Dispatches from gun country: I became a Marine ‘to be a part of something greater’

By Ben Philippi

Jonathan Amborn, former USMC Sergeant and owner and operator at Amborn Stone, photographed in Louisburg, Kansas, sporting his “Lion of Babylon” style AK-47. He stands in front of his Chevrolet K30 truck. (Photo: Ben Philippi)
Through military service and seeing the world, Jonathan Amborn of Louisburg, Kansas, found a renewed love and respect for his country that he never takes for granted.
Men and women join our 100% volunteer military for many reasons. The reason I became a Marine was to be a part of something greater and to do cool stuff!
My first foreign assignment was in northeast Africa, also known as the Horn of Africa – or the ass-crack of the earth, as I later found out.  This deployment opened my eyes to things most Americans could not even imagine. Asides from a few major cities, there are small desert villages where the nomadic herders actually live in huts made from twigs and tree bark or old wooden pallets and used garbage bags.
These villages had no plumbing or bathrooms. For those fortunate enough to live near ocean, they can defecate in the water – locally known as ‘shit beach.’ Major cities in this region do have some running water and western type

Source: Guns.com