blog1april3

The war in Iraq has definately been a huge part of my life, shaping who I am today. Having close friends enlisted and serving in the army, I am extremely, for lack of a better term, annoyed, with people who are so oblivious to what is going on. Some people do not even know that we are at war and do not realize how much our soldiers sacrifice, some including their minds, and even their lives. Not only am I annoyed with people who do not believe we are at war, but I am almost hurt, feeling like this is life and I finally understand the cruel harsh world of today. Before, I used to think everything was perfect, and there were no problems in life. Today, I feel like everything is crumbling, and so many lives are lost while no one even notices. Not to so pessimistic, but it's true; people simple just don't care. For example, around last year, I was at my friend's house. The news was on, showing some footage with our soldiers in Iraq. My friend's dad simply just said, "That sucks." And he went back to reading the newspaper. He didn't even give it another thought about how much those soldiers risk everyday. They risk being able to do what we can do everyday. We never have to worry about what to eat, or where to sleep, or if we are going to be safe the next day. Some of the soldiers go through so much that they never come back the same. I know that whenever my friends come home after training, they are so grateful to just be home. One of them, who is now only 21 tells me that he would have never signed up for it if he knew what he was going to see everyday. He even told me how scared he was, and he is the type of boy who would never ever admit being scared. When I read about Blake Miller in the article, "The Troubled Homecoming of the Marlboro Marine" by Jenny Eliscu, I became so scared that my friends would someday come home like him. Blake came home with a different lifestyle: paranoid, sleep deprived, raged, and violent. He came back home with no goals for life. If I remember correctly, the army is supposed to change a man for the better but after reading the article, I got extremely scared and felt a sense of reality. There are so many soldiers who are literally damaged mentally and physically, but what do we care? We have our perfect lives and we do not need to worry about a thing. The media portrays pictures like the one of Blake as heroic, setting it as an icon, but the truth is that the media should portray the hardships and the sufferings of the soldiers to show the truth and the realities of war. That is why I want to get into broadcasting journalism, and show people the things that really matter, not just the pretty things in life. Hopefully in the near future, people will see the truth and the next time they see footage in Iraq, they will have a different outlook on the war and the people who save our lives everyday.