The Heroes who didn't come home

RIP: Nainoa Hoe 

Some ten years ago I had the opportunity to train with brave men of the US Army ROTC school at the University of Hawaii as part of my major. These are young men and women trained to be officers in the US Army upon completing college studies. For me, the most important lessons I learned from those painful training days were that soldiers are family; your fellow soldiers are your brothers and off-course the many things you gotta do to survive. Our teacher used to say - you fellas fight together, sleep together, eat together, and possibly die together, but your goal in battle is to come home. In the cold fields of war, the one next to you may be the difference between seeing the daylight the next day, and death. Though I didn't make it to Fort Benning, George, due to complications with my immigration status, this ROTC school taught me so many things about life; things that I never appreciated before, and things I often taken for granted. Its been so many years since my training and all I can do here in front of this computer is searching for people I used to train with, sad to say some died in battle - serving the country.
A couple of years ago I found some of my school commanders - one of them a platoon leader and was shocked to find that he was killed in Iraq. This is his story. A brave Hawaiian who loved everything about the Army, you could see in his eyes. He was such an inspiration to our school and during training.

I also found that Jeremy Wolfe (Class of 2002) of our school was also killed. He was one of the brave men I came to know during our time at the ROTC school. He loved to imitate Brave Heart - I will not leave any of you behind or something like that, as we marched under the burning sun, somewhere above Schofield area. That midday march left Wolfe and two others in severe heatstroke that the medivac was called in to airlift them. That was the last time I saw him until I saw this picture of him at the University of Hawaii "fallen soldiers" page. I still hear his words ringing in my head, still hear him screaming from the front line as we marched up the jungle. He was a great man. My heart goes out to his family and friends he left behind.



Glamorizing war 
In front of this man is a pair of boots, a M16, and a kevlar (helmet), once worn by a man he knew personally. After all the fighting, this brave soldier found time to pay tribute to his fallen comrade. A brief time to shed those precious tear of utter sadness. The anguish of losing a fellow friend, and knowing that your time is hanging over your head, is a feeling unparalleled that only those feeling it can adequately express. These are men who join the army and shipped off to war that had no defined end to it.
Off course, there's a huge disconnect - or gap - between politicians and war. Glamorizing war, and romanticizing the victory earned with blood, is what politicians are good at. They are simply numb to the grotesque nature of war. They aren't there when enemies raining bullets down on soldiers who don't care what politicians do other than the people around them. To order soldiers to go to war without a definite goal, is one of the tragic failures of politics.
The US Military was created to defend the American homeland. The 'Commander in Chief' is the president and Congress is given the power to declare war against their enemies. Today, personal preferences, economic considerations, foreign allies, and global market etc. have destroyed the very calling of government. No longer does the US Armed forces fighting war that fulfills the constitution. Fighting wars in foreign lands in the name of national security is a fabricate notion, concocted by US politicians to brainwash Americans about their own security. The real truth is, fighting against Saddam Hussein in Kuwait and Iraqi in 2003, are all to do with protecting oil pipelines, and US precious allies of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. And at what cost? The blood and lives of brave men and women of the US military.
There's no joy in war - it destroys the human soul permanently! Most of the war veterans of Vietnam and Gulf-war ended up in the streets and in mental institutions. Some resorted to drug when life seemed meaningless.

That's us after our Training. Nainoa on the Right