Korean American. New Yorker. US Army veteran. Lover of travel, living spontaneously, and physical fitness.
AIM: ryanjungwhan
MSN: ryan_jung_whan
Skype: ryan_j_lee
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A North Korean man waves his hand as a South Korean relative weeps, following a luncheon meeting during inter-Korean temporary family reunions at Mount Kumgang resort October 31, 2010. Four hundred and thirty-six South Koreans were allowed to spend three days in North Korea to meet their 97 North Korean relatives, whom they had been separated from since the 1950-53 war.
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when i try to draw feet
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Never, Ever Give Up. Arthur’s Inspirational Transformation!
Arthur Boorman was a disabled veteran of the Gulf War for 15 years, and was told by his doctors that he would never be able to walk on his own, ever again.
His story is proof, that we cannot place limits on what we are capable of doing, because we often do not know our own potential. In less than a year, Arthur completely transformed his life. If only he had known what he was capable of, 15 years earlier.
Do not waste any time thinking you are stuck - you can take control over your life, and change it faster than you might think.
Hopefully this story can inspire you to follow your dreams - whatever they may be. Anything is Possible!
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“I’ve seen a ton on the facebooks about “thanking veterans for their service.” As a veteran let me just be very straightforward and honest with you. We didn’t “serve our country”; we don’t actually serve our brothers/sisters or our neighbors. We serve the interests of Capital. We never risked our lives or spent months on deployment away from our family and friends so they can have this abstract concept called “freedom”. We served big oil; big coal; Coca-Cola; Kellogg, Brown, and Root and all the other big Capital interests who don’t know a fucking thing about sacrifice. These people will never have to deal with the loss of a loved one or the physical and/or psychological scars that those who “serve”, and their families, have to deal with for the rest of their lives. The most patriotic thing someone can do is to tell truth to power and dedicate yourself to building power to overthrow these sociopathic assholes. I served with some of the most real and genuine people I’ve ever met. You’ll never see solidarity like the kind of solidarity you experience when your life depends on the person next to you. But most of us didn’t join for that; we joined because we were fucking poor and didn’t have many other options.”—
An anti-capitalist veteran (via elitc)
Well heres a take on it not often uttered or shared
(via threezerooo)
My first reaction when I read this was to get angry, but after I’ve taken a few minutes to re-read and cool down a bit, I can understand some of his views.
Freedom? I didn’t agree with the Iraq War, and I don’t know many people who can say that we went there defending “freedom”. It was a bullshit war that never should have happened. Afghanistan? More justified, though all the resources that could have been used to end that conflict quicker were diverted to Iraq, plus I think we’ve overstayed our welcome.
I also agree that the people who start these wars - namely, rich, old Congresspeople - will never know what it’s like to lose a limb, spend long periods of time away from their loved ones, or face the realization that they could be killed anytime. The people affected by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will carry those physical and psychological scars for the rest of their lives.
However, I take issue with his “we joined because we were fucking poor and didn’t have many options” comment. No doubt, that is the reason some people enlist, but it’s not the “majority” as he says. I came from a middle-class family, and the majority of people I knew serving did likewise. Also, some of us did join for love of country; what about the people who have been serving/served before 9/11? I’d really like to know what his alternative is, too, if he is “anti-capitalist”. Don’t say socialist, because that’s not a solution either.
In a perfect world, there wouldn’t be a need for armed conflict; however, we live in an imperfect world, and I do believe that sometimes armed force is necessary - though it should be used as a last resort.
Sorry for the long comment. Just my 2 cents. I’ll probably edit this post as my thoughts become clearer.
P.S. I don’t think Coke has some insidious plan to profit off of the wars, unless you count Powerade, maybe, which I drank on my deployment? Lol. And the author is right in that in the end, it’s really all about the person next to you.
