sorry hamlet i get a little emotional sime times. i recently started college after my 4 years in the military and all my classes and everyone in them talks about the war and how horrible it is when they know nothing about it. it's very disheartening for so many people to think so horribly about something that i take great pride in the fact that I've done. I'm sorry i directed all my anger at you. eveyone says they support the troops. but bringing them home isn't the only way to support them. i proudly have a veterans license plate and my Marine Corps uniform cover displayed on my car. I'm young, I'm obviously not a Vietnam vet. I the last two years 2 people have stopped me where ever I was and thanked me and shook my hand. Two. In a nation of almost 300 million, two people have thanked me. I don't think everyone's "support the troops" means what our veterans think it means. Most of our troops do not think the war is bad, so if everyone could think on that level, at least to understand how our troops feel, maybe we could find better ways to "support the troops".

and to birdgirl: the people that our nation has killed over the last 100 years is a speck compared to the literally hundreds of millions that have been killed by totolitarian governments and war lords in the same time frame. we are fighting for those people. what if militia from surrounding states went to Delaware and started killing every one because all people from delaware were protestants? shouldn't someone do something about it? the thing is, all this shit is going on and no one in the area is willing to stop it and every one in the world looks to us, the shining star, to do something.
the marine corps symbol is the eagle-country, anchor-naval tradition, and the globe- WORLD WIDE SERVICE.
I have been to countries that i wouldn't even say were third world countries, that would be too nice. someone has to help these people.

Fred