You have an entire generation, on top of the generation before that, on top of the generation before that. You have the ability to glean wisdom and knowledge at your fingertips.

Reality is that War is not cool. Pictures and propaganda to sell products and ideals is what makes you romanticize it’s call.

Do not get me twisted. I am beyond proud and grateful for my experiences and speak with great nostalgia of their memories. However I speak to give understanding and wisdom to those who neglect the cost of such professions. Mentalities and actions no person, no cop, no athlete, no man or woman or occupation, will ever truly appreciate or understand unless they have been there.

It is not elitist, it is not arrogant, it is not out of pride or self elevation. It is from a place of true love and empathy for those who will continue the work myself and others prayed would end.

The irony of those who speak against this truth, are the very ones who have never felt their knife scrape the rib of a teen, taken the life of a young boy because the radio in his hand meant the life of your brothers, the stain of your brothers blood upon your skin, the weight of their mangled bodies as you struggle in the mud to a bird under fire.

Yes the allure of war is for the young and a experience I only revere in its true gravity, however it is one I wish on no man. “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” Thomas Paine

But when does that burden end, the greatest tragedy at the cost of so many, is my children will not know it.

Open your mind, feed your soul, seek wisdom and understanding, speak truth without relent, be kind and grateful, pursue empathy, and mental clarity. These are the greatest tools a warrior can posses, not false bravado and under trained over inflated egos. ~ᴡᴀʀʜɪᴘᴘɪᴇ

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