Days 51-52 - The End

Sadly I'm not referencing the end of my labors for the Navy, but quite the opposite, the end of my leave. Throughout the day I've had the reality check of knowing that tomorrow I must return to the base and follow orders or face potential imprisonment. Thus ended my weeklong beard and two week's worth of head-hair growth. I look forward to the day when the grooming of my body's hair will be an issue only of my, and by my choosing, my wife's, preferences.

But far more important matters are at stake than the limitations on the fibrous proteins that protrude from my body. It must not be forgotten that militaries exist to wage wars, and wars result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

Such a loss of life is staggering, abhorrent, and absolutely unjustified. Worse, is that the above number doesn't include the 5,829 deaths of "coalition" members since the two wars began.

"It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."

- Albert Einstein