My son made it back from his first tour in Afghanistan two days ago. He will probably have to go back at least once. This is from his Facebook posting.
“Lindsay Lohan, 24, is all over the news because she’s a celebrity drug addict. While Justin Allen 23, Brett Linley 29, Matthew Weikert 29, Justus Bartett 27, Dave Santos 21, Chase Stanley 21, Jesse Reed 26, Matthew Johnson 21, Zachary Fisher 24, Brandon King 23, Christopher Goeke 23, Sheldon Tate 27, they are all Marines who gave their lives this week, no media mention. Honor THEM by reposting…”
Done.
You should remind your son that as a culture, we pay attention to people like Lohan precisely because they are ultimately unimportant. Celebrities of all kinds serve merely to create a common subject we all talk about. Since they do nothing important and contribute little, people don’t get truly emotionally invested in them. We can socialize with others by talking about celebrities or sports without people losing emotional control. Celebrities sole cultural function is to be gossip worthy.
Celebrities are ultimately disposable. When they self-destruct, we laugh about it and start talking about the next new celebrity. They don’t mean anything.
The Marines, by contrast ,do important, vital things that people care deeply about. When we hold them up as exemplars, we make significant statements about profoundly important things. People get very emotional one way or the other. Therefore, we wrap our broad public approval of soldiers, firefighters and similar important people in stiff ritual.
It is one of the great ironies of the information age that there is an inverse relationship between the importance of people and task and the amount of public attention we pay to them.
Ask anyone what is the most important task in a large modern city. Few people will say water and sewage and yet those systems are absolutely vital to keeping people alive in cities. People can survive longer in a city without electricity than they can without water or sewage. Yet, how much attention do people pay to those services? How much status do we give the people who work to provide those services.
In some strange sense, in the modern world, being ignored is the truest indicator of true significance. It is as if somethings are so important we can’t talk about them casually. We can’t take them granted. We take them in vain.
May God take unto himself forever our brave fallen warriors Justin, Brett, Matthew, Justus, Dave, Chase, Jesse, Matthew, Zachary, Brandon, Christopher and Sheldon. May God give strength to their families and make us worthy of their sacrifice.
Very glad your son has come home safe, Bruno!
Thanks for posting and thanks to your son for his service.
I am glad your son is home safe, Bruno, and thank you for re-posting the remembrance of Justin Allen, Brett Linley, Matthew Weikert, Justus Bartett, Dave Santos, Chase Stanley, Jesse Reed, Matthew Johnson, Zachary Fisher, Brandon King, Christopher Goeke, and Sheldon Tate.
– Madhu
Semper Fi.
Bruno-
Glad to hear he made it back safe and sound.
I happen to be still fighting here. Which battalion is he a part of? There’s a good chance I flew missions in support of his unit.
Semper Fidelis,
Nathaniel Lauterbach
Thanks to your son for his service.
Bruno,
My son, CPL USMC, had two tours in Iraq. We are a Marine family and your son’s post has been reposted by me as well. We will pray for our fallen warriors and your son.
God bless,
Lee
These young marines, Justin Allen 23, Brett Linley 29, Matthew Weikert 29, Justus Bartett 27, Dave Santos 21, Chase Stanley 21, Jesse Reed 26, Matthew Johnson 21, Zachary Fisher 24, Brandon King 23, Christopher Goeke 23, Sheldon Tate 27, will never be forgotten.
My local TV station did a moving piece on the fallen SEAL (local boy) went down with the helicopter he rode in, as is proper that their families and communities grieve in private and with lots of respect.
To be frank, these brave young men would have been horrified for their deaths made unto national news level, to be prominently displayed along side with Lohen.
Semper Fi.
I am here via a link from Livejournal. It is being posted, reposted and being shown around.
I put it in my journal, too.
I was Army, not a Marine, but we are all brothers in arms. Semper Fi.