Time to go home

When is enough enough

I was watching Countdown tonight, with former Daily Show reporter Brian Unger (yes, it's weird on many levels) and there was a story about a specialist in counter intelligence, who had been wounded four times.

The piece made him out to be a determined young man. He's even quoted as saying "failure is not acceptable" and that he "wanted to finish the job".

And I'm thinking "where the fuck are his commanders"

He's been wounded four times, he's got the rest of his unit spooked and he's still out on patrol. I've never heard of someone with four purple hearts still in combat. Why hasn't someone sat him down, told him he's done his share and he has a family and life to get back to?

Luck runs out.

But what bothered me was the feeling that this guy was damaged and his bosses were turning their backs on it. There was just something about the kid which said he enjoyed this too much for their collective health. But because he did his job, they let him do his job. And the narration went against the vibe of looking at this guy. Which was unsettling.

Most guys talk about their friends as the reason to stay or come back.They can't leave their friends behind. Maybe this guy felt that way, but everything which came out of his mouth was about him. Then you see him cleaning his pistol. Most guys they interview off the line are writing e-mail home, talking about their kids, and usually aren't messing with guns.

I don't know. I've never dealt with this in real life. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe he's ok. But if that was my friend, I'd be worried as hell about him.

posted by Steve @ 1:45:00 AM