Fued between the Era's

To Whom It May Concern, this is about me and my thoughts while I was getting my ass chewed out by a hardened Vietnam era grandma who protested the war and her stories that go along with the conversation.
This story started on a Saturday evening, with the attempt and success of retrieving firewood from my friend’s grandparent’s house. But the whole story took place in between the gathering of firewood where we went in to say hi. It was a normal, well what I call normal, hello and what’s up kind of deal but then we started talking about what my buddy is going to do with the basement in his house. And then the conversation turned to money and stupid me saying “I really don’t need it because of my future job, money is not a problem”. Then my friend decides to say what my job/career was. In an instance my nice smooth ride turned into a ticket to hell.
All emotion has come into play anger, frustration, and sadness; all emotion that has opened from the depth of her memories, from the past and present to the future to everything she has known and loved. As I sat scared, but analyzed what she was saying made sense, I couldn’t stop thinking of William Tecumseh Sherman’s quote “War is cruel, and you cannot refine it” but you start to understand what he said back then, although he sounded more peaceful, is almost the exact thing this wise women was telling me. It began with the question on Taliban, well in my mind since we youthful Americans saw 9/11 and other things about the war; growing up with the war on terror, I figure I didn’t have to say what my mind was thinking.
“Do you know what the Taliban are?”
“They are a militant group that took over the Government in Afghanistan and shelters Al Qaeda.” I said, while trying to get the answer out fast and trying to say what I thought in my mind but shock and fear kept me from doing that.
Now I don’t exactly know what she said but it was along the lines of that the Taliban was helped my the US when the Russians tried to take it over and we let then have the country, but now we are in another Vietnam type war, all over the middle east, trying to spread democracy. That I’m going to die for a country set on imperialistic ideals for resources such as oil and I’m going to kill and do things that I’m not going to like that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Like I said up top is once you think about it, she’s right, well not one hundred percent but damn near close.
Then she stared talking about her memories and believe me, the stories she shared just killed me inside, when I heard about her friends that went to Vietnam and came back and the hell and horror they been through; I just died. She explained to me how many friends she had to bury for a war that didn’t even accomplish anything but kill people. How one minute her guy friend was between her and another friend was walking down the street and the next he jumped in front of a truck. How she had to burn photos of horrible things that they did in Vietnam, and that she had to bury one of her friends collection of fingers, ears and toes as a trophy of his time there. These things that she told me you can never find in a history book or movies or documentaries. People leave these things out for a reason because they are ashamed for what they done or something else emotional.
When she bursted into tears praying to God that he would knock some sense into me and to live my life and not die for a country that would just forget me after awhile. She said she was sorry and that we can go and get the wood for our fire, so we left and as my buddy went to go find the wood, I started for the truck, I was just heart sunk of the things I heard and dealt with just a few minutes ago.
It changed me but not my ideas, what she said improved me in someway that I don’t know but feel. My view on enlisting in the United States Marine Corps has not changed because I have my reason for joining. Growing up in a military family fueled my love for the Marine Corps. I want the honor and respect of earning the title of United States Marine. After realizing it I wanted to do something that only few have ever done and would even attempt on doing. That’s why I am enlisting. Ronald Reagan wrote: "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."