Under The Sun Every Day Just Comes & Goes discussion

So I originally wrote this as a rant about annoying people talking only about death in war being the price but it soon became a question that has always... irked me.

I share it with you in hopes I'm not the only one thinking this about, "the ultimate price."

Ultimate Price

I have heard it said many, many times over the years. It gets tiring to hear about really… that soldiers pay the ‘ultimate price’ for our freedom. What people mean by this I think is soldiers lay down their lives for our freedom. But I have often wondered… what is the real ultimate price?

Yes many die, but I wonder… do those who die not have it better off? Now before you go biting my head off keep reading. We are talking about men and women who kill people. Unless they are absolutely heartless they will remember those people. I wonder is it not easier to dance with Grim than to live? Dying is easy its living that’s a real bitch.

I once met a war veteran who could barely remember his own name half the time (alcoholic). But he remembered every kill in absolute detail. It haunted him. Some veterans are able to justify the killings enough that it doesn’t haunt them. Some are consumed by the guilt. Others can’t get their minds out of the war. Some develop severe mental disorders. One of the most popular is PTSD, a disorder myself and my mother share with them.

Another thing is… do not all soldiers die in some way? I know or rather knew a man, a great guy. But then he went to Iraq. The man that came back was not the man I knew. The man I knew was… well to tell the truth I didn’t know him that well. But I remember him growing up… and I see him now and I know… there is something wrong. Something off that will never be the same. Even as he talks to you he seems to be far away… it’s really hard to explain. He just seems wrong. I know that isn’t the best word but hey.

I of course no what is ‘wrong’. The man I speak of patrolled the streets of Bagdad for I think 18 months or something like that. I remember seeing him off when he was being shipped off (my uncle was being shipped off at the same time… that’s a whole nother rant) he was fine. The guy I remember from my childhood. But the next time I saw him he was different. Very different. Like Jekyll and Hyde different. The same man but different features you know?

The man I knew died. He had to be killed by the man I know in order for the man to survive. But I often ask myself was it worth it? Too lose who you are in order to live to see another day or keep who you are and dance with the Pale Rider. Do you not die either way?

I’ve talked to Vietnam vets too… some of them guilty of killing children. Some of them only kids themselves at the age of seventeen. Forced to slaughter entire villages. How many Vietnam vets came back addicted to heroin as well?

And of course I can’t forget the most appalling thing about wars. The fact people celebrate them. By throwing parades when their county wins a war. We celebrate the deaths of thousands. It is appalling. But maybe worse than that we give medals to people who caused those deaths. No I’m not saying they don’t deserve them (not giving my opinion on that matter) but instead saying by giving them a medal you are making sure they always remember what they did. Everyone who hasn’t been to war thinks that’s great… but it’s really not. At least not always. Think for just a second about having a constant reminder of the time you killed a man.

So I wonder… what is the real ‘ultimate price’; dying or living?
I don’t have a real ending to this… so I guess I’ll add one of the many quotes stuck in my head.
"Only the dead have seen the end of war." — Plato

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Okay So what do you guys think?

First off I think you think to much.

Secondly I think you're right.

I do think way too much...

You do.

But thinking is how I became an atheist...

Yeah, not really a great example.

True....

Yeah.