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Monsters and the Weak (Ode to America's military)
E-mail ^ | 1/25/06 | Michael Marks

Posted on 03/10/2006 4:33:22 AM PST by Coop

The sun beat like a hammer, not a cloud was in the sky. The mid-day air ran thick with dust, my throat was parched and dry. With microphone clutched tight in hand and cameraman in tow, I ducked beneath a fallen roof, surprised to hear "stay low."

My eyes blinked several times before in shadow I could see, the figure stretched across the rubble, steps away from me. He wore a cloak of burlap strips, all shades of grey and brown, that hung in tatters till he seemed to melt into the ground.

He never turned his head or took his eye from off the scope, but pointed through the broken wall and down the rocky slope. "About eight hundred yards," he said, his whispered words concise, "beneath the baggy jacket he is wearing a device."

A chill ran up my spine despite the swelter of the heat, "You think he's gonna set it off along the crowded street?" The sniper gave a weary sigh and said "I wouldn't doubt it," "unless there's something this old gun and I can do about it."

A thunderclap, a tongue of flame, the still abruptly shattered; while citizens that walked the street were just as quickly scattered. Till only one remained, a body crumpled on the ground, The threat to oh so many ended by a single round.

And yet the sniper had no cheer, no hint of any gloat, instead he pulled a logbook out and quietly he wrote. "Hey, I could put you on TV, that shot was quite a story!" But he surprised me once again -- "I got no wish for glory."

"Are you for real?" I asked in awe, "You don't want fame or credit?" He looked at me with saddened eyes and said "you just don't get it." "You see that shot-up length of wall, the one without a door? before a mortar hit, it used to be a grocery store."

"But don't go thinking that to bomb a store is all that cruel, the rubble just across the street -- it used to be a school. The little kids played soccer in the field out by the road," His head hung low, "They never thought a car would just explode."

"As bad as all this is though, it could be a whole lot worse," He swallowed hard, the words came from his mouth just like a curse. "Today the fight's on foreign land, on streets that aren't my own," "I'm here today 'cause if I fail, the next fight's back at home."

"And I won't let my Safeway burn, my neighbors dead inside, don't wanna get a call from school that says my daughter died; I pray that not a one of them will know the things I see, nor have the work of terrorists etched in their memory."

"So you can keep your trophies and your fleeting bit of fame, I don't care if I make the news, or if they speak my name." He glanced toward the camera and his brow began to knot, "If you're looking for a story, why not give this one a shot."

"Just tell the truth of what you see, without the slant or spin; that most of us are OK and we're coming home again. And why not tell our folks back home about the good we've done, how when they see Americans, the kids come at a run."

You tell 'em what it means to folks here just to speak their mind, without the fear that tyranny is just a step behind; Describe the desert miles they walk in their first chance to vote, or ask a soldier if he's proud, I'm sure you'll get a quote."

He turned and slid the rifle in a drag bag thickly padded, then looked again with eyes of steel as quietly he added; "And maybe just remind the few, if ill of us they speak, that we are all that stands between the monsters and the weak."

Michael Marks
January 25, 2006


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; War on Terror; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: military; monsters; soldiers; terrorism; troopssupport; weak
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To: Valin
Are you asking themto write a story about how great the American military is?

Only if it's the TRUTH. Which is is. Utter fools, they are!!

21 posted on 03/10/2006 7:21:54 AM PST by StarCMC (Old Sarge is my hero...doing it right in Iraq! Vaya con Dios, Sarge.)
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To: StarCMC; Diva Betsy Ross; AZamericonnie; Justanobody; Deetes; Lijahsbubbe; MEG33; No Blue States; ..

Ping!


22 posted on 03/10/2006 9:24:20 AM PST by Gucho
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To: Coop
I don't know who Mr. Marks is, but his poem kinda says it all

I wonder if this is the same Michael Marks
23 posted on 03/10/2006 9:39:25 AM PST by boxerblues
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To: Allegra
Tell 'em to bring their Kleenex.

Boy are you ever right about that.

24 posted on 03/10/2006 9:48:24 AM PST by Bahbah (An admitted Snow Flake)
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To: boxerblues; StarCMC
Okay, start the count! A Britney Spears thread just went up a minute ago. This one's been up about five hours and we're at:

Monsters and the Weak (Ode to America's military)
Posted by Coop
On News/Activism 03/10/2006 7:33:22 AM EST · 23 replies · 398+ views

25 posted on 03/10/2006 9:49:55 AM PST by Coop (FR= a lotta talk, but little action)
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To: Coop
I KNEW it!!

ROFL!!!! Well... sort of. Maybe it should be ROFCrying.

26 posted on 03/10/2006 9:52:37 AM PST by StarCMC (Old Sarge is my hero...doing it right in Iraq! Vaya con Dios, Sarge.)
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To: StarCMC; boxerblues
Oops, I've dad it again(Britney Spears pregnant again)
Posted by Angus MacGregor
On General/Chat 03/10/2006 12:45:42 PM EST · 7 replies · 340+ views

10 minutes...

27 posted on 03/10/2006 9:54:42 AM PST by Coop (FR= a lotta talk, but little action)
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To: Coop

Like I said...

ROFC


28 posted on 03/10/2006 9:56:26 AM PST by StarCMC (Old Sarge is my hero...doing it right in Iraq! Vaya con Dios, Sarge.)
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To: Coop

geez if your going to mention the thread about britney atleast give us the link.....kidding I dont need to see that one


29 posted on 03/10/2006 10:01:35 AM PST by boxerblues
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To: Coop

Great poem. Thanks for posting.


30 posted on 03/10/2006 10:03:05 AM PST by Kaylee Frye
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To: StarCMC
Thread in chat:

Oops, I've dad it again(Britney Spears pregnant again)
Posted by Angus MacGregor
On General/Chat 03/10/2006 12:45:42 PM EST · 16 replies · 437+ views ----After just over 20 minutes

Thread in news:

Monsters and the Weak (Ode to America's military) Posted by Coop On News/Activism 03/10/2006 7:33:22 AM EST · 29 replies · 432+ views ----After more than 5 1/2 hours.

31 posted on 03/10/2006 10:08:38 AM PST by Coop (FR= a lotta talk, but little action)
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To: Coop

Maybe we need another lawnmower eating the nakid chick thread. That'll bring 'em in. Disgusting, isn't it?


32 posted on 03/10/2006 10:12:11 AM PST by StarCMC (Old Sarge is my hero...doing it right in Iraq! Vaya con Dios, Sarge.)
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To: StarCMC
You mean this one?

Nude Swimsuit Model Saves Man's Genitals from Lawnmower
Posted by Coop
On News/Activism 09/05/2005 9:42:27 AM EDT · 250 replies · 10,232+ views

33 posted on 03/10/2006 10:15:24 AM PST by Coop (FR= a lotta talk, but little action)
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To: All
Oops, I've dad it again(Britney Spears pregnant again)
Posted by Angus MacGregor
On General/Chat 03/10/2006 12:45:42 PM EST · 24 replies · 518+ views
34 posted on 03/10/2006 10:19:03 AM PST by Coop (FR= a lotta talk, but little action - now do you know what my tagline means?!?)
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To: Coop

LOL -- yeah -- that one. ARGH!


35 posted on 03/10/2006 10:19:35 AM PST by StarCMC (Old Sarge is my hero...doing it right in Iraq! Vaya con Dios, Sarge.)
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To: Coop
And if by chance any members of our "elite" media are reading this thread, I hope they're hanging their heads in shame.

They know no shame. They don't care about ethics and morals - they only care about advancing their agenda.

If a member of the 'elite' media witnessed something like this, the story would say that the soldier shot an unarmed 'youth'.

They're all pigs.

36 posted on 03/10/2006 10:31:32 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: Coop

"Hello, Rudyard? Yes, your relief man arrived. You can go on break now."


37 posted on 03/10/2006 10:35:28 AM PST by Snickersnee (Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?)
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To: Coop; All; Old Sarge

I am thouroughly disgusted
that a tramp like Brittany
gets more attention
than our heroes.
What a WASTE.
And that a made up
NUDE SWIMSUIT MODEL
in the title of a thread
combined with "MEN'S GENITALS"
and "LAWNMOWER"
had people fairly crawling over each other
to get a peek.
Makes me more determined than EVER
to let the heroes I come in contact with
KNOW without a shadow of a DOUBT
that I stand with and behind them.
What say you?

By the way, please give Eddie a hug for me tonight.


38 posted on 03/10/2006 10:38:36 AM PST by StarCMC (Old Sarge is my hero...doing it right in Iraq! Vaya con Dios, Sarge.)
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To: Snickersnee

LOL!!!!!


39 posted on 03/10/2006 10:39:11 AM PST by StarCMC (Old Sarge is my hero...doing it right in Iraq! Vaya con Dios, Sarge.)
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To: Coop

Er...ok...ask your WIFE to give Eddie a hug for me. LOL


40 posted on 03/10/2006 10:42:17 AM PST by StarCMC (Old Sarge is my hero...doing it right in Iraq! Vaya con Dios, Sarge.)
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