I just had coffee with an Iraq war veteran. Ask me anything.

[Kat45]

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. What did you two talk about?

What did the vet have to say?

Was it a man or a woman?

[Kat45]

2. I was bummed to hear that he's still a Republican, & still likes bush.

He was telling me about his time there. He just got back a few months ago. He was in a hospital unit on a base, I forget the name of it. He's an officer, in the Reserves, and he was with a Stress unit to help soldiers suffering from stress or other mental health problems. They had to evaluate to see if they needed help and could then go back to their unit or if they were so bad off that they had to be sent home. He was in a relatively safe place, yet they'd still be several mortars coming down on the base daily. He told me about the things they'd do to stay sane. It was an interesting conversation, particularly on a 'coffee date'.

He had been hoping to be deployed for quite some time before he was, which I find totally bizarre. He's also thinking he's like to be deployed again, stateside; he'd particularly like to be sent to Walter Reed to help straighten the place out.

We also talked about politics quite a bit, disagreeing on just about everything, but a civil conversation nonetheless. What blew my mind is that he likes Bush!!

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Well, still many things are quite commendable about him

His willingness to be actively involved with the troops, and wanting to help straighten out the WR mess.

Maybe if he goes to WR, he may change his voting choices.

[Kat45]

4. He said he likes McCain but thinks he's too liberal!

When I asked him who he liked among the presidential candidates. I couldn't believe it! I said, oh no, McCain's not liberal at all. He just comes across as a maverick because he occasionally bucks the admin on an issue, but his votes are actually very conservative and he usually votes with bush. Shit, maybe I shouldn't have told him that. lol