To US Veterans...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I didn't join the Navy to become "great", never crossed my mind. Had to deal with a few troops who wanted to be Audie Murphy. Made them somebody else's problem. Medal hunters get other people killed. If they had just got themselves killed it would have left a hole in the roster.

[Atomic Lava]

I had two grandfathers that served in World War Two. One on my fathers side and the other on my mothers side. One served in the Pacific theater on Christmas Island and the other was in Europe. The one that served in the Pacific - I have a photo of him as well as his side cap. Both hold incredibly great value to me. However, I do know if both of them were alive now they would be absolutely disgusted by the coward we have in office. It is important to thank them for their service, as just because they are my relatives does not mean their service is my own. I know some people have this weird mindset, but not me.

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I was proud to have served in the US Air Force during the first Gulf War to expel the Iraqis from Kuwait. It was a noble effort, IMO. Even then though, there was the issue that Sudaam Hussein did not place his dedicated troops along the Iraq-Saudi Arabia border. He drafted innocent farmers and placed them there - and we mercilessly carpet-bombed them. When we finally sent in the ground troops, the surviving Iraqi "soldiers" surrendered to news camera crews. We taught them to sing the Gilligan's Island song and they were ecstatic - happy to be alive.

So, mixed feelings.

I feel like we did what we had to do but it's nothing to beat our chests about and feel superior.

Luke: "I'm not looking for a friend; I'm looking for a great warrior."

Yoda: "Great warrior? Wars not make one great."

That's how I feel about it.

I had a boss who was in Desert Storm. Incredible guy. When we invaded Iraq in 2003 he was really pissed off. I remember him telling me that Bush should have been the one on the front line of that invasion since it was something HE wanted and America did not want.

[The Grand Nudger]

I was a few years late for desert storm, my Top wasn't, he was one of the guys we hit with friendly fire. He used to brutalize people who turned off the lights in his brad..because..as he told it, they had just turned off the lights for some rack time when they got hit. He survived, and on the basis of this he made top as an inevitability.

He used to tell me that all I had to do was stick around..I had the right disposition and background, especially as he and I watched my peers drop off. Fuckin fast track baby. Such a shame. I'd be retired with full benefits today. I'd use my fuckin -teeth- to kill the guy who planted that cc canister, a decade before i joined, that I stepped on. I;m not kidding at all. I would go at that fucker like a german shepherd searching for a sausage hidden in a coat. I'd smile when I found it, teeth dripping. I only had the one dream......

Anyway, HOOAH, and a belated vets day, I always forget about it, to all my brothers and sisters in service. Fuck the haters yall, lol. You can't be angry, they just don't know.

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[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Boru

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I had a boss who was in Desert Storm. Incredible guy. When we invaded Iraq in 2003 he was really pissed off. I remember him telling me that Bush should have been the one on the front line of that invasion since it was something HE wanted and America did not want.

I haven't watched the news since '03. Five family members gone.

[Gwaithmir]

“Soldiers fight and die to advance the wealth and luxury of the great, and they are called masters of the world without having a clod of earth to call their own.” (Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Advancing the wealth and luxury of the great is a side-effect.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Advancing the wealth and luxury of the great is a side-effect.

*indulgent chuckle*

Boru

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Advancing the wealth and luxury of the great is a side-effect.

*indulgent chuckle*

Boru

Yeah, condescending is your forte.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Ta.  But the furtherance of the wealth and luxury of the great is so often the chief motive for military action that it seems rather silly to call it a 'side effect'.

Boru