Just Ask Phil

M*A*S*H was one of my favorite shows ever!  I used to watch it in high school when I got home from work, and did my homework before I went to bed every night on one of my local stations.

It funny how timing can work out sometimes.  I placed the final episode of Mash - the most watch American television program of all time.  I have seen it on TV over the years.  I’m guessing they probably broke the episode down for syndication as well.  It just seems to familiar to me.

Some movies and program s remind me of different times and experiences in my life.

This episode was playing one of the two times I MEPS to be processed into the Marine Corps.

It also reminds me of times in the Marine Corps, including the coming and going of friends.  The necessity and skill we acquired to make friendships quickly - because you had time.

I have experienced a breakup with my ex-finance in the last four months.  It has only been really recently that I have had an easier time dealing with it.

I have come to the conclusion, based in part on my past friendships and relationships, and those I witnessed of others, that friendship and relationship are intended for a finite period of time.

That doesn’t mean that the friendships will end on bad terms.  It just means that they will end for a duration or forever.

People move, change jobs, have changes in family and friendship that drift us apart and bring us back together.

I remember both myself and others in the Marine Corps telling one another how we would talk or see in each other later.  In some cases that happened, but in most it didn’t.

I remember one Marine who got along with but maybe didn’t have the most respectful, told me goodbye and since we probably wouldn’t see each other again, to have a good life.  It was actually very insightful.

If it is one thing I have always tried to do is be the best friend I can to others, to be the best boyfriend, and perhaps even the best husband I can.  Knowing that those friendships may not last forever, I know it in the moment how important those people are to me.  Their absense pains me, but I fill the void with other friendships.

There are many of you out there who have been my friends for a time, and if you have ever wondered, I still think of you from time to time, and hope you think of me as well!

I recently heard that the mayor of Berkeley California banned the United States Marine Corps from a planned an approved training exercise because Marines are scary.

It appears that the mayor is getting some heat from other Democrats on the city council and the public at large.

I served in the Marine Corps for four years. Most of it in California, but I did some training in North Carolina, and served a year in Okinawa, Japan. I really enjoyed my tour in Japan.

While I can respect people not liking war and connection that military has towards it. Most people, including Marines do not like the repercussions of war.

The Marine Corps and other branches of the military represent protection and defense, individual growth and development and charity.

The military keeps America safe and lends a hand when natural disaster strikes - even to nations that are not friendly.

As a libertarian, I would ask the mayor to kindly remember that the persona freedoms and civil liberties he enjoys were paid with a price by many young men and women who gave their lives to defend a principle.