RE: Military service
March 1, 2010 at 2:31 pm
(This post was last modified: March 1, 2010 at 2:34 pm by Minimalist.)
I could go on for hours about this one.
My dad, who just passed away at 94, spent WWII in Italy. He never spoke of it even though he had a bronze star other than to bitch and moan about being stuck on some mountain for 77 days without a shower or a chance to change his clothes. He had a purple heart which he attributed to a German shell knocking down the house he was in. After he died I found the citations from his commander and the purple heart was for a gun shot wound. The bronze star was for pulling in a wounded buddy under fire. He never mentioned a word of it to my mother. When Saving Private Ryan came out we started watching it. When it came to the scene where they hit the bunker with the flame-thrower and the body came rolling out he got up, said "you never forget that smell" and walked away. He never could bring himself to watch the rest of the film.
Yet it was easy for them. The country was attacked and the goals were clear. Ever since then things have been a lot more disjointed. We seem unable as a nation to discern what our true national interests are. Further, we seem to generate leaders who are far too concerned with being 'tough' and not nearly enough concerned about being 'smart.' I don't give Obama a pass on that. Doubling down in Afghanistan is pointless. These guys who are getting blasted taking Marjah are, in effect, dying so that one group of drug lords can control the town as opposed to another. Fuck it. We cannot afford to put a company of marines in every third world shithole. They have far more shitholes than we have marines.
My dad, who just passed away at 94, spent WWII in Italy. He never spoke of it even though he had a bronze star other than to bitch and moan about being stuck on some mountain for 77 days without a shower or a chance to change his clothes. He had a purple heart which he attributed to a German shell knocking down the house he was in. After he died I found the citations from his commander and the purple heart was for a gun shot wound. The bronze star was for pulling in a wounded buddy under fire. He never mentioned a word of it to my mother. When Saving Private Ryan came out we started watching it. When it came to the scene where they hit the bunker with the flame-thrower and the body came rolling out he got up, said "you never forget that smell" and walked away. He never could bring himself to watch the rest of the film.
Yet it was easy for them. The country was attacked and the goals were clear. Ever since then things have been a lot more disjointed. We seem unable as a nation to discern what our true national interests are. Further, we seem to generate leaders who are far too concerned with being 'tough' and not nearly enough concerned about being 'smart.' I don't give Obama a pass on that. Doubling down in Afghanistan is pointless. These guys who are getting blasted taking Marjah are, in effect, dying so that one group of drug lords can control the town as opposed to another. Fuck it. We cannot afford to put a company of marines in every third world shithole. They have far more shitholes than we have marines.
