| Rise Against – Hero of War Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I'll give you my take on the song, as a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. I served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Pararescueman for the 320th STS. Disclaimer: I don't speak for all service members, but for those of us who have come across these scenarios... I think this is as accurate as I can be. He said "Son, have you seen the world? Well, what would you say if I said that you could? Just carry this gun and you'll even get paid." I said "That sounds pretty good." - Speaking with the recruiter, excited about the opportunity to serve your country and get paid (even though it's very little) in the process. Black leather boots Spit-shined so bright They cut off my hair but it looked alright We marched and we sang We all became friends As we learned how to fight - The pride you feel when you enlist. At first, it's all hard work and excitement. The brotherhood, getting through tough ordeals with a group of people who you have to learn to trust with your life, literally. For a minimum of four years, these people are your new family. A hero of war Yeah that's what I'll be And when I come home They'll be damn proud of me I'll carry this flag To the grave if I must Because it's a flag that I love And a flag that I trust - I think "hero of war" is a bit skewed, that's not the majority's perspective but the line fits the song well (still consumed by pride at wearing the uniform). Again, we're standing 10-feet tall carrying this flag, wearing this uniform, protecting our families back home... pretty basic thought process. I kicked in the door I yelled my commands The children, they cried But I got my man We took him away A bag over his face From his family and his friends - When you finally deploy and land in a hostile AO (Area of Operations), things get very serious... we've been constantly spoon-fed stories of overseas tours and soldiers are so anxious to finally DO the jobs they've spent 1-2 years training for and building up to. We're taught that these men we capture have no face -- no family -- no life. They're just terrorists that need to be brought in and questioned. At this point, we still feel like we're "fighting the good fight". They took off his clothes They pissed in his hands I told them to stop But then I joined in We beat him with guns And batons not just once But again and again - This part is hard to explain to someone who's never been in this position. It's easy to criticize and monday-morning-quarterback what you hear about on T.V. with soldiers beating prisoners and such. You spend so much time being shot at, in constant fear of your life, and watching your friends get injured/killed that it all becomes VERY, VERY personal. You start believing every person you apprehend is part of some evil organization out to kill you, it's just a lot of mental strain... not sure how else to put it. NOT EVERYONE DOES THIS, but I know how angry I was and how rough I handled a few prisoners (more like rude behavior to someone in handcuffs -- pushing them when you guide their direction, grabbing their collar to stand them up, etc. not literal "drawing blood" violence). - The Chorus rolls through again, re-iterating the pride you feel at keeping your country safe. She walked through bullets and haze I asked her to stop I begged her to stay But she pressed on So I lifted my gun And I fired away The shells jumped through the smoke And into the sand That the blood now had soaked She collapsed with a flag in her hand A flag white as snow - I'll explain this through a personal experience. When you guard a checkpoint that searches cars, or you're assaulting a city to liberate it from extremists who are abducting the townspeople's men/children to become soldiers, etc.. there's a figurative line in the sand you draw. If a person or a car is lined with explosives, for our own safety we have a "blast zone radius". We warn them to stay back, our translator uses a megaphone to call out in their native tongue to stop. If they don't, we raise our weapons and tell them to stop AGAIN. Unfortunately, if they don't listen... we can't allow them to walk up to us and blow up our entire unit. We're not supposed to fire "warning shots", but we do... because hell, no one WANTS to shoot someone. In my situation, a woman approached our checkpoint in a white robe with her arms crossed keeping it closed. We followed the above procedures, until she started actually RUNNING at us. We had no choice but to fire, and when the bomb squad arrived... her robe was filled with half-spoiled fruit she was trying to sell us to make ends meet. We had no way of knowing, and it was just a tragic situation for everyone. Our only other choice was to let her walk right up to us, and risk all being blown to pieces. It's a bad situation in those countries... they use children, women, and old people to blow us up because we don't usually suspect them as quickly. A hero of war Is that what they see Just medals and scars So damn proud of me And I brought home that flag Now it gathers dust But it's a flag that I love It's the only flag I trust - At this point, the pride is still there somewhat... but the bitterness and the terrible autrocities of war have broken most of our spirits. We don't want to fight anymore, we just want to go home... and when we GET home, we have to deal with all the memories, like the girl, for the rest of our lives. We constantly battle with PTSD. Most of us spend the rest of our lives regretting the deaths of friends, loved ones, or strangers -- and trying to find a justfication somewhere that we were protecting our country. To not lose our minds, we have to cling to the flag and remember that all of this happened for "a good reason", but we don't know anymore if that's even true. It's a bad back and forth situation, and the Veteran's Affairs (VA) office doesn't know how to help PTSD soldiers very well. How can you remove that kind of scar from people's memories?? He said, "Son, have you seen the world? Well what would you say, if I said that you could?" - The very last bit... is the next guy walking into the recruiter's office to start the cycle over again. TL:DR It's a song about a soldier's patriotic views eventually running into a brick wall of morals and ethics, where you do things for your country that sometimes you can't live with once you get home. It's a beautiful, ACCURATE song... and as much as the song makes me swell up with pride an sadness everytime I hear it -- I appreciate Rise Against compiling such a song that really understands soldier's perspectives. Thank you for reading guys, hope this helped. -Brent |
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