humansofnewyork:“I don’t feel good about it. It will bother me for the rest of my life
humansofnewyork: “I don’t feel good about it. It will bother me for the rest of my life and honestly I’m happy about that. I’m embarrassed by how little I knew. I was a kid from Texas. I flew on a plane for the first time when I went to boot camp. I had this visceral desire to seek vengeance for 9/11, and I believed our government when they told me that there was a connection to Iraq. So I fully supported the war. I thought we were bringing bad people to justice. I didn’t understand the nuances. I didn’t know anything about the people of Iraq, or the culture, or the country. And I feel ashamed about that. I’m getting my graduate degree in Middle Eastern history right now. And the more I learn, the worse I feel. I got so much personal benefit from being in the military. In many ways it was the greatest thing I’ve ever done. But I could have gotten those personal benefits from other means. I was in Iraq for one year. And the trauma of that year will impact me for the rest of my life. But for the people of Iraq, it’s been ten years. And they’re still being traumatized on a daily basis.” -- source link