Myspace Oddity

Had the idea since downloading the chords to Bowie's "Space Oddity." Seemed an obvious crossover, a folk parody. I know my mom won't get it, but most will. I love you mom.

And I fancy myself a film maker as of late. I spent more time on lighting, editing (or lack there of), and camera position than I did practicing the song. This was take two maybe, so yes, that's me, in my room, this past weekend. Amazing the things you can get done with no car on a rainy day. Enjoy.

American Soldiers

A couple of friends asked me about my blog this morning. So I "tweeted" that I'm taking a break, on Twitter. Mostly because I'm in-between places right now, in transit, and on my way home. It's nearly a two week process, moving an entire army company from Iraq back to the states through Kuwait, and that's with all good weather. But this morning with a wireless connection and little else to do, I figured I'd post a counter balance to my previous theme.

It may or may not need to be said, but I'm proud of being a soldier and of the people I work with. I was primed to get stuck on the Hero/Soldier theme as I encountered those Facebook groups right after a couple weeks of hearing a lot of silly talk from soldiers on the subject of returning home. Some guys (and girls), particularly the younger set, see the return home as a license to do whatever they want when they get back. As if going crazy is something they deserve, like a spring break from school amplified. Perhaps it's all just, could it be?, me dealing with concerns or even worry for these guys doing something dangerous or regrettable? Am I really growing up finally?

But I've gone on enough about all that. What follows is a selection of photos taken over the last 15 months of my fellow American soldiers from the 110th MP Company, one of the very last units in Iraq (if not the very last) to begin and complete a 15 month deployment.

Gunner Spc. Amato giving a wave.


Sgt. Anderson and PFC Smith, we did a lot of training with ASVs (the vehicle), but barely used them at all in theater.


Spc. Chambers, a meet and greet with locals. Even if the young guys talk big, we're still fortunate that our mission involved this kind of contact, and not the kind of "contact!" we train for in basic.


Spc. Hackler


It was often interesting to watch how receptive, or not, the Iraqi Police were to our assistance or advice, particularly coming from an American female. Sgt. Irlbeck with the local cops.


Pfc. Johnson with the tough guy look, I think he forgot there was a purple bear on his vest.


Spc. Ward while at an IP station. The "shoulder pads" are called DAPs by us, only used by gunners by the end of the deployment.


This is a picture I got from another soldier's Facebook. Judging by the DCUs this was most likely '04-'06.


Ever curious, the local kids who have lived their entire lives with American presence, gather around whenever we would show up.


A muddy field the day after a day of rain, I think it was April, the only time I saw any precipitation in Diwaniya. The black mask is worn by an Iraqi interpreter.

Deployed Soldiers: Fully Automatic Heroes? Part 3

The following are excerpts from Facebook group, "Soldiers Are Not Heroes." I have voiced my opinion on each of the opposing sites.


As a soldier I agree...

...that it's absurd that soldiers feel entitled to hero status. I had several jobs before joining the army and this has been the easiest. They shouldn't all be called evil or murderers either. This is simple obvious logic, and somewhere in this mess of posting the same point must have already been made, hopefully more than once.

Most soldiers, if giving honest answers about the other soldiers they know would admit that a lot are "stupid," "gay (usually meaning weak rather than homosexual)," or "pussies." But point a finger at the group and we get defensive for other soldiers. That is after all, how it all works, a team effort for survival.

There are good people who want peace in spite of history and the impossibility of it in the future. I would like to hold the same dream. But people within this site seem to be spewing more hatred than what I've ever heard from the most hateful of soldiers.

What gets lost is a good point - a lot of soldiers returning home from "combat" do not deserve any kind of hero status or special treatment, in particular...violent criminals. A lot of soldiers are big babies, and make excuses for their stupidity by playing the war card.

It's very true. Got drunk with a buddy of mine at a bar before deployment and in his lit condition announced that he was a war veteran and while in that condition expected to be treated heroic...till we were kicked out for his being an ass. Fact is, as a mechanic, I know he never went out past the wire but for arriving in Iraq, and when leaving. It was embarrassing.

So to all the overly excited jumping on the band wagon...chill, or nobody will listen to the intelligence beneath all that Jerry Springer talk. To soldiers, you know there's a good point. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

SPC Burkley


Benjamin Bradford

Please explain why a well-educated and thoughtful person like yourself would want to engage in acts of war? Not a wind-up question, I am generally interested.


Mickey Caster (Syracuse, NY)

Absolutely. After being in for 10 years, I can say I know enough soldiers that it would be ridiculous to consider them all to be heroes. Heroic acts make someone a hero, and there are very few who fit that category. However, soldiers are like everyone else, capable of heroism, but also capable of cowardice.


Me -

The only acts of war I've engaged in are treating trauma injuries, American and Iraqi patients at Ibn Sina, Baghdad Iraq. As far as the acts of war you have in mind, thankfully I haven't encountered a situation where that's been necessary. If by "act of war" you mean joining the army, I did so for a complicated mix of reasons. I actually posted on that very subject at my blog, www.versavice.blogspot.com, if interested. There you might also find another view point as to what soldiering is. It's not just Rangers killing babies - which does happen BTW - and can never be justified.


Agnes Ng

In the past decade,millions of innocent people have been killed in barbaric wars. History shows that wars are driven by greed and ideologies that conflict with justice and human rights. Despite that, wars are well packaged, for the mob and the naive among us, under the guise of religion, defending democracy and freedom, patriotism, national security, and recently TERRORISM. Those factors are the drive for the gullible among us to believe, participate in a war and die, or get maimed, or scarred for life (emotionally, physically, or both).

At this point there were several varied posts with opinions on why peace is better than war, which were redundant and I omitted here.


Me -

No war. Great. Great Idea. Not a new one though. The idea of peace is as old as the act of war. As far as history reaches war is the most consistent and natural thing for humans. Natural, but not green eh? There are plenty of discussions elsewhere for that.

What's new is the discussion on members of the military feeling entitled to an elevated status, something that actually irks me, from within the military, as a soldier myself, and the public's self made obligation to give this special status.

It hurts the discussion to imply wild things like what I've seen elsewhere on this site. Soldiers as murderers and mindless killers. If for no other reason - nobody really thinks that's true. So they'll throw your baby out with their bathwater. Don't let them. Stay steady, focused, and non-emotional.

Fact is - the majority of the military are proletarian middle income middle class who lack a political voice in most discussions, and are too busy with daily tasks like paying bills and feeding kids to give much thought to these issues in any detail.

They'll simply except the free drink with a nod, or say thanks in return if you say thanks for their service.

Unfortunately there is a huge shitload of vain and extremely non-heroic vets who are going back out into the military and civilian population with a chip on their shoulder, a hand out, and getting sympathetic reactions to both.

This is a dishonor to the handful of truly brave, men and women who served beyond the duty of the average soldier. They deserve that recognition. They are the ones you'll almost never meet, the very same people that may never even mention their prior service.

Be aware of the difference. It's real.

Deployed Soldiers: Fully Automatic Heroes? Part 2

This subject continues to interest me. It's mostly the wide range of opinions on the subject and the conviction that individuals have for their different positions. The other issue is free speech, even when one has an unpopular view that is deemed unpatriotic by another group, the right to free speech still exists. Am I a big proponant of Soldiers Are Not Heroes on Facebook? No, there's a lot of low-wit angry baby talk from anti-military people. But that doesn't mean there's no valid issue.

I've noticed that it's the older non-military that insist all soldiers are heroes, and the younger within the military that feel the same way. Whereas the older current or former military members that agree that every joe is not a hero.

Just to make it clear, I don't argue over the book read definition of the word - I have an issue with an individual feeling entitled to elevated status, and the false obligation of others to honor that entitlement.

The following is an excerpt from "Petition to remove Soldiers are Not Heroes" on Facebook. It's a direct cut and paste so there are original typos et cetera. Since the forum is public, I left the names in.


Me -

As a soldier I have to say that there is a point in stating that "soldiers are not heroes" just by virtue of the fact alone, I mean, obviously. You don't get a damn hero card for serving or deploying, and you shouldn't either. There's a good point to be made for someone pointing this out, on the internet or anywhere. The freedom and the right to burn a flag, or have a "soldier's are not heroes" web site is what it means to be American. To shut them down would be very unAmerican.

These seem to me, to be obvious points, that someone somewhere here must have already made. I'm a "group member" here as I am on the SANH site only so I could post and make comments on both.

SPC Burkley


Keith Matthews (Atlanta, GA)

actually there is no "right to burn an american flag" . just like taxes there are federal guidlines as to how a flag must be treated and flown. this comes out of great respect for those that have died defending the flag. when someone burns a flag it isnt a show of discontent for our government, it is a slap in the face to all the gave thier lives for that government.


Me -

Ok, there's no law against burning a flag, and you have to be left alone by the police till they have probable cause to arrest you. So, no there's no explicit right to burn a flag, but being free to have an opinion and demonstrate it is protected by law.


Greselle Ramos (Chicago, IL)

I know that you say that we should not have the "soldiers are not heroes" page shut down, but I think your wrong. We have that right, soldiers are heroes, and freedom is not free, every war, every fight, every deployment, I am not a soldier but the ones that are out there fighting for me are my heroes. I know that freedom of speech is clear but this page is just wrong. Our military people are just doing what they are told, they do it because they have to. We need to keep there moral up and not let these petty infantile people harass them. It is not right.


Me -

How can all soldiers be heroes? That's just mindless. Most soldiers don't even think that. Acts of heroism make heroes. You lessen the word when you give it away to every joker in the ranks.

On the other side of the coin - Calling us murderers and killers is almost comical, but there are fruit loops who do think like that, so it isn't funny. Most soldiers are just regular people like non-military people, no better no worse, we deserve no special treatment, respect yes, hero treatment no.

As an aside too many scumbag soldiers are returning to the states and becoming violent criminals, and using the war card as an excuse. This is unacceptable by any military standard.



Marshall Chriscoe (Winston-Salem, NC)

Hear hear. As former mil myself, I can attest to the nausea that overwhelms me when I consider some of the guys I've been stationed with are being called "heroes". As you said, brudda, we're not all heroes, and we're not all psychopaths. I'm sure there's some of each at every command, but for the most part, we're all normal folks.



Greselle Ramos (Chicago, IL)

Wow, I was not rude to you! I have two uncles that were in the military for 25 years each. They are my heroes, I understand that not everyone in the military are good people. You need not have said that my statement was mindless. That was very dismissive, how is it that someone who is preaching about freedom of speech can turn around someone else's opinion. I made the statement that soldiers are heroes, I never made the statement that all soldiers are heroes. I stated the ones that are fighting for me are, maybe you should reread the statement and not react to a phrase in such a manor. I thought you might have had an opinion on the part of the comment where I stated that the sanh page was wrong. But I guess you did not think that was important, you just wanted to make a statement the way David does by belittling my opinion and not even getting the statement right. Thank you I see what type of people are on this sanh now.


Patrick Kent (Davenport, IA)

HERO: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

it’s all in ones opinion on who is a hero or not and I am in the military and I have seen many that I would not even come close to calling them a hero but others yes they have the will the and the mind to do whatever it takes to defend this country that we call home I can say that not all should be called heroes but most can be or just brave men and woman


Nathan Clauss (Saginaw / Bay City, MI)

no were not but what u been saying is point less your a fucking retard who need to shut the hell up hey the first mother fucker who burns a flag infront of me will not live to see tomarrow i will rip there head of there shoulders and shit in the neck

Charlotte Barfield
and their is a right its called the first admendment look up Texas v. Johnson

Deployed Soldiers: Fully Automatic Heroes?

Of course not. A question raised originally from facebook groups.

1) Petition to remove "Soldiers are not Heroes."

2) Soldiers Are Not Heroes

To me, it seems obvious that being a soldier and being deployed doesn't make one an automatic hero. America after the Vietnam War offered the opposite reception to men and women of the military returning home. The populous now seems to have an unstated obligation to welcome with open arms. It also should go without saying that not everyone returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan is a criminal or murderer as is suggested by the Anti-Hero site. Though it does happen, very low are these numbers in fact.

Below is a dialogue, a dialectic on the subject. This is something different for Versa Vice, but I think this issue could become a larger one as more and more veterans re-enter the population. Soldiers with opposing views, along with a civilian, are copied directly from the discussion.


Me, on Facebook, on the sites/links above:

Burning the flag is only as un-American as saying you can't burn it. Both are protected acts in America. We have the freedom to be as smart or stupid as we can possibly be. In reference to the Petition to shut down “Soldiers Are Not Heroes:” Petitioning against a site because it challenges your entitlement to automatic "hero status" when you get back from Iraq is also un-American and an act of hubris.

LC (US Soldier) - think some angry firefighter that wasn't getting enough praise, and lost his wife to a soldier returning from iraq made that group. with or without that group, the hero status will be there regardless, so I don't care

Me - That's the problem. I don't think you read what I wrote.

LC - i did but im confused. either way, im going to have a lot of free drinks due to this hero status, as will you, so forget I said anything

DS (US Soldier) - i see it as we're just doin our job..don't really care much about a hero status...

LC - true DS... but whatever gets drinks in my hands and me on the floor by the end of it, will be fine by me :]

RP (US Soldier) - Ugh. I already went through this. Use your common sense when it comes to this crap.

The definition of hero.

1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.

So who is being arrogant.

TB (US Soldier) - I agree. A lot of the stuff on that board is kind of silly, but I save myself a headache by choosing not to read it. If anything, the 'soldiers are not heroes' group gets more attention *because* of that petition than if it were just ignored. In the end though it is free speech and the 'soldiers are not heroes' group should be allowed to exist regardless of your position on the issue.

RP - Just as it is there freedom of speech to say it shouldnt exist. haha. Isnt that hypocritical?

TB - I think the issue is rather than challenging the beliefs of the group, they're trying to get it shut down completely. Freedom of speech, used to argue against freedom of speech? You're right, it is hypocritical.

"I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
- Evelyn Beatrice Hall

Me - BTW RP, I just read your definition, I didn't mention arrogance, but you're demonstrating it quite well. Folks - you don't have to be a hero to be a good soldier. It's commendable that you joined the army and were deployed...it's not heroic.

RP - But you did mention hubris. Im not saying im a hero. I am merely saying that your definition of hero is different from others. It is not very clear. Your making a lot of assumptions. And we all know, assuming things can make you look like an asshole. Once again, you are pushing your opinion of what a hero entitles onto other people. Why cant you just let them decide. The definition says, admired for his brave deeds. Isnt joining the army brave?

Me - Society offers too much hero worship. It's a mixed bag, commerials making you feel bad about yourself without certain products, then Hollywood et cetera putting unrealistic figures on the screen and in the media. There's no need to live up to the bullshit. I'm not pushing any of it. Fact is and remains: any clear thinking adult knows soldier = soldier, not hero. This is so rediculous. An argument I never thought I would have.

RP - Why do you keep ignoring the definition. Haha. You wont even acknowledge it. You just think that your interpretation of it should be everyones. Well im sorry to say but it is not. That is ignorant. Should I explain what I mean by arrogant?

Me - You're being arrogant young man! Read your own unsourced definition and you'll see it still remains in the eye of the beholder, a point it seems like you might be trying to make, so why defend with your "definition" your entitlement to heroism. Absurd. Show me the word "soldier" or "entitled." How is the fact that I'm arguing against being an insta-hero, make me the arrogant one? You're out of your fucking mind.

KF (my family) - I'm not in the military, but I would have to say that joining doesn't have to be about bravery. IN fact sometimes it is about cowardice as I have found quite a few people that signed up because a family member was military and they felt they had to. It was easier to kowtow to their father than to stand up for what they really wanted. Also my dad ... Read Morejoined back in the day and it had nothing to do with a moral compass and everything to do with having no direction in life. And since his parents demanded that he make some kind of decision about his role in the world, I can't even say he was brave for making a decision. I am not getting into the argument about the website, as I honestly can see both sides points to a certain extent. But I just couldn't keep my mouth shut about that "Isn't joining the army brave?" line.

RP -Ugh Burkley. The definition came from websters. Im not going to repeat myself over and over. Your arrogant to think that your interpretation is supreme over everyone elses. Why cant you have an open mind and see that point. KF, I was just throwing something out there. We cannot however ignore the fact that someones perception of what a hero is might be as simple as joining the army, or as complex as jumping onto a grenade to save his/her buddies. That is all im trying to say.

LC - how about we are doing what every civilian in the states right now is not. that sets us apart from them, because they don't have it in them, the end. anyways, in someones eyes we are heroes. get over it. I mean, why even be upset or argue about something like that? sure training Iraqi Police is fucking retarded, or PSD for the president of iraq ...

KF - LC someone has to be in the states doing what you are not because otherwise you would not be getting paid. You guys are making "hero" seem very common. I sure hope people have higher expectations out of their heroes than that they joined a group or are doing something that some other people are not doing.

What make's you think you speak for "everyone" RP? I.E. - "your interpretation is supreme over everyone elses."

And I'll say it again, your definition, wherever it came from makes my point. Seriously, take what it says, can you say that it applies to every soldier in our unit? Any soldier in our unit? Cerainly not to every soldier coming home from a deployment.

RP - But that is just the thing we are arguing. What a hero is, is different to every person. Also that is not what LC meant. I guess you just didnt realize it.

Burkley, you choose to ignore what im saying. I already posted the definition of hero. If you dont think they are right. I suggest sending them a complaint? Haha.

a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

I believe that this can be applied to every single person. I think... Read More you are a hero, based on what you have done here in Iraq. I think according to the dictionary definition you can call every single person a hero. That is just my opinion.


LC - I have a giant headache. ill just say it, since apparently everyone thinks they are, with those assumptions being thrown around. everyone in the military is a hero because they show courage you people in the states will never show. I wouldn't be getting paid? I'm hardly fucking getting paid stateside as it is, lady. I made more delivering floral wholesale goods to shops throughout Kansas. Maybe even more or the same delivering pizzas and earning tips. and joining technically doesn't have to be about bravery. yea, sure, it could be the person just was done dealing drugs and needed a job (I). was 30 years old headed nowhere, and needed something to get done in life. wanted a head start. needed college money. wanted to make something of themself. all different reasons, but with the same result. a person joining the military is brave, because it takes a brave person to serve. fuck this. I can't believe I just spent time dealing with this. I have a broken or sprained or simply just hurting pinky toe and a wisdom tooth coming in burkley. but I know there's nothing you can do for me, so I just wanted to tell you that so you can laugh about me being in pain to get your mind off of this retardedness that has taken over our lives the past couple hours.

ME - As I look back at the whole thing, above, I think DS and TB were making the most sense, and nobody paid any attention because it didn't push an emotional button.

KF - LC, so sorry for helping cause your headache. I'm sure you will get many drinks in the states and I hope you enjoy them. I just enjoy thinking and appreciated a conversation on FB for once instead of the standard quizes and games.

LC - shaw always makes sense that's why every time he sees me, I don't even have to say anything and he shakes his head. it's just natural, he knows I'm thinking of something stupid. anyways, thanks for all the fun, I gotta be up at 4 in the morning. adios

Me - Hey KF, thanks BTW, and I apologize, they're not bad guys, we're all just stewing in our juices with little to do, and too much to think about.