Episode 1:  Only Human

January 9, 2005 7:00 a.m. EST
In route to Frankfurt, Germany
By LCpl Sincioco
Revised on March 3, 2008

The Departure

Yesterday, we left the safety of Camp Lejeune, NC at approximately 1930 (7:30 p.m.).   We traveled to Cherry Point, NC in a civilian chartered bus and transferred to a civilian chartered airplane bound for Baltimore.  From there, we went to Frankfurt, Germany; then Camp Victory, Kuwait where we would be processed before entering Iraq; the final leg of our journey, the one place I knew I would someday be.

The "Party"

We are the "transition" party.  We are ahead of the "advance" party which will meet with us in three weeks, and ahead of the "main" body which will meet with us in March.  Our mission is not crystal clear in my mind just yet.  All I know is we are to understand the network topology currently in place, so we may alter or overhaul it when the time comes.

Operation Iraqi Freedom III (OIF III)

Operation Iraqi Freedom III will commence in late March.  It will be the first, and I would certainly hope not the last, military deployment I would take part in.

Many do not believe in this war, civilians and military personnel alike, but I believe in it.  It may have started with the wrong motive or intent, with our lust for oil as some would argue, but I believe—I hope—that it could still end in a mutually beneficial way.  The end could be decades from now, but the tasks that await us in Iraq must be done today.  For what we do today will pave the roads for the many who will come after us and shape the country, Iraq, that is before us.

A Hope

My great hope is that Iraq will flourish into a more democratic and capitalistic society, and that the political dynamics in the Middle East will change for the better as a result of the difficult decisions made by our elected officials and dedicated generals.  It was not a popular decision, but hard decisions are hardly ever.

The Price

Perhaps I am an idealist or foolish, but when I see so many young men and women, like myself, who are willing to pay the ultimate price to help and liberate people halfway across the world, people who I know next to nothing about—a small few who would even take joy in taking my life—is what makes the United States unlike any other country in the world, past or present.

Greatness

No nation in the history of the world has ever acquired so much power both economically and technologically as we have for which we have used by-and-large for the betterment of mankind.  And yet, in times we exercise our God given might, even with good intent—and I must admit not always—the world condemns us.  The last time a country acquired remotely the same prosperity and influence we have today carved an empire so large that it was said the sun never sets for Great Britain.

The great conglomerate of countries, who until now saw America as a distant super power, have for the first time witnessed our strength and resolved as a nation; and our love and compassion for human life as a people.

Our hands are not free of blood.  We have taken lives as many who have tried to take ours.  We are a free nation not because we are weak, but because we are strong.

Our Dream

With great powers comes great responsibility, Uncle Ben told Peter Parker in Spiderman the movie.  No nation has ever been so responsible for the world as we are, for no nation has ever been like we are.  World stability, prosperity and peace are our greatest aspiration.  We are indeed a great nation, for even our fallibility (fault) overshadows our greatest accomplishments—the dream of world peace.

The Future History

Maybe someday the United States of America will be nothing more than just mere pages in history books, much like the Greeks or Romans before us.  I sincerely hope historians write about our aspirations as a nation, instead of the means by which we tried to attain them.

Whether the invasion of Iraq is a mistake or not will be for future generations to write about.  Stability in Iraq is most vital to the world's economy.

Only Humans

Our goals may seem divine, and our methods crude and unrefined.  Despite the great power we wield, we will continue to err for, after all, we are only humans.

—LCpl Sincioco
United States Marine Corps, 8th Comm BN, Support Co., Data Platoon