Its ok to be gay, just not a christian

It is a dark day in this once blessed county. How we have fallen.

There was once a time when people came to this land to seek solace from the tyrants and rulers who were seeking to control every facet of life. People sought freedom. These pilgrims were trying to escape religious persecution, looking for a refuge without the dictates of another man’s conscience. They came looking to practice freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. In the country of their origins, they were not allowed to follow their faith because it was a threat to the ideological ramblings that a king was to be the center of all attention. He could have whatever he wanted, and was to be thought of as the voice of the creator. No man and no god for that matter was going to take that from him. These pilgrims wanted to follow the dictates of nature’s law, of their great shepherd without reprise from the fall out of persecution.

Next came the over taxation, and manipulation by tyrants seeking to yet again, gain control over a people group. To a dictator, it is not about leading people in a manner best suited to support a society, but to constantly gain more and more control over the mind of people. It is a sick and twisted affair of men.

What poses the most threat to this line of thought is a god. Not just any god but the God. The God who drives us, the God who awakes our inner morals and inspires us to live within the confines of morality, and independence from the onslaught of power hungry vultures. This God wants us to serve no man, to bow no knee.

As the pendulum swings back and forth so has the politics of man. Once we were a great country. Once we followed the dictates of our own conscience. In the history of man, the pendulum has swung right and people would live independently in their own ways, then it would swing left and a few men would cease the day, and find ways to grasp for power over others. They came with the promises of a better way, brighter future, and a grand idea. So long as you stepped in line, and bowed down to their authority.

This time has come again.

Today I read an article, with my blood boiling, which stated that the pentagon is seeking a way to criminalize Christianity; seeking a way to court martial military men for sharing their religious views. This is the new “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Don’t ask if I’m a Christian, and I won’t tell you (even though to be a Christian you must tell). It’s ok to be a loud and proud homosexual but by obama you better not tell anyone you’re a Christian.

This couldn’t be more counter intuitive to the idea of America and Christians. First, we are a true religion of patience. We do not kill in the name of our savior (Muslims), we do not segregate people groups with hate and animosity (yes, we do tell you what we think about sin, but we do not arrest you for it), and we certainly do not promote forced conversion.  Second, this is a country of free men, and it’s the military that fights for that freedom. To take away the one thing that defines a man is to truly enslave him.  Lastly, it is the faith in God that gets him through the atrocities of war. God can be his center and rock who gives him the strength to persevere in times of trial.

But the divine ruler (sarcasm) wants to take that from them. Where is your tolerant society now? Oh ya, it’s ok to be any other religion, just not one of those Christians. You know the type. The ones who first came to Plymouth Rock, the ones who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, and oh ya, the ones that don’t cause terror all over the world!

My name is King James and I have always preached the ways of the Lord. Though I may be a wretched man, without fail, I will not fail the people around me through silence.  I have, for as long as I can remember, boasted in the Lord in front of every marine that would hear. It is probably for the best that I did not re-enlist. I would be court-martialed. No man will stop me from exercising my faith so he may self-indulge his delusion of power.

To the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines: It is your right to follow the dictates of God and not man. This is what you fight for. This is why America was founded, and that is why we have separation of state from religion. Not separation of religion from state. 

The Second Amendment: Do you fear your government?

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed

Our fore fathers were no dummies. They truly knew what they were doing when they created the most important document in the history of man, the Constitution of the United States. This document set up the great republic we once were. We may never see men like that again. It was through much fighting and deliberation that they ratified the constitution, but this was not enough for them.

The men of this country during its birth had studied other governments though history in great detail with many hours in a library of their own. They were self taught, and learned from failures such as the Articles of Confederation. They study books from people like John Locke, and Thomas Hobbes. They argued over the concepts of corruption by man or society through philosophy and religion or “Laws of Nature”.

They didn’t just jump into this great experiment with blind eyes and hopeful will. The drive came from the failings of their previous oppressor.

When the constitution was ratified, the states would not sign it. They were separate governments refusing to enter a union or contract without certain protection: the Bill of Rights.

This set of 10 amendments was made to protect the states and people from the centralized government evolving into a monarchy or dictatorship as every single government in the history of man has done.

The first amendment gave us something different from any other government: the right to speak your mind without punishment, and the right to pursue religion without persecution. In government throughout history, this was a problem.  The Persians persecuted the Israelites, the Romans killed the Christians and Britain went after both Catholics and Protestants. Also, if you said anything bad about your king, you could and would face a judge.

This is why the Protestants went after the king of England when he tried to disarm them. That’s right, the idea of gun rights came from Europe; it’s not just a cowboy mentality of Americans. Second Amendment. The king even tried to take the colonial weapons in order to establish dominance.

The point to all of this though, is that owning a gun is not for hunting, sport, or home protection.  That was never the intent.

It had one end purpose: to ensure the protection of liberty from the government, and to provide protection for the states, being that a standing army at the time was taboo. A standing army was always a point of contention since this was the first step in every government that led to the end. Rome is a great example. Caesar used his army to overthrow the Senate. This is why our senate has control over the army and not the president.  The thought behind a standing army was said best on this site. Libertyfund.org

It talks about the Idea of a standing army leading to the unmanly shifting of responsibility from the head of the house defending his family, to the responsibility of the government.

In short, it is not only a right to bear arms but a duty; duty to one’s family, country, and future. It is the man’s job to protect his family. It is the man’s job to check his government and protect his land from it or defend against foreign invaders, and it is his job to protect the future of our government.

To do this, he needs to be armed, and not just armed, but equally armed as his government. When you hear someone use the line: you don’t need an assault weapon to kill a deer or ten rounds to hunt, they are using a straw man argument.

Today I looked up what a “straw man argument” was from Wikipedia just to better understand it. In short, it is a tactic used to divert. It is when you use a fake argument similar to the original but perverse it or present the argument with misrepresentation, and then attack it in order to show its absurdity.

Again, the intent was not to hunt or have a hobby, but to protect one’s self from the government. Also, and most importantly, we should be equally as armed as our military. When you hear someone say, “That amendment was made when we used muskets and was never intended for weapons that could kill at such a rate”, feel free to slap the ignorance out of them. At the time, the musket was the most up-to-date weapon and was considered remarkable for killing at such ranges without physical contact. If this argument were true, the founders would have said “the right to own a knife or bow”, but they didn’t.

Our founders wanted to be able to fight back the government with equal terms, not just defend from death during a home break-in. Fight against government, as they did their own governing forces, the King.

As always, I defer to great wisdom, Thomas Jefferson. He said, “When the government fears the people, there is liberty, but when the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” Do you think the government fears you with a revolver or Glock loaded with 6 rounds against their 30-round AR-15s? Better yet, ask yourself, do you fear the government?

What a Liberal said to me today

I work at Vons where I make a measly $7.25. That’s right, minimum wage! 8 years of service and a great work ethic gets you nothing into today’s economy. I struggle daily with this. I have found a seething discontent for the POTUS do to these circumstances.

I can’t get a better job because no one is hiring, pending Obama care, higher taxes, sluggish economy, and an inflated monetary system due to money printing.

With this being said, today I am at work, stacking the shelves when a man walks up behind me. I go through my customer service drill, and ask him how his day is going. This is how the conversation went.

Man: Bad, it’s a beautiful day out, and I wanted breakfast from McDonalds but they wouldn’t give it to me (at 1200pm). This is why I’m voting for Obama. These corporations don’t care. They’re just trying to get the money, and Romney wants to help them.

Me: uhm……… (Blood boiling, wondering if there is a sign on my back that says “ I care about your politics”.)

Man: It’s a free country county, a man should be able to go anywhere he wants to get breakfast. Plus it’s Sunday. You know, the day that mother Mary washed Jesus’ feet, and died on the cross. Everyone should be off right. So, they need to have breakfast for us. I don’t go to church but I’m pretty sure I’m right. (too many things to list wrong about this whole statement)

Me: Suuurree….. Followed by awkward silence, and me just staring at him.

After the awkward moment when he realized that not everyone has the same views as him, he asked me for some product that was on the other side of the store. I told him where he could find it and offered to take him there. This man started to whine in a way that I could only describe as a 2 year old throwing a fit. He said “Man I’m almost diabetic, I’ve walked almost 2 miles today and you are a strapping young man. Why don’t you just go get it for me.” (yes, because I’m just sitting in a chair all day play tic-tac-tow with myself)

Long story short, this man needed an escort around the store, someone to hold his hand through life because he was too lazy to find anything himself.

This is the problem with liberal voters (not Democrats but Libs). They think only for themselves, have no real rational thoughts, and are lazy, expecting everyone to do everything for them.

These are the faithful followers of Barack Hussein Obama.

The humble vet

We have all heard the ranting of people like me, going on about how the entitlement mentality is killing this once great country. Yes, I said it: “once great”. Don’t get me wrong, I truly love my country and what it stood for. So much so, I voluntarily put myself in harm’s way on more occasions than I can remember as a Marine.

The problem though, begins with my generation. After the New Deal, the feminist movement, or almost any moment from the early 1900’s with a few exceptions, the children of these people came about and expected to get whatever they wanted.

They truly believe the reason we even have a government is to provide for the people. To be the big brother that is there to make your life easier. This mentality is so lemmingly followed that we should just change the preamble of the Declaration of Independence to say, “We hold these truths to be government-provided, that all men are created unequal until government helps them; that they are endowed by their president with certain alienable rights that among these are Life for viable beings, limited liberty and guaranteed contentment.

I say contentment because people forget that the Declaration doesn’t say guaranteed happiness provided by the government, but the opportunity to pursue it on your own.

Well, this blog post is not targeted to the mob. That will be for another day. This post is to target the veterans. This is where I will probably piss off a lot of my friends, but it needs to be said.

Most veterans are hard workers, good people, and hold to some form of conservatism or another. I myself am a strong libertarian with socially conservative values. I believe, in theory, the only reason a federal government exists is for a civil contract among similar people groups for foreign defense. Outside of this definition, no man has any rights over my person. With that said, the next best thing is our original set up of government provided by the Constitution, and most importantly the Bill of Rights. Not just the first one, but all 10 of them.

As veterans, we all experience a bombardment of gratitude and respect. Everywhere I go, I am stopped and thanked. This is a nice reminder that people appreciate us. I am a humble man though, and do not know what to say to this. I served for the reason of honor. I wanted to serve in the defense of this country. I didn’t do it for benefits, thanks or recognition. In truth, I don’t even tell people that I’m a Marine unless it otherwise comes up.

This is because I do not want anything for it. It was a sacrifice for which I volunteered. For it to be a sacrifice, some level of unrecognized works needs to be suffered. When you see a veteran constantly looking for some form of recognition or hand-me-out, it is because he has a chip on his shoulder. It is unbecoming of his service, his predecessors, and our image of voluntary suffrage.

This thought process is becoming more and more rarer. Every day you see on the news, TV, or read somewhere that veterans aren’t being treated as upper class citizens. They’re not getting paid enough, or there is no leniency for their mistakes.

When this is a vet’s attitude, there is no difference between them and snotty hippies and libs that think they should be able to have what every they want at the expense of the government. All your years of sacrifice go out the door when you think you should be compensated for it. If we were paid in full for all our deeds, then where is the sacrifice? When a vet touts that he has done so many combat deployments and expects to get away with having massive credit card debt, not paying his mortgage because he was stupid and didn’t realize he was entering a contract he couldn’t keep, or thinks he has earned unemployment along with other benefits, he has lost what it means to be a service member in humility. He serves for recognition alone.

No one cares how many deployments you have done. You are not the only service member. You are not the only person to see combat, and you are most certainly not the only person in this world to have suffered some sort of hardship or loss. You volunteered for it! So don’t complain about it and expect the world to stop for you.

Finally, what makes the military such a great place to say that you sacrificed for your country is the low pay. The next time I hear a military man say he isn’t pay squat, I may lose control and slap him. The pay is higher today than at any point in military history. Grow up! You don’t like the pay? Find a better job. There is a reason it’s not meant for everyone. This goes for all government or civil jobs. If firemen, teachers, police, etc get paid as much as the middle class then it’s just a job. Not a sacrifice or a service. If you can’t pay your bills, it’s no one’s fault but your own. If someone else is getting paid more than you, too bad, you probably should have joined right out of high school.

Now, I don’t want people leaving this page with a bad attitude. We as veterans all have suffered in some manner or another. The gratitude and recognition is nice. It is a nice reminder that people know we have sacrificed for them. To the civilians that do this, keep it up. To the military, don’t grow to expect it. Always remember, it is a sacrifice that you volunteered for. Yes, you truly deserve more, but only when you humble yourself and don’t expect it.

Infantry Women!

Over the years, we as Americans have had a cultural war on the roles of men and women. "Women are the same as men in all aspects of life." "Women are better than men are at all things." These are the ideas that progressives and liberals want everyone to accept. This is just another attempt at the feminization of our society.

You see it in commercials on TV, and the shows they now play. It is a constant bombardment on how men are just stupid and it takes a woman to fix his mistakes. We see shows that have goofy men who can’t make decisions without a woman. Shows like modern family where a beta male is dominated by his wife, and two men are flamboyantly going through life as weak and as feminine as possible.

You would think that men can't even tie their shoes without the direct supervision of a woman.

Well the next round of this assault on equality has started, and of course, they have chosen my beloved corps to use as the battleground. Now that gays can be open in the Marines, why can’t women serve in the infantry?

First, let me throw out this disclaimer: I am not a sexist; I do not see women as lower class citizens. I truly believe that we are equals in the world. The difference is that our strengths and roles are very different. My wife is my partner in all things but we are very different in our skill sets and tasks. Women do things men could never do, and vise versa. To say though, that we are the same in all things is simply ignorant.

I would like to pose a question: Women, would you really want to serve as an infantryman on the front lines of a war zone? Also, do you really want to be seen in that light?

Now let’s break this down. Women are already in the Marines, and they think that they seen live action, face serious danger, and do everything men do. This is why females think they can be infantrymen. But let me clarify. They are not, and have never been close to anything an infantryman has done or experienced. A pop shot or IED is not combat. Sorry ladies, that’s why females were not even permitted on my "Combat Out Post" on the last deployment.

Let’s start with Physical Ability:

Women are truly good at many things and equals as humans but we are not equally created in all things. Women are not equal physically. Yes some women can run fast, far, or lift mass amounts of weight. There are also men who can't do these things. This doesn't change things. A single woman who can run three miles in 18 minutes doesn't mean all women should be allowed to fight. Please read this artical on women and physical abilities: Israel Defense.

Even in today’s corps, women think they have achieved equality through joining the Marines. The reality is, they are held to a lesser standard. For me to achieve a perfect physical fitness test, I have to do 20 dead hang pull-ups, 100 crunches, and run 3 miles in 18 minutes. Females have to do a 70 second flexed arm hang (their arms have to stay bent on a pull up bar), 100 crunches, and 3 miles in 21 minutes. Does that sound equal? If females are equal then why did we have to change the test for her?

Now, infantrymen have to be able to walk 15+ miles at a 3 mile an hour pace with 70+ pounds. Women have never been subjected to this because they struggle to keep pace with only 30 pounds and 10 miles. I don’t want to have to carry the weight of a female in combat when she cannot carry her own.

I’m not even going to touch on the physical exertion expected in actual combat. It is more than most typical men can bear.

Emotional Capability:

I truly believe that women can bear a huge burden of emotional turmoil. Women excel in this area. They can handle a certain amount of mental stress that is immeasurable. The problem is that women have difficulty making decisions separate from their emotions. Emotions are tied directly the thought process of a woman. On the battlefield, decisions need to be made with a split second judgment call. The calls a person makes will directly affect the lives of the men under your command. These decisions have to be processed logically and separate from emotional consequence. The men under you, and over you count on this approach to decision making.

There is a second point to this subject. A woman on the battlefield would emotionally compromise a man. When men deal with death or danger to themselves or other men, they can process it quite well. When a woman comes into play, it changes the thought process. We as men are wired from birth to protect women. It is in our nature and design. This is how men become compromised mentally when women are around in war. We would compromise the mission at hand, and the safety of other troops, just to protect a woman.

I will leave out how it would destroy good moral, and unit cohesion, but the reality is, it would be a distraction to men in training, preparation, and battle. This is already happening with women in logistical units.

Purpose:

I will wrap this up with one final point. Women are not the lesser sex; they just have diffirant roles then men. Females cultivate, nurture and provide life. This is a strength and gift of a woman. Men are the providers, protectors, and warriors. Why would a woman want this role? Especially since it is antithetical to her designed purpose.

In war men have always gone off to fight. They fight for their families, and way of life. Women have always been at home during this time to continue the work the man has left. Her work is diligent, and honorable. She has a purpose and men hold this in high esteem.

The system and ideas we use now work. In over 230 years the United States Marine Corps has not been defeated. The corps is without question, a force that the world fears. Why are people so desperate to change it? The military is not a political playground.

A true warrior, General Robert Barrow says it best!

My War Story! part III

As I had stated before, we were in a very arid valley, surrounding us was desert landscape and barren mountains. For the most part, it was 115+ F. during the day and 80ish at night. To us this was freezing!

The most important part of this whole story would be the fact that it had not rained there in over 10 years!

As I said before in "My War Story: part II" this town would fall, come hell or high water!

Water is what God chose to give us.

Part III

The sun was setting, and the engines were running. The cool air was setting in, and it was all quiet along the screen line. We were waiting for the word: Go.

Then... Boom! Followed by more, lighting. Then the cloud cover drifted over us and the bottom fell out. The order came down: mission would be pushed back a day. The mud would stick the vehicles. The lightning got so bad we had to turn off the radios to prevent the lightning from striking our antennas.

It was quiet that night. I thought it to be one last gift from God to sleep in the rain, my favorite thing to do. Nothing beats the smell of rain in the desert, but we were all baffled by the rain. It never rains in this place, and there was none predicted. This really came out of nowhere.

The next day went without notice. It was time again, and the rain was gone. The word came, "Go". The sight was amazing. To see 60+ vehicles begin a movement to the objective. We were spread out as far as the eye could see, on line moving into a column.

As soon as the sun set you could see in the distance the air strikes taking place. Bright lights would flash in the mountains followed by the echoes of rumbling. This sent fear and terror into the hearts of these villains. It was nice to know they wouldn't sleep tonight as we drove to deliver their judgment.

Then, sometime in the middle of the night, it started to sprinkle again. The cold set in. My rifle was so cold, it hurt to touch. I couldn't feel my fingers, and the wind from driving was shooting a chill to my bones. This is when a helicopter contacted us on the radio to inform us that we just drove over an IED. He could see it because our tire had un-earthed it, making it visible to thermal optics. Then the next LAV hit it, and the next. We all kept driving over more and more. We drove over all of them. They didn't explode! We kept asking ourselves, how are we still alive?

The next call came in from the helicopter, "I've got a guy squatting on a hillside, frantically trying to detonate a trigger device." That's when the answer came. The rain. Since it hadn't rained in 10 years the Taliban never water-proofed the wires, there was no need to. The rain had short circuited all of the IEDs!

Don't worry about the guy on the hill, he found his 77 virgins.

In astonishment, we all kept driving towards the target. Not one IED went off that night, not even the minefield. The air took out any enemy mortar positions, and we never encountered machine gun fire. It was amazing! When the IEDs didn't stop us, the enemy lost the will to fight. At least until we rolled into town.

God gave us a gift. It wasn't our time. It was as simple as that. To this day, I don't know what for. I have never earned his love, his protection. I am not a good man, nor am I significant in the scheme of his grand design. Nevertheless, he spared me. This was a realization of all the Marines around me. To this day we will all tell you it was divine intervention.

The rest of the story goes off without a hitch. We showed up, and as expected, encountered immediate gun fire. Red platoon jumped to the assault and persecuted the threat while a breacher team went to work on a defused minefield.

As my vehicle rolled into this soon-to-be cemetery, a warthog strafed the town, and bunkers went up into a beautiful ball of fire. I had received a front row ticket to the biggest fireworks show in town, and a show it was!

For the next 40+ hours we laid waste to sections of this town with only a close call or two.

(A special thanks to you Cpl Ginther, for your superb gunner skills, and cat-like reflexes. You know why! I trusted no one more than you to keep our vehicle safe with your 25mm Bushmaster!)

Throughout the hours, more and more Taliban started to show up in the distance but would not dare enter our city. We owned that town!

The mission was done, and the word came to pull out. That in itself was a close call. Our engine went out, and we stopped in tall grass. We couldn't see more that three feet in any direction, and the Taliban reinforcements began to trickle into the area. Thanks to Lcpl Keehner's desperate actions, we got that vehicle out of the area.

It was over. We drove back to the start point and had a celebration. The mission was succesful, we had captured a year supply of IED making materials, ammo, left our mark, and didn't take a single casualty in the battalion. The next morning we made the two-day trip back to base, and I was on a plane in a week heading home.

I had survived a promised death because God made it known that my days were not out.

Therefore, my promise from that day was when this story is told that the rain would be the center of it. The battle itself was just another mission, no different from any other. To this day, I will always see a rainy day as my gift, and it will always bring me back to that night. The night that we were ready to die.

May God continue to bless the Marines that worked diligently, courageously, and without hesitation. Keep them safe, were ever they may be tonight.

To the warriors of second platoon: thank you for your action.

My War Story! part II

I would like to start this next part of "My War Story" with another gravity check by illustrating a little more on the "defense in depth" set up by the enemy.

In our briefing, we were informed that the two routes leading into this town were consumed with a plethora of IEDs for miles out. Once the battalion passed most of them, we would be forced into a channeled area for quite a while. This would allow the enemy time to see us in advance. They had the gift of elevation. With this, the enemy could set up in bunkers and call for indirect mortar fire. Then, once the distance was closed, the enemy could start with heavy and medium machine gun fire from extreme cliff faces and elevations that would be unreachable by foot or motor. Lastly, our arrival to the entry point into the valley of this town was speculated to have a small minefield, and we would be faced with immediate small arms fire.

What would get us through this route of progressively perilous obstacles would be our determination, intestinal fortitude, and some extreme acts of superior air power. However, planes and helicopters can only do so much.

Part 2:

I had just found out that my platoon would be the first platoon out of the battalion to lead us all there, and Sgt Platz would guide us with Gunny and Flow Following in trace. Up to this moment, I couldn't have been happier to get this mission. Now I was a little more reserved knowing what we were going to face.

More and more intel kept flowing in as we rehearsed, along with changes to the plan. We, for sure, knew this was a town filled to the brim with Taliban ready to fight, and they may have had an inkling that we were coming.

I spent the next day updating myself with the auto-grenade launcher, SMAW rocket launcher, and teaching my Marines the same. This is when the Gunner informed me that the enemy was confirmed to be in the mountains, in caves with no way out. They were going to fight to the death, and take as many of us with them as they could. This is when my long time friend and true war seasoned confidant, Brian Oberschmid, turned to me and said "good luck!"

The day was set to leave the COP. We all loaded up in our vehicles and started the full two-day journey south. We crossed the Helmand River and traversed the dunes. There was absolutely nothing for miles but heat and sand.

After two days of driving, we arrived at our staging/ screen line point. This area was a dry valley about thirteen hours outside of the town. We set in security for the night and went to sleep.

The next morning the battalion had arrived, we were all set into a 360-degree circle that was bigger than most towns in rural areas. We spent that whole day doing final rehearsals, weapons checks, and any updates to planning needed. Also, we used this area to intercept any traffic in or out of the town as people made their way north. This was to keep the town in the dark on what was about to happen.

We had a couple hours to ourselves before we launched into this. Most of us took this time to get our mind right. I personally listened to some music to pump me up and wrote a letter to my wife; a letter stating my goodbyes and final will for her and my son. I have never done this in the past. I have never felt the need. Now I did.

It was almost time to go. My platoon commander got the call to come into the company area for final revisions to the plan. I went with him since I was on his vehicle and I usually need to know if there is going to be any changes to what the scouts will do.

Upon arriving at the company area, I stepped out of my vehicle and two other Marines that I have know for a while, Oberschmid (Company Chief Scout), and Mendiaz (CO's gunner), came straight over to me and gave me big hugs. They too knew what my platoon was up against. It was our moment of respect, good luck, and goodbyes.

The plan was to start driving towards the town in the middle of the night. We would arrive around 3 am. We would use the cover of darkness, and hours of artillery and air support bombarding the enemy as we approach. This would stop the enemy from sleeping so they would be delirious and scared when we showed up on thier front door.

Part of the plan was, once the first few vehicles were hit with IEDs (my platoon), we would pull over if possible and allow the battalion to pass us. Medical would eventually show up and help. No matter what, the battalion wasn't stopping.

I had already planned to get out, if alive, and jump on the next vehicle. I wasn't going to miss this.

Now the time had come! We were loaded up. The hour had struck, and I had made my peace with God. I had written my final words to my family, since I hadn't talked to them in a month. Engines were running and radio checks were done. Every moment of our military career had lead us to this point.

We had trained for everything. Some of us seasoned, some of us ready to experience organized chaos for the first time. Come hell or high water, this town would fall at the hands of U.S. Marines.

Then the rains came...

Part III, God's intervention and the conclusion coming next.