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Avenged Sevenfold
Gunslinger lyrics
Songwriters: Baker, Zachary James; Haner, Brian Elwin Jr; Sanders, Matthew Charles; Sullivan, James Owen
Yeah, you've been alone
I've been gone for far too long
But with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you
Never let it show
The pain I've grown to know
’Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you
I reach towards the sky I've said my goodbyes
My heart's always with you now
I won't question why so many have died
My prayers have made it through yeah
’Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you
Letters keep me warm
Helped me through the storm
But with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you
I reach towards the sky I've said my goodbyes
My heart's always with you now
I won't question why so many have died
My prayers have made it through yeah
’Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you
I've always been true
I've waited so long just to come home to you
I'm making it through
It's been far too long, we've proven our
love over time’s so strong, in all that we do
The stars in the night, may lend me their light
to bring me closer to heaven with you
(Bring me closer)
But with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you
I reach towards the sky I've said my goodbyes
My heart's always with you now
I won't question why so many have died
My prayers have made it through yeah
’Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you
And with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you
Thanks to the band for making such a great song.
As I sit down and began to get set blogging again after more than 10 months between my last posting, I am listening to this song and thought I would share it with you. A lot has happened since my last posting, like deployment once again in this soldier's career. This time I got to go to another campaign then the last. I think the climate is better then the previous deployment but the weather is it. Not the climate as in the results of the climate control survey. That probably would tell a different story if someone was to review the files. I don't know, life is not all that great. I don't think people realize that the military life isn't what it's cracked up to be. Maybe the lack of a better future in the civilian sector has driven droves of miscreants, losers, loners, and misfits into the military along with the popular, billy bad asses, gang bangers, thugs, and preps. This environment is changing constantly, especially from the one I joined and was accustomed to. I do not try to be narrow minded, and think and control my actions. It is getting ever harder. This man's army is becoming a business. I think that I would not like to be a businessman in the regular world after this experience. I am saying this not just on my beliefs. I look at the emotions of others around me as in lower enlisted, junior NCO's, fellow & senior NCO's. All matter of rank. People say that with rank/promotion, comes greater responsibility. What does that mean? I know what it means but, its not the same for all the others. There are groupings, even though the army doesn't like to say so amongst soldiers. Like the Good Ol' Boys Club, The Brotha's, The Latino's, and Asians. There are so many details in this bonafide web of cliques. I mean it in degrees. Even setting that aside, there are stuff that is not right. The military is all about sexual assault prevention now, but how about group abolishments? How about getting rid of stupidity? How about military intelligence not being an oxymoron any more? The last one was a pun....sorry about that. Like for example, this unit I am in now, I got into it with my 1SG. He is the most senior enlisted man in the unit. I was talking to him and I told him, all I was, was a utility NCO. I don't do anything related to my job and I do the stupidest stuff. He said to me, I don't care what you want to call yourself. A a a. utility NCO or whatever, listen there isn't much need for your job so you are tasked out with all these other jobs. I told him, when was the last time you saw a HQ platoon staff sergeant building fortifications around the COP? What the fuck am I doing? That is what I asked myself in my head when I was talking to him. He said to me, the reason why he gives the other E6 and E5 in the platoon tasks, it's because he can trust them to get the job done. The reason I am doing the additional duties as a pay agent and COR is because of my rank. We do have another E6 in the platoon if I recall....the mortar section chief. The reason that I do it when there is only one position of fire support NCO, and one fire support officer compared 2 NCO's in the mortar section is mind boggling. The first sergeant says to me that he gives them tasks because they can accomplish it and he trusts them....then why am I doing jobs that has to deal with multi hundred thousands to millions of dollars in contracts and paying off and handling money is inexplicable to me. Why not split the duties? How about when the 1SG put out no details will the mortars be part of on this deployment.....or better yet the fact that he was an 11C which is a mortar man in the infantry world before becoming a 11Z which is a senior non commissioned officer in the infantry world. The soldiers do not get to rest at all when they are not on mission. That is key, give them the decent courtesy to rest every once in a while. No layout/maintenance day for the day they get off. Now, to be fair our 1SG is a restless person by nature. He is used to being a busybody....but when you do become promoted and a first sergeant.....you have to sit back and chill for a minute. You are now responsible for the welfare of a company of soldiers. There are stuff that I keep silent about. I am not a welch. But sometimes, enough is enough. For example, we have flags that our FRG (Family Readiness Group) is pushing for as a fundraiser. The deal is your supposed to fly the American flag for a day. From 0600 in the morning to 1800(6 P.M.) at night. They did not meet the quota for some reason. Is it because they started late or missed days who knows. But they fly it for some minutes instead of a whole day. They fly a couple a day as in few minutes each and then fold it and pack it and ship it home and sell it via FRG to families of the deployed soldiers of our company. One of the Army values is Integrity.....Now I'm not saying if your captured by the enemy, to start blabbing of the truth and revealing confidential information. That is a totally different scenario and with different implications. But lying to the family? The two big leaders of our unit, the highest ranking officer and enlisted man endorsing it with their signatures? I am so glad that I decided to not buy it. Even if it comes with a fancy little picture, certificate of "Authenticity", and all that stuff. I just am becoming disillusioned by the military. The army isn't what I thought it would be. I wish I was born earlier in history and fought in WW II. I think that the people are not lied to now and these days when they join the army. They just want to get into a secure paycheck. We are at over 100% retention now. You can't even re-enlist for something good anymore. Even re-enlisting to stay in a shitty location like Drum is slowly diminishing. That is why I am glad that I decided to be airborne from the get go. This will help me go on to bigger and better things because it is a gateway. That just reminds me of how spend thrifty...or lack of thereof the army is. I tried to save them money by telling me to let me just move units across the street instead of PCS'ing (moving) from one base to another completely. That would have saved the military who is strapped on cash for investing on retarded land vehicle warrior systems that have the vehicles are scrapped so far. Hell that could have saved them a good 9000-13,000 dollars. That is not my place to say I guess. Well, 6 more months I say of this hell. Sadly not the country but the unit I am in. I love my country....I do, but the people that are soldiers that defend this nation are not all that great of a person. They say that enough is enough, that is why I made up my mind for a change in career fields. So, during this 4th of July, pray that the good soldiers do survive and come home to thier loved ones. Also, pray that they can have more in this deployment then just a bitter or sour aftertaste of the army due to certain tangents in the equation. Wether it would be just because they are at a shitty location, or because of shitty leaders.
Until next time,
Seouldier13
