Shock and Awe

There are two sides to Oahu, well many more then two, but two big ones come to mind. The North Shore is home to big waves, little towns and a distinctly bohemian outlook on life. Go a few miles south, into the vast interior of the island and everything is, so, so different. This area is home to a chain of military bases – nearly all branches of the armed forces are represented and sit in blinding contrast to the hippies to the north. Somewhere in the pineapple fields that separate these two distinct cultures is a very deep line in the sand. The North Shore has an uber-laid-back feel with a definite no shirt, no shoes, no problem policy. In the interior the army base town of Wahiawa is anything but bohemian. With literally thousands of solders living within a couple miles of the town, there is a not-so-subtle Palin-Power undertone to the community.

It’s rare that I visit a town and am left with only sadness as I leave. More churches, strip-clubs, liquor stores, fast-food joints and homeless people wearing desert pattern fatigues then I’d ever seen - anywhere. It was a sad example of what this country has done to its military men and women. The war in Iraq and to a lesser extent in Afghanistan were both ill advised in my opinion and massively unpopular in nearly everyone else’s opinion. But to have these brave men and women who’ve done nothing but join the military for the love of their country and a desire to get out of poverty, be forced to live in a states-side shithole like this, just isn’t right. Maybe it’s the chicken vs. the egg – maybe these guys really just want to have a lap-dance and a Taco-Bell on their day off. Maybe they want to get drunk, repent their sins and forget their reality. But what a strange world it is – this forgotten existence of young men and women who live just 7 miles from paradise in a house filled with excess, irresponsibility, debauchery and hopelessness.