Hippies, I have my opinion on them as a Marine and veteran of the Gulf War, Iraq and The Stan, but know nothing of 'free love', or the 'freedom' to aimlessly do as I pleased supposedly for the sake of my fellow man. Not that I'm a robot, maybe in principle the Hippie movement was enjoyable, but a lot of bad stuff came outta that time. Some things that might be considered selfish, reckless and in general counter-productive. The KGB actually supported the Hippie movement by placing drugs within grasp of all would be free love types in an attempt to undermine our government and way of life. I was 18 once, but perhaps my father being a service member influenced me. I can remember my first time in combat, real combat, it is eye opening and yes, fear is a factor, but honestly nobody fights because someone said 'go to war'. You fight for the person next to you, for your buddies, for your families at home and next to you fighting. I've rode on top of the hood of a Humvee through a minefield helping my convoy get out of someone's poor map reading fuck up, I've been IED'd, mortar'd, rocketed and been in gunfights that lasted for days on end, seen a lot of good people die and helped send some people to their end. The big picture obviously was keeping someone's interests intact, but what I saw and knew extended to the guys under my care and no further... that's all that mattered to me. America is, has and always will be full of different beliefs and that's what makes us who/what we are... but let me remind you all while we reminisce over hugging trees that this is a thread on STEAKS. Yeah, bet you all weren't expecting that. I have my opinions, but can respect everyone else's now that I'm retired... especially if you love a great steak.
