green: kind of. people weren't shooting, but were looking angrily at each other? my point with this line of questioning is that most people still do join the military to avoid a bad economy. there are career military naturally, but even among them it's not all about patriotism. true, it's possible to want to defend your country, but maybe you may recall that iraq hasn't attacked conus yet, (despite spin-doctoring to blame 9/11 on them) also, people love adventure and even blowing stuff up. if we were there to protect our interests, how come gas prices are so high? you would agree that there are more government contractors in iraq than military would you not? war is definitely hell, but doesn't it bother you that it's big business? how inbred does our current system of weapons procurement need to be before it's corrected? many questions still unanswered. if you're still in harms way, then i wish you the best of luck and hope you come home safely and intact.

was there an active war/fighting when you enlisted? in any event, health and good luck to you in all your endeavors.