So, I'm on duty in Okinawa Japan and I thought, wow, I should make a journal entry.... Considering i have yet to make one!

OK, a little info for you all. I am a 30 yr old (soon to be 31) 1st Lt In the United States Marine Corps (To be refered to in the future as USMC, "the Marines", the "Corps" Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, Jarheads... you get the picture) I fly the AH-1W SuperCobra Attack helicopter. I am apart of HMLA-367 (WWW.HMLA367.COM). The squadron flys both UH-1N Hueys and AH-1W Cobras. I am currently about to wrap up my 1st 6 month tour in Okinawa, Japan. It is an un-accompanied tour. That means my wife and child have to stay at home in the states; making it a very long tour indeed.

I am looking forward to coming home. I haven't seen my friends in quite a while. My good friends from USC will be thinking about me in the near future as our almamater plays UCLA and Notre Dame. I know Trojan football games remind me of them. Too many excelent times! Ah the nostalgia...

Hopefully I will get to see them in 2003. But that wish may be interupted by the call to arms. We shall see. I have no fear of combat. I know I should, but I don't. Now Gas... as in chemical warfare... that scares the shit out of me. But I have no fear of going to protect those kids on the ground fighting it out. A general once told me that everyone in the Marine Corps has but one job. Officers and enlisted alike... to support that Lance Corpral or PFC on point with the grunts. I whole heartedly agree with that. I don't want to talk about the politics involved and what I do or don't believe or support. I doesn't matter. I know what I was getting myself into when I joined the Marines as an enlisted field radio operator with ANGLICO. We all did. And when the bullets start flying, my job is to do everything in my power to do whatever is necessary to protect those kids. Above all else, I need to make sure they have the best chance at getting home to friends and family.

Another reason I fight is for friends and family. And yes... their freedom. I think Mel Gibson said it best in "Air America" when he joked about protecting weekend weenie roasts and back yard BBQs. It's true. I've been in countries where people wanted to kill me, and even intended to (some of them quite recently) and I've been in many others where they love you there... but there is no place in the world like America. Don't take my word for it, take the word of the hundred of millions around the world. The Philippines will only issue passports for people who can prove they have legitamate business outside the country that will profit their economy. (it has been that way since we left) And that is one of the more liberal policies in this part of the world. It is amazing. You tell these people that we have huge problems in the states, and they don't care. Because in their country, the crime found in downtown LA is commited in exactly the same fassion in their country, but by their government (not the philippines), and the criminals.... don't even ask.

OFF OF SOAP BOX...... Nnnnnnnnnnnn...now!

The goal of the Marine Corps, is to refrain from using force at all costs. Refrain to the greatest extent possible... and then, when all options are exhausted; to ruthesly, violently, and with as much cruelty, force, and power as can be mustered... to destroy the enemy with extream prejudice and brutality. To not just bloody him, but to evicerate, devastate, dismember, annihilate and tourment not only his body, but his mind. To compleately drain from that entity, the will to ever wage war again. The winning of war does not come from the winning of the hearts and minds of the oposing force, but to compleately obliterate his will to fight... ever again. It is done this way, so that when we come into contact with a possible foe in the future, they can look into history, see our capabilities, and decide not to fight, because the cost would be too great.

So, by this, we give future generations the safety they take for granted. And they should take it for granted, because when they don't... they feel vulnerable. And when the American public feels vunerable, we are not doing our job. We felt vulnerable in 1942, and in 2002.

OK, ok, ok, off the box once again.

Well, I'm going to wrap this up now. I have to leave soon to go to a Cobra Court... Don't ask. But I will probably get a call sign assigned to me there. And being a 1stLt... I probably won't like it. Oh well, it will probably change several times in the near future until they decide on the real thing.

I'll keep you all informed.

TTFN