An Honest Observer Observes
Some facts can’t be denied. I do believe you’d have to agree with what I just conveyed. When I was a little kid, I heard for the very first time, original source unknown: “The only things in this life we know, for sure will occur, are death and taxes.”
Seemingly, a very short time later in my life, I heard: “Sending a text message on your phone while you’re driving on a freeway, especially at excessive speeds, is a dopey thing to do!” Whether Democrat or Republican, you’d have to agree, a vote leaning towards idiocy would be declaring complete disregard for friends or neighbors…
Admittedly, there have been many more personal things and experiences living the years of my existence on this world’s stage. What I’m willing to share with you are a wide combination of events: good, bad, unusual, but never with complete indifference towards my neighbors and friends.
Today’s commentary is being stimulated by my past. Like I said at the top, I am writing this on Veterans Day, 2020. Da Harv happens to be a member of this group, personified in many ways by what, we, military, have in common.
During my time in service, women didn’t serve in any immediate combat zones. You might imagine what our way of life in a front-line arena without ladies around may have been like; language by us troopers was beyond belief— “pass the f—ing butter” —was entirely acceptable. The restroom facilities were always void of privacy. The contradiction to the way we communicated with one another was almost always as gentlemen. We, of the military, laughed together a lot and we cried a little as well. The laughing could, at times, be cruel but never in a lasting or continual manner. A tear or two was usually caused by a buddy’s sharing of a downer letter from home. Never once did I feel there wasn’t a guy there covering my back.
Ten men living in a tent together for a prolonged period of time is a definite challenge, don’t you think? There had to be similarity. There was no voting. We didn’t have Republicans or Democrats. We all wore the same type of clothing; everybody even had the same color transportation. We all earned very close to the same amount of money. No air-conditioning, and the very worst experience I’ve ever had was the tomb-like frost of the northern Korean winters. We all fought against the rigors of frostbite. If we were allowed to vote for likes and dislikes having to do with the climate, we’d have an unanimous agreement. All hands up together, voting, hating every moment of it. What a concept, don’t you think? A vote without politics to consider. We all felt the same, regardless of anything you might come up with.
Without an uninformed media to explain how we should be feeling. Without a young woman or man-child telling us how we should or shouldn’t be living our lives. Love is love and when it ain’t, it ain’t! And there was one more final possibility demanding an immediate unanimous vote—take it from me, in that tent of ours we didn’t consider race or relationships as a voting matter. When we were freezing our asses off, we huddled together out of necessity. Nature without mercy made us work together as an American military. It’s still the same old story.
HK
