RE: Am I the only one annoyed by this picture?
July 30, 2012 at 12:41 pm
(This post was last modified: July 30, 2012 at 12:46 pm by Creed of Heresy.)
As a man who has a brother who serves in the 75th Ranger Regiment of the United States Army...military respect is a complicated thing. I respect him, and those like him, who genuinely believe that what they are doing is going after the enemies of America who would try to do us harm. He was stuck in Iraq in 2003, despite his protests; he joined to serve in Afghanistan. He wanted to be with the rest of SOCOM and US Special Forces who were hunting for Osama and eliminating those who fought for him. Instead he got shuttled off to Iraq, a war he did not have any desire to fight in. His goals were noble; he DID want to fight someone who had caused harm to Americans. What his actions, from the orders of his superiors, entailed were...well, not as noble. He is responsible for saving the lives of hundreds of Iraqi civilians but he never shows any pride in it. "I shouldn't have HAD to save them," he gruffly says whenever anyone brings it up. Now he's in Afghanistan, and has been since the occupation of Iraq was drawn down and closed...and he has been there even after Osama get splashed. Now he's conflicted because the people who fought for Osama's ideals and goals are still alive but the man ultimately responsible at the top is dead. I don't imagine he's unique in any of this, either.
So, do I respect those who serve in the military? Yes. Yes I do. Because they're good people and most of them, not all of them, but most of them join for reasons that are good. I don't need to respect them for "defending my freedom" when it clearly hasn't been about that but I can respect them for their motives and intentions, which oftentimes are in the right place. I don't demand or ask that anyone else respect them the same way I do. But I will say this; the first person to outwardly DISrespect them to my face? I will feed them their fucking teeth.
Also in regards to the OP: I actually find that to be guilt-tripping to an extreme extent, which is something I absolutely abhor. In fact I find it to be disrespectful to the guys who are actually disabled from being in combat situations because they're being used, beyond their time in service, to spread a message that they may or may not support. "Speaking for the soldiers" is something I fucking hate; if they're out of the service, they can speak for themselves, they don't need anyone speaking for them anymore, yet people insist on USING veterans for their own political or ideological agendas. It's fucking sick.
So, do I respect those who serve in the military? Yes. Yes I do. Because they're good people and most of them, not all of them, but most of them join for reasons that are good. I don't need to respect them for "defending my freedom" when it clearly hasn't been about that but I can respect them for their motives and intentions, which oftentimes are in the right place. I don't demand or ask that anyone else respect them the same way I do. But I will say this; the first person to outwardly DISrespect them to my face? I will feed them their fucking teeth.
Also in regards to the OP: I actually find that to be guilt-tripping to an extreme extent, which is something I absolutely abhor. In fact I find it to be disrespectful to the guys who are actually disabled from being in combat situations because they're being used, beyond their time in service, to spread a message that they may or may not support. "Speaking for the soldiers" is something I fucking hate; if they're out of the service, they can speak for themselves, they don't need anyone speaking for them anymore, yet people insist on USING veterans for their own political or ideological agendas. It's fucking sick.
