Everyone one should hear this at least once

[Ninurta]

The men that fought, sacrificed, and those that died, fighting a war they believed to be honest, and necessary, for the safety of their country and their countrymen,are true heroes. They believed in an honest and righteous government, and leaders that were by the people and for the people.

We know that government does not exist, and that we have no real leaders, just influencers, greedy and corrupt syncophants.

Those that are sent in the future will be fodder to the slaughter, for a war where young people are sent to kill each other to maintain a life with no real  future for themselves.

I see no hope for any side.

The key there is that they fought for what they believed in, and there is no shame in that.

I've known men that claimed they fought for king, country, or flag, but the most motivated were the ones who fought for friends, family, and the guys next to them, I believe.

A politician you've never met, and never will, can't give that extra bit of oomph to drag your ass forward into the flames. "Country" is a big concept, bigger than most can use to motivate themselves at a local gut level. It's too abstract, a concept to be reserved for polite discussions where differences of opinion are relatively safer than dodging bullets. A flag? It's a bit of cloth. It represents that abstract concept, but in the end can't really do anything for you or yours.

But your family - parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and as far out as you care to extend it - your friends, and even that little old lady down the street who once gave you hell when you were in the wrong and so helped to shape your character, that is something concrete, something you can encapsulate in your mind's eye to keep you pushing onward. The guys you ate breakfast with that morning, or played cards with last night, the guys whom you've been as close as family, or closer to for the past span of time, those too can spur a man onward to accomplish the impossible to order when they are in trouble and need a hand to get out of it.... and your hands are available at the moment.

You just go, and you do, and if you come back, THEN it is the time to contemplate grandiose concepts at your leisure, in later years, in the parades and ceremonies that folks think get a fella all fired up to accomplish greatness.

But those concepts are not what does it in the moment. In that time, they are too far towards the bottom of the barrel for consideration. It's that guy screaming "well shit! I didn't see this coming!" or the thought of what failure to stem the tide will eventually bring to your friends and family back home, those are the things that get behind you and give you that shove forward that you need at just that time.

Just my two inflation-adjusted cents worth.

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