“Onward Christian soldiers!” you say, as if your petty jest means anything to me. I am not Christian. I bear no faith as of late. I never fought for the glory of god, I fought for those that stood beside me when I needed them most. I fought for those I once loved, the ones who remain, and those special people yet to come. You think you’re cute and cool because you’re in the hipster trend. Because you “don’t support the troops.” It was long ago said that those men who melt down there swords to make plowshares will have them taken from them by men with swords. These words still ring true. When you were nineteen you were living at home with mom and dad, working at burger king, smoking dope and having sex with everything that moved. When I was nineteen I was in the mountains, standing at deaths door step, smiling at the devil as he beckoned me to come in. You have Facebook to keep in touch with lost friends, I have but memories, words and faces burned into my mind. I didn’t do it for you, and expect no gratitude from you. I did it for me and mine. I did it for those worthy of the life this nation offers to you on a silver platter. Some people say you’re entitled to the benefits this country gives you. You aren’t entitled to shit, it’s men and women like me that give you this chance. It is we who shed our blood and give our lives for the things you feel entitled to. We pay your price, we protect your homes, we fight for your survival in a way in which you are unwilling. So please, if you harbor feelings of disgust towards my brothers and I, keep them to yourself. It’s not prudent to project your ignorance upon others.