Memorial Day

“You will see yourself... It’s like looking into a mirror, and your reflection reaches out and smacks you hard across the face.” This is the pain of the dawning of Responsibility.

Rubicon & Griobhtha

(Too long for email? Click the title & read online.)

This is a fourth full chapter from the book, X Rubicon: Crossing Life, Sex, Love, & Killing in CIA Proxy Wars: An indictment of US Citizens: ignorantia non excusat, dealing with what is, and should be, pertinent to Memorial Day. The first is X Rubicon: Forgiveness (& Responsibility). the second, X Rubicon: Dream Sequence: “Take Heed of the Dream”, the third, X Rubicon: A Young Man Named Jim - “We’re Not At War”.

This, for us, is one month of Remembrance; sadly for many it’s the only day of Remembrance; and, sadder still, many will not pay attention or remember anything at all. Those who are honest and confident in their humanity will understand. Veterans with Humanity will understand. But I guarantee these writings will bother armchair warriors, non-combat pretenders, Rolfs, and precocious virgins talking about sex, and anger them; and I truly hope it does; sadly, they will not understand without choosing to reflect. The endings are very sharp & pointed, and this is required.

A friend of ours, who died not long ago, read the book and stated, “You will see yourself in this book. It’s like looking into a mirror, and your reflection reaches out and smacks you hard across the face.” This is the pain of the dawning of Responsibility. Citizens in a Democracy are Responsible for Their Rulers, and if you honestly examine your voting and non-voting, you will begin to realize your own responsibility in where we are. This IS what young men are asked and ordered to do in YOUR name.

The chapter 4 July, which deals with similar history & responsibilities, will be published just before that day. Again, these reflect Rubicon’s experiences, thoughts, & emotions portrayed in my (Sean’s) words because of the pain involved. If you want to educate yourself on the source of that pain, read the book. If you would like to understand the trouble taken to get this book to print, read, X Rubicon: Author Statement.

“There are those who will withdraw into twaddling precocious self-righteousness reading these. They mistakenly think that just because they never joined the military, or they are now or always have been, a so-called pacifist, they are somehow superior to the millions of men who have gone into this. You need to disabuse yourself of these ignorant thoughts now. Depending on where you were born, your parents, your relatives, your upbringing, your education, your environment, your indoctrinations, your applied propagandas, your purchased lies, your economic desperations, and more, THIS COULD HAVE BEEN YOU.” — Rubicon

Leading up to Memorial Day, I want you think about your reasonings and motivations for sending young men into combat. Recently

Kamantha Müller

reminded us that “war is old men talking and young men dying”; and

Mansur Ibrahim

reminding us that founding philosopher “John Stuart Mill measures freedom by care for the vulnerable. A society’s justice lies in uplifting its poor, ensuring equity as the cornerstone of liberty.”; and

Laith 🔻🇵🇸

shared with us the young woman from Nevada crying out, “What the fuck are we doing?!?”) I want you to expand your thinking and consider with empathy how these things happen; consider how many young men were lied, propagandized, and duped into atrocity and self-damage; I want you think about combat vets.

But you should not limit your remembrance to US combat veterans only, you should be remembering ALL the people we have killed worldwide. I want you to consider that because of the world-wide murder spree addictions of politicians, fascists, and Citizens, Memorial Day MUST include remembrance of the MILLIONS of people killed around the world in our selfish wars of greed. I want you to consider that conservative estimates by the US Dept of “Defense”, Amnesty International, Lancet, Veterans For Peace, and more fix those killings (not just soldiers, but civilians, including men, women, children, babies) at 15-20 million since 1945, 4.5-6 million just since the false flag of 9/11.

Between 1600 and 1900, it is estimated that approximately 4,400 Black people were killed in lynchings and other racial killings in the United States. This figure reflects a significant aspect of the systemic violence and racism faced by African Americans during that period. This does not include those killed by slave owners, worked to death, tortured to death, or who had theirs lives severely shortened by slavery and the slave trade; nor does it include deaths due to the aftereffects of slavery and the crushing of spirit and will; many of these deaths unreported or hidden. Over 600,000 men died as soldiers to end the abomination of slavery in the US, which oligarchs and fascists are too willing to restart.

“Historians have long debated the pre-European population of the Americas.^[9][10]. In 2023, historian Ned Blackhawk suggested that North America's population had halved from 1492 to 1776 from about 8 million people (all Native American in 1492) to under 4 million (predominantly white in 1776).^[3]. Russell Thornton estimated that by 1800, some 600,000 Native Americans lived in the regions that would become the modern United States and declined to an estimated 250,000 by 1890 before rebounding.^[4]". From 1492-1900 it is estimated the Native American population was killed off 96% by genocide (Tai S. Edwards and Paul Kelton argue that Native Americans 'died because U.S. colonization, removal policies, reservation confinement, and assimilation programs severely and continuously undermined physical and spiritual health. Disease was the secondary killer.'^[11]”. A 58% drop between 1800-1900). The first perpetrator, the US Army.

Never forget that the Ukraine conflict is a US & NATO perpetrated proxy war, admitted by former NATO SG Jan Stoltenberg; that Syria was always a US proxy war (on Israel’s behalf) utilizing terrorists (labelled terrorists by the State Dept); and that ALL the Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese murder (men, women, children, babies) orchestrated by the US and committed by and for Israel is a long-standing US & European proxy war — and NONE of this is new.

I invite you, the reader, not to get trapped in the intensity and overwhelming nature of this narrative. If you get snared in personal shock, judgments, and opinions, you will miss the truth of the message which ultimately can bring about understanding, and radical change. This writing has the potential to shake you to your core and inspire you to open your heart and find compassion. Please allow it to touch you deeply and do its healing work. We are all in this together. You WILL be shocked. This experience is extremely shocking. Some of you will be shocked, because you won’t want to believe such evil demands were placed on a young man at the tender age of 18 years and that he did such evil deeds in the name of “freedom and liberty”. And you won’t want to even entertain the notion that this is not just one veteran’s story. There are thousands of stories akin to this one.

I understand this shock. When Rubicon first opened up to me I was incredulous to what he had done. It did not affect my love for him in the least, but it utterly shattered my heart. I am still grieving all the dark lost years of torment it caused him – us. But grief is an essential path to complete healing. We are on our way. The two of us. Through reading this book you are also with us on this journey of truth.

Julie, May 2022

X Rubicon: Foreward, Or, The Vanguard

*****

Mark Taylor, @DeMOCKracy.ink

Memorial Day

& 4 July & Veterans Day, et al

“Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. From 1868 to 1970, it was observed on May 30. Since 1970, it is observed on the last Monday of May.” (Wikipedia)

While a US holiday, we’re sure many countries have remembrances that are effectively the same, so let’s widen the expanse of this to include them, because militaries in all countries tend to overreach into society. While some form of this writing was always meant to be another book chapter, we were reticent because non-combat pretenders (NCP) can be quite stupid and vitriolic. But today, because my (Sean’s) daughter was in a marching band, I once again had to go and witness this disgusting display, and get triggered.

First, let me describe the event in this city. The starting line is set up by two fire department ladder trucks raising a giant flag over the street. The first participants are a motorcycle club, yet dressed as a motorcycle gang. Why they’re here, I don’t know. But of course, in this country, nothing speaks more of Remembrance, morals, and ethics than a motorcycle gang. Next came a police cruiser… ditto. Then marching bands playing military anthems; and while I enjoy hearing them play… ditto. Then the “veterans” come in waves. Some of you may think we’re cruel here, but we are combat veterans, and we know what we’re speaking of; and we have the right to call this out. These days it’s almost exclusively VVA and Vietnam & Korean War VFW personnel who participate. There’s a noticeable absence of combat veterans extant, and Gulf War combat veterans and above; and of those that are participating, they are almost exclusively Non-Combat Pretenders. Some of them are 100lbs+ heavier than they were when they were in the military, but they wear VFW costumes expressing that their identity is military and fake, and many participants have gone and bought fatigues in their new size, and emblazoned them with patches and even medals that have never existed. A military personnel truck comes along pulling an artillery piece. On the front of this truck the idiots have tied a rubber hand emblazoned with bloody gore… and they’re proud of this. Another truck pulls a trailer full of these “veterans”, and a single black man, obviously a true veteran of a recent (90’s or above) conflict, who has lost the use of his legs, is made to follow behind this trailer on his scooter – he truly just wants to be a part of something, to make sense of losing his ability to walk. The “veterans” in the trailer suck down cold water and ignore him, and don’t offer him water. My wife and I (Sean) give him water. There are decorated garbage trucks, which makes me think how totally appropriate they are; and they remind me of the movie Idiocracy. Another police cruiser ends the parade. While this is just a tiny fraction of say, a Soviet May Day parade, it is no different except in the idiocy.

In previous chapters, Rubicon’s and my feelings regarding some of these things pertain:

“Thank you for your service” won’t cut it, won’t even satisfy a basic need for these combat vets; primarily because you haven’t got a clue as to what “service” you are referring. It’s a statement you would make to your food server, gas station mechanic, etc… Military personnel such as swim instructors, clerks, generals, cooks, officers off the battlefield, etc… all love this attention, but they don’t deserve it, and every combat veteran knows this.”

And,

“To this day I feel the guilt and responsibility of these actions. It astounds me that I went so long with such a laissez-faire attitude about killing. When people say “Thank you for your service” it makes me cringe. While other people rise and sing the National Anthem, I feel disgust and pain. When at meetings where people rise to “Pledge Allegiance”, I can’t make myself say it, and I want to stop my kids from saying it.”

I include these quotes here because of those Non-Combat Pretenders (NCP). Combat veterans tend to avoid these parade displays of orgiastic patriotism, because they are fraudulent and highly triggering. NO combat veteran (unless he’s a psychopath) would do these things, let alone decorate a truck with a bloody hand; that’s how we know these participants are NCP.

“My neighbor is younger than I am. He spent time in Germany in the Army and praises it. He pretends to have been in Vietnam (not possible by his age). He’s for slaughtering all over the globe, praises conservative “values”, rants about government spending, and wears his 9mm in his butt-crack as he does his gardening. Yet, never having been in war, he proclaims himself a “disabled veteran” and had the VA install a ramp on his house and got them to give him a scooter, and he’s never used either one – he’s too busy chopping wood behind his fence where he thinks no one sees. I had another 20-something neighbor who believes in the military way of life, yet he too is a virgin talking about sex. He wears his 9mm stuck in the back of his pants as he washes his truck – we don’t live in a violent neighborhood – it has never been violent. They follow the teachings of Clint Eastwood (military swim instructor), another virgin talking about sex who seems to be in love with Antebellum slavery times. These are all NCP, Non-Combat Pretenders.”

X Rubicon – Boys And Men

But these NCPs are not just fraudulent “veterans”, they are the fraudulent civilian population as well. I noticed one of the firemen carrying a 9mm – no firemen in this city have ever been shot or even threatened… and why is he wearing this to a parade? As we went back to the car, we passed 3 young men jogging with flags, and a 4^th jogging wearing body armor and an American flag as a cape (and I wanted to run him over). So, WTF is going on here?

Much of this is due to government propaganda, and yes, it IS propaganda. The VA, DoD, veteran “help” programs from WWP to Rush, with major funding from corporations, have ALL started calling ALL vets (of whatever experience) “Warriors”. A military psychiatrist (VA) has written she is a “warrior” just like her patients (men who have actually been in combat and have ALL the mental gifts that come along with it). A military psychologist has self-described himself as an in-the-know “warrior” because he completed Ranger training (yet he’s NEVER been in combat!). I know that many men have completed SEAL training, and then quit, just so they could say they did it, like they’re somehow special, as though it’s like an obstacle course; and, sooner or later, they start describing themselves as combat veterans.

One of the “warriors” I sent a book to in 2022, an officer in the VFW, posted a trashing review on Amazon. When I looked at his bio, I understood. He’s a member of the VFW, but he’s NEVER been in combat, let alone a foreign war. He enlisted in peacetime, was stationed in S Korea attending a gun emplacement, filled a military career with no war or combat, joined the Reserves where for some reason they made him an honorary Lt; yet, he has never placed his life or mind on the line. This is a failure of the VFW (quasi-NGO) to respect combat veterans; and it says something about their criteria inviting and elevating “veterans” just because they were stationed or went temporary duty in another country. We’ve known many combat veterans, including ourselves, who were triggered by their VFW invitation, because, as our fathers-in-law (WW2 combat veterans) used to say, “It’s full of a bunch of drunks and pretenders who never served in combat.”

These people (men AND women) pretend because civilians are in love with the military, and these people love their accolades, and they enable the Presidents, Congress, and the military to spend more and more on imperialism. The frauds and their lovers are Virgins Talking About Sex. The egos of the frauds and their lovers have swollen out of proportion to all reality. Do these people have any clue what this patriotic Bullshit does to combat veterans? We think not!

What should we be doing on Memorial Day?

Memorial, In Memoriam, Remembering. If you truly want to show respect for combat veterans, those who have died and those still alive, get off your knees and stop sucking military cock. Start remembering history and how we got in all those wars, conflicts, and actions in the first place. Learn. Educate yourself. Become present and aware. Take your own responsibility as citizens seriously. Every time you blindly praise war, its pain, and its costs, you blindly disrespect ALL those who have lived it. Stop draping yourselves in flags. Stop saying your Republican is not a war monger. Stop saying your Democrat is not a war monger. Stop letting Zionists (Psychopaths, Terrorists, & war mongers) commit the US to war and war mongering. Stop expecting other men to do your fighting for you. Stop insisting that you’re not a fascist, supporting lebensraum, when the fact is that you ARE. Stop bathing in the blood of infants & children, young men, men & women, old people, and those with different religion, beliefs, or melanin than you. Stop being psychopaths!

Learn to express Love. Learn to embrace Truth and accept it. Teach your children how to love, and how to love Truth. Teach your children and grandchildren to seek wisdom. Teach them to discern falsehoods, obfuscations, and lies [and to call them out]. Teach them to build and not to destroy. Teach them to embrace humanity and put away the childish nonsense of superiority.

But the ONLY way you can do this is through learning and putting away propaganda and patriotism. You MUST read, especially history! You MUST be honest with yourself and accept that your country, just like EVERY country in the world, has committed numerous atrocities. We are supposed to be making ourselves better than we have been. Memorial Day is not a day for you to suck beer and stuff your face again.

It’s time for you to grow up and become a man or a woman, with a conscience!

**********

Sean Griobhtha (gree-O-tah) is a combat veteran. His latest book is X Rubicon: Crossing Life, Sex, Love, & Killing in CIA Proxy Wars: An indictment of US Citizens: ignorantia non excusat, which details the life of Rubicon (“2.5 years of Deception & Death; 40+ years of locking away Emotions & Truth”). It’s important that you read the Foreward, Or The Vanguard; written by a highly intelligent woman with a heart of empathetic gold; she’ll bring you in gently, which neither Rubicon nor I would ever do.

Rubicon spent just under three years as a military Scout. During that time he was awarded the “AF Cross, 2 Silver Stars, 4 Bronze Stars, Defense Superior Service Medal, AF Good Conduct Medal, and the CIA Distinguished Service Medal” (ODNI). When he refused to kill further, he was stripped of these awards and was abandoned with his PTSD by the military and thrown away.

Read the Foreward, Or The Vanguard free at Substack. Learn more about the author and Rubicon at Sean Griobhtha. 40% discount available for book clubs, student groups, humanitarian groups, We Are Not Your Soldiers groups, Veterans for Peace groups, & more: Inquire at O.Griobhtha+XRubicon at gmail.

If you want to support this author and creators, you can indicate that their writing is valuable by purchasing X Rubicon from Amazon, Ingram, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, your local independent book seller, your favorite digital store, or borrow from your local library. View about the author, the book, and abridged translations here.

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