Stabo Extraction

He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on
--Universal Soldier, Buffy Sainte-Marie

Before. . .murder was recognized as murder,
but now murder is a means to achieve a noble result
--J. Krishnamurti
________________

Sometimes Ranger gets so low his bootlaces could serve as strings for a hostile LZ extraction. Sometimes jagged little pieces come together to form a mosaic.

Obviously he is anti-war and opposed to military overreach and oo-rah thinking. Yet at the same time, there is a pride of service. Ranger does not believe violence is ever justified, yet violence is in his guts. This is the basic dilemma facing all thinking veterans. We were taught to read terrain, but seldom to look at the inner paths of our souls.

A recent Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) meeting Ranger attended featured the banner, "HONOR THE WARRIOR, NOT THE WAR." Ranger challenged that precept and was roundly criticized by the knee-jerk attendees.

Think: If you honor the warrior, then you are ipso facto honoring the war. There is no other way to read this. A warrior is the instrument through which war is executed. The two concepts are inseparable. This is a simple yet profound truth.

The question remains: How does one oppose a war and a warrior nation, yet still retain pride in one's former service? Accepting the pride is to accept the violence inherent in the activity.

Attempting this reckoning burdens me. This knot ties us all together. This is also the reason that PTSD resulting from war will remain incurable -- it is a personal expression of a schizophrenic societal construction.

We award medals and promotions for killing, yet everyone does everything possible not to deal with this aspect of soldiers after their service. When they are coping with their PTSD, they are often warehoused apart from society in VA hospitals.

When people say, "Thanks for your service", do they follow up with, "Come to our house for dinner"; I wrote my Senator about vets benefits, or, "I volunteer at VA long-term care facility"? Not hardly. The words ring hollow.

Parades and speeches at national political conventions are the institutional expression of "Thanks for your service."

The word "sucker" is always omitted.

Tallahassee Veterans Acupuncture Project

Composition IV (Battle),
Wassily Kandinsky

There is no political solution
To our troubled evolution
We are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
--Spirits in the Material World, The Police

Relax, said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!
--Hotel California, The Eagles

I can feel your anger...
it gives you focus, it makes you stronger!
--Chancellor Palpatine, Star Wars
______________

We here at Ranger would like to recognize the Tallahassee Veterans Acupuncture Project (TVAP), a weekly free acupuncture clinic offered to veterans and their family members to help reduce stress and symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome [PTSD].

The clinic focuses on reducing anxiety and irritability and seeks to "alleviate hyper-vigilance, flashbacks and nightmares." Their flier says, "The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) developed a simple five point treatment using acupuncture needles to the ear for drug addiction. It has since been found that this same group of points can be used for PTSD. . ."

Ranger kindly invited me, and the clinicians, Anna Lee and Rachel Kelley, were kind enough to treat me as a fellow traveler. I reckoned I should qualify under duress via fraternization.

Several needles are painlessly placed in each ear, and the client sits back in quietude for 30-40 minutes, focusing on peaceful thoughts.

Lisa counted it a success, as a muscle spasm between her shoulder blades disappeared at some point during the treatment and she came out of it feeling greatly refreshed. For her, it was a wholly satisfying experience.

Ranger, OTOH, did not appear to receive noticeable benefit, but we are told the results of the treatments are cumulative. His acupuncturist told him that she noted he was hostile, and with barely veiled pride he asked how she knew. She said she had read it in the comments at RAW. She also told him that he would probably live a long life, at which he seemed not so much thrilled as at the idea that his anger was recognized.

After yours truly suggested that angry was no way to go through his anticipated long life, Ranger became agitated and the practitioner intervened, saying that it was, indeed, one way to go through life. That seemed sensible to all, and the total undoing of the serenity was avoided.

As an aside: Do not be troubled that Ranger might keel over of hypertension. Despite his anger, he has an amazingly low resting heart rate and blood pressure. Perhaps this is because he so effectively dispels it onto his environment.

If you have such a program in your area, we encourage you to avail yourself of this helpful healing modality. (For those local, the Tallahassee clinic is held Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m.) There is no discomfort, and anything that may help one avoid becoming hostage to Big Pharma is worth a try.

As they used to say on the old Hee-Haw, with feeling: Tallahassee Veterans Acupuncture Project: Sa - lute (or in Slovakian, salutovat.)