Combat Boots (revised)

i walk for miles, my boots are wearing thin
i dont know where im going, but i wont go back to where ive been
out in the desert, under the blazing sun
i though id found salvation, in the barrel of a gun
you swore to me, the my body you did need
for god and king and country, so that others might be free
what you meant was, to fill your coffers full
and the tax we paid, was out everlasting souls
late at night, as im lying in my bed
im forced to think of all the friends, ill never see again
why they had to die, i doubt ill ever know
but im done taking orders, from you generals and cos

ill march for miles what ill find i couldnt tell
but anything is better then your everlasting hell
ill walk forever till i find my way home
i dont know what ill find there but it wont be a dog and pony show
and ive said it so many times before
im not your soldier anymore
no im not your soldier anymore
i said im not,
your soldier anymore...

More then War

This is about more then war
This is about more then peace
This is about a society
A people
And a dream

This is about more then money
This is about more then cash
This is about life
And freedom
And death

This is about more then food
This is about more then water
This is about the earth
And oceans
Growing hotter

This is about more then an election
This is about a fucking revolution

- Join the Open Source Revolution
"Free Information = Free Society"


Live

Independence

Independence is not a declaration that needs to be signed
Its not a constitution that says it gives you rights
Independence is not having an election
Blue fingers voting for the right to occupation
Independence doesn't happen on CNN
As young soldiers march off to war again
Independence and laws simply don't mix
Passed down from on high to make people rich
Independence doesn't need police to protect it
It hangs around as long as you let it

Independence isn't given by presidents kings or czars
Independence is being free without anyone having to say you are

A Tale of Two Veterans....

This is a tale of two veterans. They never fought together, they never served together. In fact they served in two different countries. Those countries, however, are fairly intermingled economically although one of them doesn't like to admit it.

The first veteran served in the US Army from 2005-2008. His tour of duty ended abruptly and early thanks to a medical discharge engineered primarily by a certain person in his leadership. Veteran 1 never wanted to leave the service, he was mostly happy with it and he loved his job. It was something he was good at, and the pay was at least enough to live off of. But Veteran 1 got hurt, and his leadership would not allow him to get the help he needed to become an operational solder again. After fighting discharge recommendations for three months, he gave up and the process for him to leave began. Even though he had been officially pronounced to be unfit for duty at this point, his leadership still refused to allow him to get the proper medical treatment to recover. The situation worsened by the week as Veteran 1 pulled every trick he could think of to put pressure on the leadership to comply with treatment plans. He complained to senior leadership, he reported the offending leader to a number of authorities. Nothing worked. The leader even tried to have him thrown in jail one morning for refusing to discuss the details of his medical issues with him. Veteran 1 explained that he was not required to release those details and that the leader wasn't legaly entitled to know them. So the leader told Veteran 1 that he would be thrown in the post detention facility if he failed to comply. Veteran 1 refused to back down, calling the bluff, and was eventually dismissed and sent back to the doctors. Veteran 1 was discharged six months after the recommendation was handed to his command. The doctors had told the command that the process should have taken no longer then three weeks.

When Veteran 1 left the service he had no money and no home. He lived on other people's couches and floors for several weeks while working under the table as a general construction laborer. His pride pushed aside, he gathered together the funds he could and went to his parent's house. Veteran 1 currently works an underpaid job at a Fortune 500 company that has a brutal reputation and a history of violence. This is where Veteran 1 met Veteran 2.

The details on Veteran 2 are sketchy. He was in the Mexican Army for six years. He wouldn't say why he came to the US and perhaps he doesn't know. He speaks a fair amount of English and Veteran 1 speaks almost no Spanish. There conversations are awkward and strange. Sometimes five or ten minutes go by while neither says a word. At the company it is Veteran 1's job to monitor Veteran 2 while he cleans. Both of the veterans think this policy is racist. Both have remarked as such to each other as they walk around the building. Veteran 1 considers Veteran 2 a friend, but Veteran 2 talks to Veteran 1 as he imagines a black man would have spoken to a white man in the 1840's. With a tone and phrasing of inferiority. This bothers Veteran 1 because he considers Veteran 2 his equal. They also seem to have a lot in common. They were forgotten by the countries they swore to defend and wound up with shitty jobs after the fact.

We are one people. We are one struggle. We all fight the same fight in the end. It doesn't matter what country your from, or what your faith is, or what you used to fight for. In the end it's all just one big battle for freedom, justice, and dignity. At the workplace of Veteran 1 and 2 the battle has long been considered lost. But it will be fought again. It will be won. One day.

When Johnny Came Marching Home

Written in November 2007 by a soldier who had served with 2/1 Cav out of Ft Lewis.

I used to be a soldier in the second calvary
Until the army said that they no longer needed me
So I stayed home while my brothers went to war
And so far seven of my friends won't come home anymore
But some have come home wounded in body and in mind
And we all hurt together for leaving the rest behind

When Johnny came marching home it was on two wheels
And he never talks but always dreams of all his kills
And sometimes he dreams of Rhett's face as sometimes so do I
It hurts more folks then people think when a soldier dies

They were running a patrol when they hit an IED
The bomb exploded to the front and stole Johnny's sanity
Everything went quiet and Johnny found himself flying
He didn't have time to think or feel for he knew that Rhett was dying
What he didn't know was that both his legs were shattered
From striking at the armor plates inside his bones had parted
But he knew he must act fast or our brother wouldn't make it
So he gave it eveyrthing he had hopped up on adrenaline

Well Johnny jumped out into the sand
He tried to save the driver's life but found he could not stand
The captain said your useless boy pull guard go sit down
So Johnny crawled a few yards off and looked nervously around
After a moment or so they came and broke the news
Our brother had been killed in action there was nothing they could do

Now Johnny just sits around drinking jack and coke
Or sometimes just straight shots while he cracks another joke
And sometimes sporadicly he just breaks down and cries
Or plays with that damn toy gun shooting to the skies
A wheelchair bound soldier with a rifle must seem a sight
But you really should have seen him that one night

In a drunken stupor he rolled himself down the stairs
When he hit the bottom he flew out and just lay there
I rushed over to him and he looked up at me and said
God dammit man it didn't work I just wish I were dead
I picked Johnny up and put him back into his chair
Said I hate to tell you bro but war is never fair

Well I haven't seen Johnny now in months maybe three or four
They sent him home, he's no good to them anymore
People like he and I were just a liability
Messing with the VA and others I think who lie to me
Sometimes I think they just don't care about us now
Then I know it's true were just broken soldiers anyhow
Just another pair of hands they know that they don't need
What they don't know was that in me they laid the seed
It's not what they desired but in other people's eyes
It's while I was serving Uncle Sam that I was radicalized
I'll never stop I'll never sleep until it's all undone
Because I remember the day the Johnny came rolling home

- Fin

To my brothers in 2/1 Cav (4/2 cav back in the day) and to Spc Conners, Cpl Butler, Cpl Crouch, Cpl Craig, and Ssg Martin. Saber Pride