Jim Morrison

Wait until the war is over

And we're both a little older

The unknown soldier

Breakfast where the news is read

Television children fed

Unborn living, living, dead

Bullet strikes the helmet's head

And it's all over

For the unknown soldier

It's all over

For the unknown soldier

These lyrics to the song "Unknown Solider", has a strong meaning for me. I was in Iraq for 2yrs and 9 months. These lyrics at best describe some of the raw emotion of what a solider like me would think, during a time at war. The number of bodies that I saw will be etched in my brain forever. These words are strong and shows how one mans perception can be so real.

American rock singer and lyricist, who achieved after his death a cult position among fans. Jim Morrison wished to be accepted as a serious artist, and he published such collections of poetry as An American Prayer (1970) and The Lords and The New Creatures (1971). The song lyrics Morrison wrote for The Doors much reflected the tensions of the time - drug culture, the antiwar movement. With his early death Morrison has been seen as a voluntary victim of the destructive forces in pop culture. However, he was not ignorant about the consequences of fame and his position as an idol. Morrison once confessed that "We're more interested in the dark side of life, the evil thing, and the night time."

James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, on December 8, 1943. His father, Steve Morrison, was a U.S. Navy admiral. In 1942, after graduating from the Naval Academy, he had married Clara (Clarke) Morrison, the daughter of a lawyer. In 1946 he returned from the Pacific and during the following years the family moved according to his numerous postings. Steve Morrison brought up his children under strict discipline and the relationship between the two was problematic. Perhaps because of this, the sensitive child became somewhat withdrawn and isolated. Jim would later express extreme hostility towards his family and the traditional values it stood for. At the age of four, Jim witnessed a bloody traffic accident that was to have a profound impact on his life. In his exact words Morrison quoted, "The first time I discovered death... me and my mother and father, and my grandmother and grandfather, were driving through the desert at dawn. A truckload of Indians had either hit another car or something- there were Indians scattered all over the highway, bleeding to death. I was just a kid, so I had to stay in the car while my father and grandfather went to check it out. I didn't see nothing- all I saw was funny red paint and people lying around, but I knew something was happening, because I could dig the vibrations of the people around me, and all of a sudden I realized that they didn't know what was happening any more than I did. That was the first time I tasted fear... and I do think, at that moment, the souls of those dead Indians- maybe one or two of them-were just running around, freaking out, and just landed in my soul, and I was like a sponge, ready to sit there and absorb it."

As a son of a former Ranger also, my up bringing wasn't the best either. I lived in a strict home to where everything I done, was under military precision. I lived the life of a solider since the day I was born. My father was a great man, but the life I lived would shape me as an individual in this modern world. My father would be the man to introduce me to The Doors. The first time I witnessed and felt death was in Iraq. I was in Sadar City. It was July of 2004. I was on a reconnaissance mission. Our objective was to search and destroy any possible threats to the convoy that was coming through with military intelligence equipment. We had to stop because we took on fire. My squad and I got out and formed a 360 degree perimeter around the vehicle. Within minutes the firing had stop. There I was nervous, as a child in a dentist office for the first time. I had looked to my left and to my right. Two of my fellow friends where killed.