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ABOUT ME & THIS SITE
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Read this section in it's entirety before you call the FBI, CIA or the Secret Service. (Not that they have the time to deal with a piss-ant, idealistic website like mine anyway.)
First of all, I do not consider myself un-patriotic. I am called un-patriotic by others, in spite of my convictions, ideals and military service. This site was named "The Un-patriotic Vet" to highlight this irony. The burning flag button at the bottom of the pages within this website does not indicate a hatred for this country. It was put there as a symbol of the current state of our union. It is also a symbolic reminder to all of you that freedom of speech and expression should always prevail over the neo-conservative, quasi-fascist movement that is sweeping through the nation today. I will discuss this in depth later, in a different section.
Oh, before I forget to mention it, the flag button is also a link to the main page of this website.
About MeI was born in Seoul Military Hospital in Seoul, Korea to a United States soldier, who was the son of a United States Navy veteran, as a U.S. citizen. I was raised to love my country and the ideals set forth by the founding fathers of our nation. I said the pledge of allegiance at the start of every school day without question. I studied the constitution, the bill of rights, various presidential speeches and whatever else was asked of me until I graduated high school in 1987 with honors. The autumn after I left high school, I joined the Army.
I had basic training in Ft. Knox, Kentucky, perhaps you have seen some of this post in the movie “Stripes”. There I became physically fit, learned how to fire an M-16 assault rifle, M-203 grenade launcher, LAW (Light Anti-tank Weapon) rocket, M-60 machine gun, claymore mine and hand grenade. I learned the laws of war as outlined in the Geneva Conventions and how to respond to NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) attacks. From there I went to Ft. Rucker, Alabama, the home of Army Aviation, for AIT (Advanced Individual Training). There, I learned what was to be my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty): 67N, Utility Helicopter Repairer.
I reported for duty to Ft. Drum, NY in 1988. There I was quickly reassigned to a detachment in Griffiss Air Force Base near Rome, NY. I, with about a dozen other soldiers, became the first members of the 10th Aviation Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division. The brigade grew rapidly and was divided into smaller units rather quickly. I served most of my time in the army in B (Bravo) Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 25th Aviation Regiment, or B 3/25 (pronounced bee-three-two-five). Their motto was “Warriors from the sky”. I worked as a crew chief of a UH-1H helicopter, more affectionately known as a “Huey”, until I was honorably discharged in early 1991.
About This WebsiteUnfortunately, during my upbringing, the breadth and depth of my father’s politics was kept mostly to himself. When I joined the U.S. Army I had what I now call a “blind” patriotism. This was a naiveté that believed our government was working well, that our system was uncorrupted and unflawed. It wasn’t until adulthood, well after I had left the service, when I began to look at our country critically. I began to see the corruption, the flaws, and the greed in our system of government. I saw corporations and individuals buying policy, exploiting loopholes, and ruining the very foundations of freedom and democracy. This is when I redefined patriotism for myself and, coincidentally, discovered that my father's idea of patriotsm was very similar to my own.
Now, in 2004, George W. Bush is our Commander-In-Chief. The Supreme Court appointed him after an election that he and his relatives had stolen from the people. Our bill of rights and ideal principles as a nation is being crushed in the vise that is the Bush Administration. Bush, his agenda, and his administration, is currently the most imminent threat to the very things I swore to protect as a soldier: our freedoms, our constitution, and way of life.
Those who support him, support him whole-heartedly. Those who oppose him, oppose him vehemently. Bush supporters call his opponents un-patriotic, implying that a patriot would support his president no matter what. This is what I call blind patriotism, and the lazy way to flow through political rhetoric. True patriotism is not defined by love for the president. The president and the country are not one entity, at least not in a free society. A true patriot can discern the difference between their country and its leader and criticize them individually. The true patriots of the United States of America love what this country has the potential of being, they love the idea that this is a land that believes all persons are created equal and that, with that equality, they are free to practice what religion they want, travel wherever they want, marry whomever they want, vote for whoever they want, and express their thoughts and feelings without government persecution.
I created this website to discuss criticisms of this country and the current administration; also to explore possible solutions and ways to make the systems in place work as they were intended. I, along with all other true patriots, realize there are flaws in the country we love and will do whatever it takes to correct them.
Call me un-patriotic if you must, but I believe a true patriot loves their country; they do not love the people who consistently fuck it up.
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