Fallen Soldiers
May. 2nd, 2007 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravens_nestI'm writing this post to honor my brother. His name was Staff Sergeant Jay Martin. Sunday his unit's Hummer was caught near an exploding IED (Improvised Explosive Device) in Baghdad and he and two other soldiers died. He was 29 years old. He'd been in the Army nearly ten years now and he was proud to be a soldier.
I will not sully his memory and dream by ranting at the Government and debating whether the war should have happened. I am not ashamed that he was a soldier, I love him and I know he was doing what he loved, what he wanted; serving his country to the best of his ability. He was beautiful. He was shorter than me, but he never lacked in authority and grace. I've always wanted to be like him even though I'm a girl. That didn't matter, because he was a father to me like my real one wasn't, and you know how girls are with their fathers.
I'm an e-mail person, so we usually communicated that way. The last time I e-mailed him, I told him about my interest in learning Japanese and, after I gave him a few practice sentences, he replied, "Well it sounds like you are doing very well with Japanese. To be honest I would'nt mind learning Japanese either. I am really intrested in the Japanese culture, specifically he Code of Bushido. (I happen to thing that the Samuri were the worlds most dedicated warriors). It would be nice to study it with a understanding of their language." Typos aside (He was not an English major, but I still love him.), his words struck me the night after the military men came to tell me. Bushido literally translates as "The Way of the Warrior". Bushido "holds justice, benevolence, love, sincerity, honesty, and self-control in utmost respect."
As I think on the meaning of Bushido and the life of my brother, I realize that though he had no formal learning of the "Way of the Warrior", he had already mastered Bushido on instinct. Truly, I do not say this only because he was my brother and a soldier, trust me I understand both his good points and his bad. But these virtues of Bushido he had in abundance. He was truly this country's and my family's Samurai Warrior.
Staff Sergeant Jay Martin
Jay, I love you and I always will. Take care of Mom and Grandma in heaven. We'll party when I get there.
Aishiteru,
Raven
P.S. Articles can be found in the Post and the Sun. Whether these were completely accurate in portraying his life here in Maryland is still up for debate with the family, but the articles are online if you type his name in the search bar.
I will not sully his memory and dream by ranting at the Government and debating whether the war should have happened. I am not ashamed that he was a soldier, I love him and I know he was doing what he loved, what he wanted; serving his country to the best of his ability. He was beautiful. He was shorter than me, but he never lacked in authority and grace. I've always wanted to be like him even though I'm a girl. That didn't matter, because he was a father to me like my real one wasn't, and you know how girls are with their fathers.
I'm an e-mail person, so we usually communicated that way. The last time I e-mailed him, I told him about my interest in learning Japanese and, after I gave him a few practice sentences, he replied, "Well it sounds like you are doing very well with Japanese. To be honest I would'nt mind learning Japanese either. I am really intrested in the Japanese culture, specifically he Code of Bushido. (I happen to thing that the Samuri were the worlds most dedicated warriors). It would be nice to study it with a understanding of their language." Typos aside (He was not an English major, but I still love him.), his words struck me the night after the military men came to tell me. Bushido literally translates as "The Way of the Warrior". Bushido "holds justice, benevolence, love, sincerity, honesty, and self-control in utmost respect."
As I think on the meaning of Bushido and the life of my brother, I realize that though he had no formal learning of the "Way of the Warrior", he had already mastered Bushido on instinct. Truly, I do not say this only because he was my brother and a soldier, trust me I understand both his good points and his bad. But these virtues of Bushido he had in abundance. He was truly this country's and my family's Samurai Warrior.
Staff Sergeant Jay Martin
Jay, I love you and I always will. Take care of Mom and Grandma in heaven. We'll party when I get there.
Aishiteru,
Raven
P.S. Articles can be found in the Post and the Sun. Whether these were completely accurate in portraying his life here in Maryland is still up for debate with the family, but the articles are online if you type his name in the search bar.
