Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam SEED.
This is a short story ofthe things all soldiersget when they fight an unpopular war, but they fight it, because they're to. The military isn't a democracy, there is no choosing to fight or choosing not to fight. It is said that soldiers live to fight and fight to live, but is that true, I doubt it. So I'm going to say the one thing that soldiers seldom hear.
"To all American Servicemen and women, Thank You for protecting us and for protecting others who needed it."
Easy-Company-506/101
Easy Company/ 2nd Battalion/ 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment/ 101st Airborne Division/ United States of America's Army
I choose this name because the said company suffered 150 causalities during World War Two. That translates into 15 men died out of every 10 men, or in many cases boys. Those who have served in the military, including those who did not survive, are true citizens of the United States of America. They defend our liberties with their lives, while others try to steal that honor with words and have the power to do so, but they are weak knee cowards who run and lie, while these true heroes cannot speak and don't need too; their actions speak far louder than mere words, especially their sacrifices.
Speak with Hibiki54 and inquire about pictures he has that you'll never see anymore, pictures of soldiers doing other things than combat patrols and actual battles. The reason is simple; those pictures don't get ratings. The famed War Journalist Ernie Pyle set the standard during World War Two, by reporting at from the frontlines, the same frontlines he died during Okinawa in 1945.
"Thank You for Your Service"
The war finally over, many of the Earth Alliance soldiers returned home, only to be met by hatred from their own people, especially those soldiers from the Atlantic Federation. They were outcasts, many tried to rationalize their reasons for fighting, but all attempts eventually pointed the figure at Blue Cosmos, but still they were abandoned by their own, even the governments turned away from their soldiers, abandoning them to maintain favorable polls with the citizens. The soldiers felt absolutely betrayed.
Many began to sell their skills as soldiers just to make enough money to live, others found that family and friends they were turning to for help abandon them. Crime began to rise among these former soldiers.
Those soldiers that were married and had children, abandon their families to protect them from humiliation, others found their wives or husbands divorcing them and remarrying. Many single parent soldiers lost their children or gave them up for adoption. Many soldiers became desperate to keep their families together and still make ends meat, went back into the military. These re-enlisting soldiers soon found their governments more than willing to help them suddenly. They now were soldiers again, well fed, clothed, paid, and in control of their futures once again, but many didn't return and only a few found any new jobs, or any jobs period.
On a farm in the mid-west of the former United States of America, a group of these soldiers came looking for food, clothes, and hopefully money. These soldiers had used their skills to rob a bank for money, but they just didn't have the heart for it and abandoned the heist when the first police units started to arrive. Now they were wanted men and women, they now couldn't go back to the military or to a normal life. They hoped to escape to the Orb Union, the only nation welcoming its servicepersons and the displaced soldiers of other nations, these soldiers would disappear into the crowd of faceless soldiers and live normal lives again.
As they entered the barn in search of food, the owners appeared and challenged them. The soldiers fled for their lives and successfully escaped. They went to another farm and found it owned by the family of a soldier who died at JOSH-A. The family found them raiding their corn crops. One of the soldier's discharge papers fell from his pocket and landed on the ground. The head of the family saw the papers and turned to see all of the young faced former soldiers.
"Come in and get something to eat. You youngsters could use it and some clean clothes," the man had said.
The soldiers eagerly took him up on the offer. The man's family had objected, but he then picked up the discharge papers. The disagreement died at once.
Inside the house the former soldiers ate till they almost exploded. They hadn't had any good food in months, let alone any food for a couple of weeks. They finally had fresh clothes and some decent sleep. To repay the family kindness showed they helped around the farm, but eventually, word of their attempted bank heist arrived. The family didn't shun them, instead helped them find others who'd help them escape to Orb and a new life. They left shortly before some vigilantes and bounty hunters arrived looking for them. The local sheriff had lost two sons and a daughter in the war.
One son had been a mobile armor pilot aboard the flagship of the 8th Fleet; the other son was a platoon commander in the 9th Armor Corps. at JOSH-A, and the daughter had served with the 4th Fleet as a mobile suit pilot. He still had two daughters and three sons left, but still; it was quite a blow. He had held up the vigilantes and the bounty hunters, but eventfully allowed them to search about, but then called the National Guard to help arrest them all for causing trouble.
The group of soldiers made good their escape and made it to California, where a sympathetic federal agent purposely avoided all tips called in about the group. The group was now hiding in a little town of a couple thousand nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. They had found a sympathetic town that hid them and fed them, but the soldiers took little of their aid, as to protect them from those still-hunting them. One young man approached the soldiers and looked at them for a moment.
"Thank you," he said before leaving.
The soldiers were at first confused and asked about. They were told that the young man had and still wanted to join the military, but failed to get past the entry phase. They were told that he looks up to soldiers and respects them for willing giving up their lives and lively hoods for their nation. He said thank you, because they had answered the call and fought in the war. Even if every one had been lied to, it had been the higher ups in the military and the government that had betrayed the nation, not the soldiers themselves. The soldiers soon learned that he had single handily changed the towns' mind on soldiers and was the local leader of a forming resistance faction. The Earth Alliance was still being lead by people like Azrael.
Shortly after departing the town, they were caught by vigilantes and federal agents. The vigilantes wanted to kill them there and then as did the federal agents, but the resistance faction, Freedom's Wrath, appeared wiped out the little coalition of would-be executors. Civil War had broken out all over the Atlantic Federation, or rather the whole of the Earth Alliance, only Orb, the Kingdom of Scandinavia, and Equatorial Union with large parts of the Republic of East Asia still remained relatively safe and free of civil war. Many rebels turned out to be soldiers wanting to change their governments and break up the Alliance. The small band didn't want to be apart of anymore fighting, the resistance respected this and guided them to San Francisco were they caught a ship loaded with other soldiers and refugees heading towards Orb.
They were headed towards a new life. They felt guilty about abandoning their homeland during a time of need, but they made a pact to join the Orb National Defense Force and protect the Orb Union and the dream of peace. Other soldiers heard them and they came forward to make the same pact. Others decided to return home and rejoin the military to bring about reform and others join the many resistance factions. Then at the end of the 2nd Earth-PLANT War, these soldiers finally found acceptance with-in their lands. They had successfully won a war against hatred and brought forth a time of peace and calm, many paid the ultimate price for the peace that which was won and an international monument was built. The bridge to peace had successfully been crossed, but at a terrible price in lives.