4 minutes. 240 seconds. In that time, 140 large caliber shells exploded, tearing through flesh, bone, Brick walls, doors, desks. 17 people died.14 more were injured. Holes big enough to put your fist through. 240 seconds.
Enter a security guard. One man. Armed with a small caliber handgun. 6, 8, 9 shots available. Ad PTSD from war experiences as a "child" himself.
240 seconds. The time we spend starting up our computers, starting our cars, ordering breakfast at McDonalds. The time it takes to make toast, warm a cup of coffee in a microwave. The time it took to gargle or put deodorant on. The time it takes to say grace at dinner or before you go to bed. The time it takes to buy a Coke in a machine or smoke HALF a cigarette.
While all of us "see" heroes when we look in the mirrors, reality can be quite different. In combat you follow orders. You live and die with others who have your back as you have theirs. You follow strategies and plans. You have the equipment needed to carry through and execute those plans. The man power. The numbers.
After years of blood and death, being shot AT and killing, your released from your duty and sent home to "forget" and "go back" to your "normal" life. Your surrounded by people who weren’t there wanting to "hear" your stories. Wanting you to relive the death and gore, over and over again. It doesn’t go away.
5 minutes pass. The time it took Trumps family doctors to write a slip out, excusing him from mandatory military service, required under law, in Vietnam for "bone spurs". Robert Mueller volunteered for active service during that same time. Twice and was wounded twice. Trump played soccer. Went bowling. Never saw the first death or lost a single friend, while having their backs.
5 minutes. The time spent at a stop light. 150 shells exploding in flesh and brick. Enough time to breathe in and out 60 times. 80 heart beats. The time it took for an IED to blowup our sons Humvee and kill those with him or permanently injure them and pass out by the wayside, injured himself for the second time.
The only "action" our President ever saw, was if he walked in on Barron playing Warcraft on his Xbox, yet he calls a Vet who had Taken 60 breaths and heard explosions reminiscent of Battlefields in Vietnam, a "Coward"? Bodies being ripped apart with a military grade weapon of war, designed to kill with maximum efficiency, firing 3o rounds in 3-5 seconds as it was designed to do. Yet a small caliber handgun he believes will "make" a big difference against a gun he may never have even been able to get close enough to hit the owner, If he had tried.
Was he a coward? Did he react different than Rambo or the Road Warrior or Death Wish? I don’t know. Was he different than Warcraft players and World of Tank players? Yes. BUT the "movies and games" don’t fire back, your friends don’t die. You won’t die, if 150 shots are fired. You turn them off and go to bed and wake up tomorrow to try again. The students and teachers won’t. They won’t gain new health. They won’t come back to life.
So before we condemn a man’s life for not taking actions "you" would have, "if" you had been there, think.
5 minutes. The time it took Trump to repeal the bill preventing mentally handicapped people from legally buying a weapon of war. The time it took The NRA to condemn the police, the FBI, The media. The Time it took Paul Ryan to refuse to allow any weapon laws to be voted on. The time it Trump took to tweet his Russian denials. The time it took to tee up a ball, as the funerals were starting. The time our son spent flying through the air and passing out from the IED.
The time it took Trumps kids to tweet about silencers and blame the kids of the school for being paid.
The time it took to walk Cruz to a police car in handcuffs. The time for a short prayer. The time it took a man to decide the proper course of action against a high powered weapon of war. The time it took to kill seventeen teens and adults and wound 14 others. The time it took a man in body armor to kill and wound dozens in a church in Texas. To kill 50 in Vegas and wound 500 more. The time it took to kill those in New Town and San Bernadine. Sadly, the time it will take to kill many more any day soon. Over 50,000 people killed just last year with guns in our Country. Our response? Nothing.
But when one person has three to five minutes to decide whether to use his handgun on a mobile target using a high powered weapon of mass destruction, we label him a coward.
Its time to put the blame where it belongs. The weapon of the killings, their weapon of choice. The AR15. A 30 shot magazine. A flash suppressor. Trump may have seen it on Barron’s PlayStation, but that the closest he has ever got to one. As a confirmed coward and draft dodger, I ignore his "opinions" mostly. But I won’t condemn a Veteran for a three minute delay. For NOT dying. For PTSD. For choosing to wait for help. Unless you have lived it yourself, don’t act like your any better or would have done any more. 4 minutes. 240 seconds. 60 breathes. 80 heart beats. That’s the length of time. Did people die? Yes. Could he have prevented it? I don’t know. He could have been number 18. We don’t know. Why because we weren’t there. The time spent at a stop light. That was it . Then it was over. Too late. What would you really have done? I’m a Vet. My family is full of Vets. I don’t know. T can tell you how I think I would have reacted; but I wasn’t there. Neither were you. 4 minutes. 240 seconds 60 breaths and 80 heart beats. That’s it.