Ghost of War post 4

"When your traveling in uniform, especially a desert uniform, all you want is anonymity. But the pilot makes a big deal out of it, and people stare..."(161). On Smithson's leave from Iraq he gets on a plane to Albany (home); on the way the pilot bumps him and a fellow soldier up to the two extra first class seats on the plane.  He does not want to be given special treatment, "If it were up to me, I'd sit in the middle of the plane like everyone else."(161).  I found this interesting because after all that time spent working hard for the other soldiers in your unit as well as the rest of the armed forces that he would not want to tell people about the work that he has done.  However the last thing he wanted to do is hear peoples opinions on the war and why it was such a bad idea to get involved in, he just wanted to have peace on the way home. " People think that because I'm in uniform I want to talk about it. truth is I don't"(162).
Everyone is necessary in the military no matter how small the job may seem they carry out their mission so others can successfully carry out theirs.  The person sitting next to him on the plane works in mail he mentions that getting their mail is what keeps them going all day, and his job repairing roads keeps her job going.  The bullets fly and people lose their lives, although he has never lost anyone in his company, the soldier next to him has she talked about how one of them never got to see his new born child, days before he was supposed to go home on leave.  these situations cause stress and other symptoms, Smithson mentions,  "I can leave Iraq, but Iraq can never leave me."(167).  Smithson, during his sisters high school graduation party, goes to the garage to get a beer, at his parents house in New York, he hears a gunshot coming from the direction of the garage and immediately Smithson is on the ground and alert.  He yells at the nearest person asking what that was, a ballon popped in the backyard. Soldiers have to live with this fear even when they are safe at home, a ballon going pop could be mistaken for a gunshot and then people look at him as though he is crazy, like on the plane ride home, no one understands the war unless they've fought in it.