a story of modern warfare

When it comes to history (in particular, military history), I usually dive into all elements of it. In Jr. high, I was your typical Jr. high guy who hung out with my buddies, played on the school's basketball team, even played in the band, and had my first official girlfriend in the 8th grade.... wow back then in Wes' world, she was smokin' hot! But I was also very much intrigued by the American Civil War. I read up on it and became an even bigger dork by going to various battle re-enactments.

I remember almost 4 years ago, when I first saw the preview for the movie "Black Hawk Down." I just had to see it... I counted down the days. It wasn't just because of my interest in exploring the elements of this moment in our military history. In fact, the main reason I wanted to see it was because I remember it happening. I was a sophomore in high school (16 years old) and I remember when CNN showed the footage of our soldiers being pulled out of the shot-down choppers and dragged through the streets of Mogidishu.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I finished reading a book that was authored by one of the few survivors of the two Black Hawk helicopters that got shot down. He was the pilot of "Super-Six Four" and his name is Mike Durant. He was the only one in the entire conflict who was taken captive. His book is entitled "In the Company of Heros." It's a moment-by-moment recollection of his days in Somalian captivity and how he was released.

Right now, I'm in the middle of the book that inspired the movie to be made. It's rightly titled, "Black Hawk Down" and it is very insightful and quite honestly, even hard to read sometimes because of the realities of the details and the realities that some of the guys who died in that 18 hour battle were just a couple of years older than me when it all took place.

Everyone most definitely has somekind of "hot sports opinion" on the current war in Iraq and Afganistan. I'm not here to promote my stance on it because quite honestly, I am probably quite ignorant on the facts of the politics... after all, it all comes down to who you believe... the "right" or the "left." It's hard to imagine that all of America can be put in only two categorical boxes, but for some reason, those two stances seem to dominate the entire political landscape.

My main point is, after reading these stories of guys our age, we find out that in their minds, it has nothing to do with politics. Most didn't join so they could kill or go to war, they just wanted an adventure, a life of risk, and even help those in need. Most of these guys are documented, saying that they knew when joining the military they might go to war, but they honestly believed if they did, it would be a show of force without much bloodshed. Their being young showed their naivete. But war is exactly where they find themselves, right in the heart of Mogidishu.

I highly recommend either one of these books. It may not be the most cheery of all reads, but it will definitely take you into the world of guys our age, who encountered the most horrifying experience, and tell the tale of their courage, their loyalty to one another, and some of them even had respect for the people that were trying to kill them. Some of them didn't come back home alive. It's a story not about polictics, but about soldiers risking their lives to save the lives of their fellow friends and brothers and helping restore hope (in a very ironic way) to a group of people that most of the world had never heard of.

For anyone who's interested in where I get all this fervor for military history, a lot of it comes from those who are close to me and have served during one time or another. My dad served during the Vietnam War, my grandfater Baker during WWII, a dear friend of mine, Bob Howard, during the Korean War and Vietnam War. Currently, another good friend of mine (and many others) Brandon Moore is serving as an Army Chaplain. Guys like Joe Mollet and Donnie Case served in the 80s, and even during the first Gulf War. The main thing I learn from all of these guys, is that it's out of duty, opportunity, and loyalty. Politics is just a method the politicians use, these guys are on a whole different level.

a story of modern warfare