....TAPS....

    Sitting alone, like a ghost in the darkness, drinking to old memories.


    Drinking with his two buddies, Jose Cuervo and Corona. Toasting to his two best friends,


    Pain and Misery.


    Talking to old photographs, wishing they would talk back. Dressing himself in full class 'As'


    and jump boots. Spit-shined and polished.


    Staring at a soldier who's staring back at the man who stands all alone with glassy eyes,


    as Taps plays on the stereo in the room.


    He sits hugging a bottle close to his chest, it's semi-square edges, so warm in his embrace. So


    warm to his body, as he takes another drink.


    And Taps plays on...repeat after repeat.


    He looks out of the window and stares up at the night sky and thinks that maybe he would like to


    touch the moon...drink up the stars...run across the dark sky and never stop until he reaches the


    end.


    The cool night breeze drifts through the open window. Candle flames sway to the mood. Shadows


    dance slowly across the walls and floor.


    And Taps plays on.


    He stands before the long mirror, staring at a soldier at attention and he recognizes war in his


    face twinged with sadness in his glassy eyes.


    And Taps plays on.


    He remembers funeral details from the past and he hears the shots from the twenty one
   
   
    salute echo in his memory.


    The song comes to another end as he raises his hand and he hears,


    "Ready! Aim! Fire!"


    And Taps plays on.












Written in 1998
Published in December 2015
by AnDrew S.
Title: TAPS.

.... NOID....

  Laughing; Whispering...Security is three hundred and sixty degrees...
    Voices all around and their whispering about 'you'...What do they say?
Check the starter under the car...Check the lug nuts and break lines...
Continually change lanes while watching the rear view mirrors...How long has that car been following?
    Using the ground floor window rather than the door...Trip wire at every doorway in the home...
Fell on my face going to piss last night.
Trap door in the closet is covered by a rug...It leads to a concrete, windowless, basement where I sleep at night...
    My shotgun is the lover with whom I share my bed...My pistol is my companion...A zip-locked Glock beneath the spray of a hot shower.
    Next to my shoes, under my bed, lays a pro-mask...The water bottle on the kitchen counter is laced with Visine. Or is it arsenic?
Are the mirrors still watching long after they've been broken?...All the meat in the freezer contains E.coli...Living on military style MREs...Wood dowels in every window...Steel doors and door frames at every entrance way...Checking the Scotch tape on all of the windows and doors.
    Wearing NVGs, cruising down the street with the headlights off,
parking on the back block...
I dream that my demise will be an arsonist mouse whom will burn down my house with a stolen match while I sleep...Putting out poison and traps baited with smoked cheddar...
    Bugs are everywhere, listening...The meter man is talking to himself...I paid that kid a dollar to start my vehicle...
The television plays subliminal messages...That woman was just at the market and now she's here at the book store...She's feigning interest, or perhaps disinterest...Depending.
    Everyone has a shadow...Is it watching? Why does it follow so closely? Can it be lost, or removed? One's shadow?
Lying in the dark where one can feel safe...Is one's shadow in the darkness with thee? Watching?
    The phone is ringing...too scared to pick up...answering machine will get it...Got to find a pay phone down town to call back from...
It's June...Why does one wear these calf skin leather gloves? There's S.T.D.s on every toilet seat and on every woman's lips...
    That waitress just smiled...What's she done to the food? Is it her own private joke? Why did she say, "Hope you enjoy"? I better go...
Is that man wearing a hearing aid or a transistor receiver? Why does he wear a jacket in warm weather?...He's pretending to read a news paper...
    Got to remember to keep the matches in the fridge away from a mouse's reach...
Why did the crickets stop chirping outside?...It's too quite...Can't even hear a whisper...
A whisper...What are they saying?
    Alien abductions...Circles in a corn field...Electoral college...J.F.K.-K.I.O....Invisible planes...Why does a blind woman wield a sword?
Can they hear the baby crying in it's mother's womb? Can they hear one's internal voice of unreason? Will there ever be rest for the weary?
    HELP.






Written in 1998.
Published in December 2015.  
AnDrew S. 
(Written from an interest and intuitive observation into human psychology)
(The irrational sentence structure represents the irrational nature of the subject.)

http://andrewsoldier.blogspot.com/2013/07/demilitarization-of-martial-arts-by.html

Soldier's Review of Sue Thurman's Novel: ♠VILKIN♠

~I've just finished reading the first book of ♠VILKIN♠ by Ms. Sue Thurman and my loquacious lips are for once in my life without words.


~ I've read Harry Potter, Twilight, and the Hunger Games series but after reading ♠VILKIN♠, I'm morally bound to say that this has got to be the best fantasy novel I've ever read.
 
~It is no exaggeration to say that once I began reading this story I was engulfed into what one might describe as a conglomeration of The Skeleton Key, Harry Potter, Interview with a Vampire, and Twilight all rolled into one . . . and yet much more original!
 
~My only critique of this book is that it was so captivating once I began to read the first chapter I couldn't put it down, thus interfering with my normal productivity, nor did I wish to take a break from this intriguing story to even eat. So out of good conscience I must warn all would-be readers that this story is dangerously addictive to the imagination!
 
~In addition, I must express my awe and wonder at the brilliance of Ms. Sue Thurman's creative imagination to design such an intricately detailed world that seems so convincing that one almost wonders, if but for a moment, about the possibility of its existence. I have thoroughly been made a Sue Thurman fan now having read her latest novel, ♠VILKIN♠.
 
~Now I can't wait to see the movie version!


AnDrew Soldier.
"Remain HOO-AH my friends".

~JOINING THE DAESH/ISIS AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR MAKING SUCH A CHOICE~

~Across the globe there are young males choosing to join the Daesh/ISIS movement to engage in what has been labeled by it's propagates as jihad. This term Jihad means struggle and may be loosely translated as war. According to Islam there are two forms of Jihad: spiritual and physical.


~The spiritual struggle represents the inner struggle within man between good and evil. My culture has a saying that their are two dogs whom dwell inside of me: one being good and the other one is bad. These two are always wrestling and the one whom will win is the one that I feed the most. In the case of the actions and atrocities committed by the Daesh/ISIS followers it is evident that their jihad is not one of a spiritual nature. And if any of them are, in fact, pursuing an inner Jihad of the mind, will, and emotions (the soul) it is evident through their actions that they are losing that struggle.


~The physical struggle represents the military struggle of Islam against all whom refuse to submit to accept their self-proclaimed prophet, the teachings of Mohammed, and the Sharia law of Mohammed which they proclaim is worthy of slavery and death. According to their belief, which some attribute to the Wahabi sect of Islam, but others insist is unadulterated Islam as taught and practiced by the founder Mohammed, anyone whom refuses to submit or whom is a Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu,  Sikh or even a Shiite is an enemy of the Islamic Army and worthy of rape, abuse, and death.


~Currently there are and have been multitudes of atrocities committed against the muslim Kurds, Yazidis, and others by the hands of the Daesh/ISIS thugs. They've murdered with premeditation and deliberate indifference so many peaceful families after raping the women, sometimes men, and culminating with either a bullet or a beheading.


~The most disturbing acts that have become synonymous with the Daesh/ISIS criminal gangs is their predilection for raping children, both girls and boys, and selling them as sexual slaves to satisfy their perverse lusts and desires. Many of these children have been rescued and are living with life long scars that have left their brand upon the depths of their innocent souls. They are being offered help for their recovery by various Christian groups and personal Christians from abroad. One in particular is the American and Christian teacher Victor Marx.


~The Daesh/ISIS criminal gangs seem to recruit most heavily from among criminals and the criminally insane abroad. And these sadistic criminals make up the majority among the ranks of the Daesh/ISIS gangs whom wear their black gang colors to emulate the founder of Islam whom was said to also wear black during his military conquests abroad approximately six hundred years A.D...These violent pedophiles and child rapists have left behind a wake of traumatized children, as young as three and four years old, whom they have mercilessly and violently sexually traumatized to the point that it is reported by various global relief doctors and red cross volunteers  that many child rape victims of the Daesh/ISIS gangs can not have normal bowel movements. Some have even been left with life long disabilities due to the atrocities and wickedness committed against their bodies by the Daesh/ISIS jihadi gangs of sadistic child abusers. Perhaps most disturbing is the Daesh/ISIS homosexual assaults against male children and selling them into sexual slavery along with the young women and extremely young female children.


~The Daesh/ISIS gangs would have all of their potential recruits to believe that they are an Islamic army whom love the Creator almighty and thereby love justice, compassion, mercy, and sexual modesty. As followers of Islam in the Daesh/ISIS gangs, homosexuality, much less the rape of another male, should be forbidden (haram) and yet these acts of injustice have been done against young males and very young male children.


~According to Islam masturbation, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, and beastialty are all 'haram' however these Daesh/ISIS gangs place such a huge emphasis upon keeping the Islamic commands of avoiding pork and making Salat (prayers) at the minimum of five times daily while they turn a blind eye to these other things which are forbidden in Islam, yet are the 'haram' injustices which consume their criminal souls. The Daesh/ISIS are hypocrites at the very least and no more than a very large criminal gang which recruits it's members from the criminal underworld of sadists, pedophiles, rapists, and the criminally insane. They are known by the fruit of their actions, not by the rhetoric of their words or their self-proclaimed ideology.


~Some proponents of the Daesh/ISIS criminal gangs and gangs like Boko Haram (whom have also joined with the Daesh/ISIS) would argue that they are at 'war' for Islam to create a Sharia state and therefore any weapon of war is permissible to defeat and destroy their enemies. Rape is a weapon of psychology importance these Jihadi might say, in order to destroy the will of the enemy and sow terror into the hearts of their opponents. In a sick and twisted mind they may find some logic in that argument but the facts are that anyone whom is capable of committing such cruel and sadistic behavior towards fellow human beings-especially towards the children- is not engaging in conventional warfare nor asymmetric warfare. Rather they are engaging in terrorism and sadistic crimes against their God and against all of humanity. Do they truly believe that Allah condones the rape of both male and female children and of selling them into sexual slavery for sadistic beings to consume their innocent souls?


~Even in prison most criminals abhor and despise men whom rape and pimp small children and yet the Daesh/ISIS and Boko Haram gangs whom wage inhumane attacks upon their peaceful neighbors commit the very atrocities against children, which most violent criminals within U.S. prison systems find intolerable, all the while proclaiming that they do these things in the name of Allah.


~So the Daesh/ISIS in claiming to be slaves and soldiers for Allah make Allah a rapist and pimp of small children, among many other atrocities which they commit. Claiming to be warriors for Islam and for Allah they claim Allah as an accomplice in their homosexual raping and pimping of male children as well. This is well documented by the countless child victims and the volunteer aid workers whom attend to the wounded and the rescued children whom have suffered at the hands of such criminal gangs as the Daesh/ISIS and Boko Haram whom all proclaim to be Islamic Jihadi.


~They condone the actions of raping female children by proclaiming that one of Mohammed's many wives was a very young child. They believe that they can proclaim marriage to a female victim prior to rape and then verbally repeat that they divorce her three times and under Sharia law they are innocent of committing the sin of fornication nor adultery. How they condone homosexually raping male children I do not yet know but am very interested in hearing their justifications of this crime against humanity as well. We see that homosexual rape is rampant even in southern Afghanistan among the Bacha Baz and they sell male children at sex slave auctions, so apparently it is not an exclusive crime being committed by Islamic Jihadi gangs such as Daesh/ISIS, Boko Haram, and others.


~Currently due to a growing outrage over Daesh/ISIS gang atrocities, particularly the global outrage of rape and sex slave trafficking of small children by Daesh/ISIS and Boko Haram, there have been an increased insurgence of global support from more Global military and intelligence communities with an emphasis of hunting down and eliminating any and everyone whom joins or supports Daesh/ISIS with their atrocities of rape and sex slave trafficking of small children under the name of Allah.


~If Daesh/ISIS gangs wished to win over the world in their self-proclaimed righteous jihad in the name of Allah then perhaps they should have rethought committing what amounts to political suicide when they began the common practice of brutally raping very young male and female children and selling them into sexual slavery. As I've mentioned before, even most violent and ruthless criminals in prison despise a child rapist. So for many across the globe today the name ISIS or Boko Haram is synonymous with child rape.


~Today the world has come to globally see terrorist gangs such as Daesh/ISIS and Boko Haram not in the way that they proclaim themselves to be: as freedom fighters in the cause of Allah or liberators from western colonization.


~On the contrary, due to their action, the world has come to globally see such gangs as Daesh/ ISIS and Boko Haram to be unmanly men roaming the earth to satisfy their perverse lust for brutally raping and pimping small children. They are bands of violent pedophiles flying a black banner much like land pirates seeking to rape and blunder. And the worst insult of all is that they commit such crimes against innocent children in the name of the Creator almighty...How dare they make God a partaker of such vile filth by indicting the holy Creator-almighty in their sadistic crimes?


~I wonder at a man whom can find it in his heart to make himself a partner to such crimes against little children by joining the ranks of ISIS, Boko Haram, and other Jihadi gangs which have committed such atrocities. Are these the actions of a 'warrior' or even a self-respecting man? Are these the actions of a man whom fears the day of judgment when he stand before his Creator, his God, or his Allah? Will not Allah avenge those little children whom you have tortured and whose souls you have caused great harm upon? Does not Allah hear the cries of the little children?


~Such atrocities have only amounted to political suicide for all ISIS, Boko Haram, Jihadi gangs whom implore the world to empathize with their cause and have placed a terrible stain upon them that no brave man of conscience would ever wish to align himself with. No brave man of conscience could ever make himself part of such crimes against children for even a dog will often show compassion and mercy towards a young pup. Aren't we as humans to have more compassion and mercy than a dog?


~For anyone whom is considering supporting or joining the Daesh/ISIS, Boko Haram, Jihadi whom are engaging in such actions towards their neighbors in various parts of the world please consider what exactly it is you will be engaging in and condoning. Consider that you will be nothing more than a baby raping pimp whom uses weapons to achieve this sadistic, satanic, goal while pretending to have a heart of righteous piety. And then consider the very final consequences of such actions to which you will be held accountable. Both in this world and the world to come.


~If I am practicing a religion of peace and I am an extremist, than would I not be extremely peaceful?  If you are seeking to bring about peace to the world through forcefully submitting your neighbors to Islam Sharia law and conversion through terror, then what exactly does brutally raping and pimping small (male and female) children have to do with holy Jihad for the sake of Allah?


~Peace be with you,
~AnDrew~
30March2015
0457hrs.

~A Soldier's Nostalgic Memories On A Sleepless Night~

27March2015
0215hrs.



~Unable to sleep I have reheated a pot of black coffee and while listening to old airborne cadences on Spotify feelings of nostalgia overcome me and I am taken back once again to the roots of my military birth place and a culture which has left it's eternal brand upon me. Ever marking my soul.


 ~I recalled a quote they once had us remember, which was posted upon the wall of my platoon area, and it remains in my memory even at this moment:
" The greatest happiness is to watch your enemies scatter before you. His love ones shrouded in tears. And gather to your bosom his wives and daughters." Ghengis Khan 1200AD...


~At Sand Hell U.S. Army Infantry School, Ft. Benning Ga., there was one interesting thing the Drill Sergeants use to do was to make a recruit (a joe) grab their own testicles and squeeze them if they didn't 'sound-off' loud enough when speaking or yelling.


~I recall one Caucasian recruit squeezing himself so hard while the Drill Sergeants were yelling at him to squeeze his genitalia that he caused himself to pass out unconscious.


~Common rhetoric Infantry recruits would be forced to repeat daily at top volume (as part of the indoctrination) would be, "What makes the green grass grow?~The blood, the blood, the bright red blood!"
"What is the spirit of the bayonet?~To kill, to kill, with cold blue steel!"
"Whadaya wanna be?~Infantry!"
"Whadaya wanna do?~Kill a mother ******! Kill a mother******! KILL!"
"How far you wanna go?~All the way!"
"Are we ever coming back?~Hell NO!"


~In the Infantry culture we often repeated the rhetoric, " Learn to hate, learn to hate, open your arms and embrace the hate, then learn to love it!" Quite often in my company when an Infantryman was asked what he was doing, the rhetoric reply would be, "Learning to hate." Or the reply would be,
"Making love to the hate."


~Each morning after conducting physical training (P.T.) my platoon would gather in a circle with our right hands stacked atop of our platoon leaders, with our platoon sergeant's hand on top, to give thanks to God for allowing us to conduct good P.T., for keeping us healthy, and then we would pray that God send us a war so we could kill some M*****F*****s...THAT WAS THE SPARTAN CULTURE WE WERE RAISED UP IN AS TEENAGERS AND VERY YOUNG MEN.


~Each morning, when not deployed into the field, we reported for P.T. in our parent units around 0400hrs until often after 0730-0800hrs. Sometimes even later if we did an excessively long ruck-run or road march.


~If it was raining in the middle of winter we got soaked in our P.T. uniform while cold rain pelted our face and eyes, sometimes even hard sleet, while at Ft. Campbell. But not a man in my platoon would ever complain, not in the least, but on the contrary everyone would shout "Hoo-ah!!!!" and we'd start asking God to send us 'hail'...That was the morale and attitude of our happy band of masochists.


~During our P.T. runs we had a culture of singing very violent, sometimes borderline blasphemous, always politically incorrect, songs we call 'cadences' which are designed to serve as a method of breath control, pace control (speed) maintaining no less than a 7minute mile pace (regardless of the cross country or marathon distances we ran) uniformity of step, psychological motivation, self-hypnosis to help separate the mind from the body during painful runs, and finally to maintain psychological indoctrination...All of that just in a cadence! No one has ever said that the Infantry didn't have programming combat-soldiers down to a science.


~As I've grown into a mature man at almost forty years of age I understand the science and premeditation behind programming and training teenagers and young men to become Spartans whom are ever ready and anxious to fight for their master, their country, love ones, prestige, and most of all for their brothers in arms. Some even do it for the love of fighting or because they never felt they belonged in civilian society and finally found a home in the Infantry culture. There are some whom have psychologically broken down the motivations of why such individuals do what they do and have developed an acronym for it: M.I.C.E...This acronym also applies to other fields of service, but I digress.


~I've religiously studied the writings of Sun Tzu, Robert Greene, Niccolò Machiavelli, as well as numerous psychology text books and sociology books. Even reading a book written by one of the founding fathers of the Roman Vatican Jesuits whom mastered the art of indoctrination, programming, and trauma bonding. So I'm not ignorant to the methods behind the madness from which elite military brotherhoods are built upon. It's all very clear to me...and yet.


~NOT A DAY GOES BY THAT I DON'T MISS IT AND WANT TO RETURN TO THAT WORLD WHERE I FELT FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE... 'HOME'.


~And therein lies the conundrum folks.

~
♣Forever Hoo-ah♣
5th Plt. Dco.
3~327th Inf. Reg.,
1st. Brigade,
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
"Rendezvous with Destiny"

~ Create Leaders As You Lead The Way~

~In the Infantry we have a saying, "The best way to learn is to teach". So just like in the Infantry I will present a block of instruction to my students and then ask them to teach it back to me.





~Whether it be language class or H2H/Close Quarter Combat class, regardless, it never fails to impress me how much more quickly even the most insecure student will grow when they are given the opportunity, or requirement, to engage their brain in a more proactive manner by teaching the material back to myself and the class 'in their own words'.
 


~In language class, over the course of a few months, I've singled out my most insecure female student and patiently cultivated her to the point that she now is my most outspoken and sharpest student.



~She readily grasps even the most difficult material and has surpassed my best students already during a relatively short period of time.
 
~Regardless of any negative aspects to the Infantry culture from which I was forged, it is my personal belief that they have mastered the art of not building mindless drones but building teachers. Because in the Army Infantry and Light Infantry they begin training you to be a teacher from day one. Every single soldier, down to the lowliest E1 private, is required to teach classes, lead morning P.T., and quite often delegated authority to lead details at the inception of his career.
 
~This culture breeds not mindless followers but rather teachers and soldiers whom are disciplined enough to follow but confident and skilled enough to lead. We are taught that the best leaders are the ones whom 'Lead By Example'. Which is embodied in the Infantry motto, "Follow Me".
 
~This is what is lacking in the public school system and in the training of our children and youth today. The understanding that the best students are the ones whom we train not to be students but rather to be teachers...To lead by example.
 
~I tell my students during almost every class, "I'm not teaching you to merely repeat or copy what I tell you. I am teaching you how to think for yourself and to understand how to be your own translator as opposed to merely being a parrot that repeats a bunch of words and phrases. I am not teaching you to be students...I'm teaching you to be teachers so that you can go out and teach others! Hoo-ah?" (They still are not sure what 'Hoo-ah' means nor am I certain how to translate the meaning into Spanish.)
 
~I encourage you all, be you a veteran or civilian, to embody both the Infantry motto and the Infantry Ranger motto in whatever field that you pursue in life: "Follow-Me" (Implying that you lead by example) and "Rangers Lead The Way" (Same implication as the Infantry motto: to lead by example.) ~


AnDrew
25March2015.