A soldier has a message for people cracking jokes about the potential war in Iran.
The soldier, known as kiing_johnson on Instagram, posted a video sharing his thoughts about the World War III jokes taking over social media.
In the video’s caption, he accused social media users of clout chasing and urged everyone to lend moral support to the members of the armed forces.
“If y’all can sit there and post up memes and stuff, y’all can post a good lil meme about being positive for us or praying for us,” he said in the video.
Johnson made a sobering point many people neglected to consider: some soldiers won’t make it back to the United States. He added he has been deployed since November.
“We’re really going through this s**t. A lot of us, we’re really not coming back,” he continued. "A prayer or a simple ‘good luck,’ that s**t can help."
He also had a message for other soldiers who are being deployed.
“To the Fort Bragg soldiers who [are] coming out here man…I salute y’all. Imma be here for y’all…Imma be with y’all,” Johnson said.
The video has been viewed more than 500K times and sparked a discussion on social media. Celebrities including Diddy and Lizzo have shared the video.
Sending protection and peace of mind to you and all your fellow soldiers, y’all are very brave and doing some high risk stuff that a lot of people refuse to do … You’re appreciated so much and I hope everything works out for you to make it home safely. ????????
— ???? (@itsnaeture) January 4, 2020
Bro. I hope you make it back. But make a video directed at the ppl sending you over there needlessly. The ppl making memes are the least of your worries.
— django_fett ➐ (@havibaby) January 4, 2020
I personally thought it was “dark humor”. A defense mechanism that lives in all of us. We take a situation we are all scared of, and try to turn it into something that’s not scary; we wish to not live in fear https://t.co/sQGs9lP4a3
— QUEEN (@AyalaIleene) January 5, 2020
Nfs, imagine giving your life up for a country who oppressed its people since the beginning of time. Like I admire your bravery to be in the field, but you shouldn’t even be there in the first place. https://t.co/5quRWobNsf
— My New Bird ???? (@BenzinoGetMoney) January 5, 2020
All jokes aside, tensions between the United States and Iran increased after Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed during an airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday. Politico reports Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised there would be “harsh retaliation.”
Trump responded with a tweet vowing he would target “52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!"
