Thanks for posting this. It’s sweet, and also makes me thing that:
1) Marines (? I guess from the fact that he’s in a navy outfit at first and then a ground soldier) are allowed to have a lot longer hair in combat than I would have guessed (*)
2) Artificial limbs have come a really long way. Not that I’d want one, but it’s pretty impressive what has been done.
(*)I knew a guy who had been Soviet military intelligence in Afghanistan. He showed me his old pictures, where he had a white-guy afro, essentially, while there. Perhaps there’s something about Afghanistan that makes militaries say “fuck it, we’re not going to worry about haircuts anymore.”
To me it’s sad, not uplifting. Sad that this young man became so disabled in the prime of his life, when it was always highly unlikely that what he was fighting for would be realised in a theatre of war. What a waste. How much does our need of heroes contribute to our willingness to use wars as a way of resolving disputes?
Apt. 11d 
Thanks for posting this. It’s sweet, and also makes me thing that:
1) Marines (? I guess from the fact that he’s in a navy outfit at first and then a ground soldier) are allowed to have a lot longer hair in combat than I would have guessed (*)
2) Artificial limbs have come a really long way. Not that I’d want one, but it’s pretty impressive what has been done.
(*)I knew a guy who had been Soviet military intelligence in Afghanistan. He showed me his old pictures, where he had a white-guy afro, essentially, while there. Perhaps there’s something about Afghanistan that makes militaries say “fuck it, we’re not going to worry about haircuts anymore.”
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To me it’s sad, not uplifting. Sad that this young man became so disabled in the prime of his life, when it was always highly unlikely that what he was fighting for would be realised in a theatre of war. What a waste. How much does our need of heroes contribute to our willingness to use wars as a way of resolving disputes?
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