HATE

Sometimes I get so angry I just can’t see straight!  I apologize in advance, but I am unable to think logically at this moment. 
My story begins like this…

I was a company commander in Germany.  I had returned from my first tour in Iraq.  My wife had just left me because she thought she had fallen in love with a German guy she met while I was deployed.  Since becoming the commander, I had hardly spent any fun time.  My executive officer suggested I join the Frankfurt International Ski Club and take a skiing vacation over the upcoming long weekend.  He and a few of his lieutenant friends had signed up for the 3 day ski trip to Switzerland over the President’s Day holiday in 2005. 

At first I was a bit reluctant to go.  He was my subordinate and it didn’t seem to be the right thing to do.  Eventually, I changed my mind and signed up to go.  After a long seven hour bus ride that Friday night, we finally pulled into our hotel.  I ended up sharing a room with Jason.  I always thought Jason was a bit of a dork, but he turned out to be a funny guy. 

During the first two days of the trip, my XO, Jason, and another lieutenant razzed me because I wasn’t drinking at all.  Finally, the last night of the ski trip, I decided to let loose and I had a lot to drink.  I had A LOT to drink.  I do not completely remember how I got from the bar back to my room.  I don’t remember opening the door to the room or crawling into bed.  The next thing I remember is Jason forcefully waking me up and trying to clean me up because I had barfed all over myself.  He got me into the bathroom and got me out of my soiled shirt.  (Nothing prurient at all happened.  Jason was straight as an arrow and no one knew about me.  Hell I didn’t even "know" about me at the time either.)  Anyway, he cleaned up my bed linens and got me squared away.  He watched me through the night so I wouldn’t drown in my own filth. 

The cabal of lieutenants had a great time making fun of me as I nursed one of the worst hangovers the world has ever seen.  (I am a complete and total lightweight when it comes to drinking.)  The flip side was that I had the best day of skiing ever — a result of not caring if I lived or died the next day.

Fast forward a year and a half.  Jason has been promoted to Captain.  He married his sweetheart in a ceremony a few weeks before we deployed for our second tour in Iraq.  Jason was supposed to be safe in a staff officer job.  In late June 2006 he flew home to Pennsylvania as part of the Army’s R&R leave program.  He spent a wonderful couple of weeks at home with his bride.  Upon the conclusion of his leave, he reported back to the airport and flew back to Iraq.

When soldiers get back to Iraq after return from leave, they are not allowed to go on missions for the first 72 hours.  The reports I received from my friends who worked with him at his basecamp said he was bored and wanted to do something away from his office.  A senior officer offered him the opportunity to ride on a mission through the town near his base.  He jumped on the opportunity.  Unfortunately, Jason was killed by enemy weapons fire during this mission.

The Army collected Jason’s remains and sent them home in a dignified, solemn ceremony.  Jason’s family and his bride of less than a year received the body.  The local military headquarters prepared  to conduct a military funeral for Jason.

The Westboro Baptist Church decided to picket my friend Jason’s funeral.   The WBC (if you must know more about this scum, just go to godhatesfags.com) are the worst fucking pieces of shit on Earth.  They carry signs like "Thank God for IEDs" at the funerals of fallen servicemembers.  I am enraged every time I think about these poor families dealing with one of the worst nightmares of their lives, the loss of a son/sibling/spouse only to have to deal with some vile spewing fuckstick proclaiming their loved one is in hell.

I am a big boy, and I can turn the other cheek if those jack asses protest me and my way of life.  I recognize that I am outside the "norm."  I don’t agree with them, but hey it’s a free country.  I think it is too free a country though when a group like this can inflict a worse torture on an already suffering family.

I find their attacks on vulnerable people at one of the lowest points in their lives as beyond the pale.

Jason was not PFLAG, and he definitely wasn’t gay.  He harbored as much homophobia as the next guy.  Even the most ardent opponents of this war would not hassle a family in its grief.  Yet this subhuman filth "church" revels in the misery they cause.

I bring all of this up because the WBC held a protest on campus today.  The second I found out who it was I ran into the nearest building shaking in rage.  It was all I could do to stop myself from exacting a bit of revenge on behalf of Jason and every other family that has been victimized by this "church."

I hate these people in the fullest sense of the word.  Loathe does not come close to the intensity of emotion I have against these poor excuses for humans.  I wish I had the eloquence to put it better.  I am just unable to forgive these people.