I'm not sure if I can in good conscience support Steve Pavlina's views on his blog as much as I did before. I have enjoyed checking out www.stevepavlina.com for a long time, and this is a free country, so he has the right to freedom of speech. I am a military member, and I'm all about good humor, but his blog entry of the day both threw me and saddened me. The majority of the articles I've read on his site are usually very informative and positive and seem to offer value to people's lives. He usually writes and teaches very effectively and encourages personal growth learned from his own experiences. So why, all of a sudden, this pointless jab at the military (www.stevepavlina.com/blog/20...ervice), especially when it relates to the deaths of servicemembers whose families are out there somewhere right now feeling the loss of someone very dear to them, knowing there is nothing they can do to bring them back?

Steve has most likely never served in the military, and until he can know what it feels like to sacrifice, to be out in that desert heat (and, yes, I have been there) wondering when you are going to return home to your family, I doubt he can truly glean what it means to serve his country.

I am not surprised he denied his readers the ability to post comments to this entry. He would have gotten a lot of flak, enough to overwhelm the storage on his server I believe, from veterans and active servicemembers like myself. Most of us have a lot of pride in what we do, and, in NO circumstances, is the death of another Soldier, Sailor, Coast Guard member, Airman or Marine something to joke about. So Steve can dish it out, but I gather that he didn't want to take a chance at having to interact in this discussion to further explain his viewpoint, especially if it were challenged by military family members or their men and women who have fought and continue to fight with courage for our country.

I am a frequent viewer of George Carlin's brand of sarcastic comedy, so I would agree that some very serious issues can be made light of by injecting a good dose of humor, and that sometimes this country needs a good laugh, but not when it is hurled at its bravely fighting souls who have a very serious job to do during a very serious time in our history (and in the future, at this rate). The issue at hand is not if you support the President or our laws or whatever when it comes to politics in the here and now. Debate it all you want. The issue is that thousands of troops are putting their lives on the line everyday in Iraq, a volatile, unpredictable place, so that Americans at home can safely get out of bed every day and go to work without living in the shadow of the fear of another 9-11. I am getting off track, but I have so many strong feelings and so much to say on this subject.

PEOPLE, THE SOLDIERS FIGHTING IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND YOUR PERSONAL POLITICAL STANCE ON SUPPORTING THE WAR SHOULD BE TWO SEPARATE CONCEPTS!!!

We need everyone's support if we are to win a war. Sure, you are allowed to have your own opinion, but don't forget that the people trying to win this war and end it, the people helping to redevelop the country of Iraq, are your next-door neighbors, or maybe your kid's football coach or his or her math teacher. We in the military are not strangers in a different uniform than yours, far removed from having human lives. We just made a choice that seemed right for us, which was to protect the values we want to see live on here in this place we call America, for a very, very long time.

We are not blind idiots, being led about by the government, as the media can sometimes paint us. Far from that. Yes, when we make the choice (notice I said CHOICE, because I have seen a few books written by ex-soldiers who act as if they were whipped, tied, tarred and feathered and forced at gunpoint to sign up for an enlistment in the Armed Services) to join the service, we must follow the laws that govern us, whether we agree with each one of them or not. We are people who I believe feel as much, if not MORE, than the average American individual who has never served. How can you really know what you stand to lose until you come close to doing so, until you have to put your own life on the line to help win a war? I tell you, when you have to be away for long periods of time from all that you call home, and you don’t know when you will go home, the importance of every little moment is magnified one hundred times over.

Who is the soldier? He or she can be many things. I am a soldier and prouder than ever to be one. Soldiers come from many backgrounds, religions and races. One stereotype cannot define a soldier or what he feels inside that pushes him to do what he does to save lives and provide humanitarian aid.

General Norman Schwarzkopf said, "Few who have never served their country will understand a soldier's heart." And I find that to be a very wise statement.