoke and mirrors.
Pieces and Creases
TBN

There Is No Such Thing As True Happiness

There is no such thing as true happiness. There is only the idea of happiness, something that you strive for, something you can hold in your arms and stroke like a lazy cat. Everyone wants to be happy; it’s a fundamental disposition of the human condition, however it is an unattainable state of existence that we as humans are incapable of achieving. Reason being is that we always want more; happiness is as fleeting as an addict looking for that ultimate high where they can then kick the habit. We are always on the cusp of happiness and that is where we will remain. It is the way society has been set up; we are lead to believe that once we reach a certain pedestal we are set for life. It’s all a farce. For those of you who live below the poverty line stop believing you will reach the next tax bracket. Believe in contentment. Accept your role in life. There will always be the haves and the have not’s. But take solace in the fact that the haves will never be content as well. It is the world we live in, a world where the carrot is right in front of our nose that we continue to chase when we could just look down and see we have a pile of celery which is just as good as the carrot. Now I’m not saying don’t strive to better yourself but rather accept your station in life and life might come a little bit easier, easier than beating your head against a stone wall. The system is designed to make you believe that you can become rich, or eradicate your debt, or buy that house you been saving for. Listen to me; it is not going to happen no matter how hard you try. Sit down and honestly evaluate your life and the goals you are striving for. “Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is an outdated non-sensical statement intended for the proletariat to work harder to achieve goals that were never intended for them to attain in the first place.

What I am saying may sound negative, and if you believe that then you should stop reading now. All I am trying to convey is don’t believe the hype. If you’re a mechanic don’t believe that someday you will own your own shop. If you’re a writer don’t believe that someday you are going to write the next great American novel. If you sell cars for a living don’t believe that someday you will own a Lexus. If you can do that than you are beating the system and you can disregard happiness and embrace contentment. Accept your station in life, and if that is not enough than reach for the stars but don’t expect to actually touch one. Be happy/content with what you have, and what you have done.

Pieces and Creases

TBN