M14 Forum

Candyman

From time to time I get something in my head that will not let me sleep until I put it down on paper.
Now, I am no writer by a long shot, just an old Jarhead that can't sleep good from time to time.

I wrote this a while back and for some reason felt that a few pic's would add to it.

I call it Good Men that Do Evil.

Good men that do evil


I know why I don't sleep good at night, why some smells bring me back to places I no longer wish to be.


For I have walked in the compony of good men that have done evil and I have done evil in the compony of good men.


I have smelled the fear before battle and death after.


I have wash the blood from my hands and wiped the tears from my eyes. I can still see the blood when I close me eyes and I still have the tears.


I do not ask God to forgive me for the evil I have done in the compony of good men because, if called apon again, I would do such evil again in the compony of good men.

G. Lee Bihm
Gunny USMC

Some will say what they do or have done is and was not evil. But war is evil because it will haunt a man's soul no matter how righteous his actions are.
When men die, no matter what side they are on. There is no true glory.

ecm14

Thank you.

Voodoo

Excellent.

Lewis

Thanks Gunny, I also believe that it is in the hearts and souls of man that evil lives, haunting both the good as well as the bad, some do what they are called upon to do, others do what they wish and let the devil dwell on the details.

Michael

I saw a similarly titled post a while back.

As a two tour VN combat vet I object to the term "evil."

It implies deliberate maliciousness and bad intent.

Like Nazis machinegunning civilians or Japs in China bayonetting babies.

The guys you show are doing their duty as required.

They engage and kill the enemy as required, but are not evil men.

They are fighting to preventing or end evil.
Sometimes the price is high.

I have read that "sometimetimes good men have to do bad things" but I believe nothing I or my guys ever did was evil.

Take some pride that you fought against evil.

Just sayin'

SixTGunr

dontcha just luv dem deamons



Out

Tenboremag

I do not and can never believe that fighting those that do evil to us or others can ever be evil.

Candyman

For those of you that have a problem with the use of the word EVIL Read the last part of my post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Candyman Some will say what they do or have done is and was not evil. But war is evil because it will haunt a man's soul no matter how righteous his actions are. When men die, no matter what side they are on. There is no true glory.

I am not saying that my actions or that actions of others in the time of war, is or was evil. It is war that is evil.

Jackalope1911

Thanks gunny. It never gets easier does it ?

CPTKILLER

I was a Line Company Officer in an Infantry Company in RVN. The events in the war never leave my thought process. The evil that men do in war comes from the White House and Congress. We on the line are and were an extension of that policy. The politicians are quick to fight a war but usually balk when it comes to sending their own kids for a war that they voted for.

FDR's sons were a Marine Raider, a Naval Officer, and a Air Corps fighter pilot. Since FDR, where are the children of Presidents and Congressman, not on the line with us? I suggest the evil ones are the politicians who aren't held responsible for their choices.

dwight55

Nothing profound from here, Candyman, . . . just "Thanks".

May God bless,
Dwight

carpshooter

There are two things in war ,reason and force and the two at times don't go hand in hand !

Sometimes you just have to improvise ,adapt and overcome in doing whatever it takes to reach an objective !

Sometimes things just don't go as planned !

oldflyboy

I may get some flak from this but.....we should NOT commit the US military unless:
1 strictly humanitarian efforts ala Haiti relief.
or
2 some dangerous ass needs some serious kicking...no questions asked, just stop when they realize that resistance is futile.
When you temper #2 with diplomacy/touchy-feely, kids will be lost with no sense of accomplishment.
If we can't commit to victory...let them fix their own screwed up country. We can negotiate with whoever comes out on top.

A good example of where we have been recently is...the French Foreign Legion....many notable heroic exploits....lost every significant engagement they participated in...big time.
Lots of lives lost for a show.

I do not want one of my kids or nephews sacrificed in the American Foreign Legion.

twospeed

Everyone who gets to come back from a war comes away with just a little less of their humanity intact. War itself is a long night mare that you can’t seem to wake up from. It took me over 10 years to make my peace with my God. I didn’t know how to deal with “Thou shall not kill” and walked in guilt for that 10 year period until I studied the bible for myself. The exact translation of “Thou shall not kill” means thou shall not commit murder .
I engaged the enemy every chance I got, I hunted him and her, and killed them when I came upon them. There were days when I looked forward to doing that, until the end of my tour when the war suddenly ended for me personally. But I never murdered anyone at any time, in anyplace.
I am still haunted at different times and places by sounds, or smells that cause me to remember. And that we pay a price for living in the greatest country on this planet. And the freedom that many of us paid for we leave as an inheritance to our children and others who go on after we are gone.
Gunny, I hear what you are saying from your soul. I have been trying to find my way back home for 42 years. I can’t give up at this point and neither can you. My sargent " learned me that" a long time ago.
I am writing this because of the post that Gunny wrote. Not for any other reason.

Butzbach

I heard a telling line in a movie once. It may have been Band of Brothers. If we could set aside the source for a moment there might be a seed of truth in it.

I paraphrase: It's not what you are ordered to do that does the most damage. It's what you do without being ordered.