Much is being made recently of the fact of having served in the military of these United States. In fact over the last 10 years you have found those that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan coming home and thanking the prior generations gratuitously for what they did before them. When you see these modern day heroes you can hardly believe that anything prior generations have done can remotely compare to these sacrifices.
The massive loss of life from IED’s or roadside bombs, nasty snipers, terrible sneak attacks and car bombs, members of the foreign military that are supposed to be our partners. Double agents turning on our troops and shooting them down, automobile bombers, hiding behind women and children as they shoot and kill our troops, even members of our own military that turn on their own and shoot or bomb our troops, military sub-contractors and facilities or members of our Consulates or our Allies. The Intelligence organizations of many of our so-called partners in the region; Foreign Countries that are working directly against our interest and in fact run operations to kill or maimed our troops, Many NGO operations that are trying to protect women, children and increase public safety and the water and electrical infrastructure of the country we are fighting in or with become prime targets.
The Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome that has become ubiquitous; the Concussion and Brain Damage from just being in the neighborhood of many Roadside Bomb Explosions, the tragic loss of close buddies and associates, the constant Return to Duty Assignments of several Rotations in row to Combat locations all turn up the knob and push the buttons of many troops with various physical and mental ailments that are never treated either “In Theatre” or when they return home. Those troops lucky enough to have great home lives and extremely supportive family and friends back home are prone to have a better chance to re-connect with society at some point. Many of these troops take 10 to 15 years. Many never recover fully. In World War II and Korea they called it “Shell Shock”! In Korea, many soldiers that were captured by the North Koreans and Chinese suffered from what they called: “Give up Itis”. They curled into a ball and simply refused to eat, drink or go to the bathroom – and simply died. War in those days included lost limbs, brain damage and being maimed for life. Today, modern soldiers get new high tech limbs and even return to duty. Shocking to think of just a few years ago.
As we watched our Seal Team Six take out Osama Bin Laden on television and watched the War Room as our President and his Cabinet strained their eyes to see the results of their efforts – it became very clear that the price of heroism and extremely above and beyond the call of duty activities have consequences. In the Bin Laden operation – an American Helicopter was lost. Luckily, no loss of life. 14 members of this prestigious group however were later shot down in Afghanistan in a helicopter. Each of these great American heroes are and were willing to give their lives to serve their government. When they come home and can be well enought to tell stories to their families and friends, neighbors and community…write a book perhaps…..then it will be Mission Accomplished!
Those that were Drafted by their Country….served at the pleasure of their government for two years. The Draft occured first during the Civil War. If you didn’t want to serve – you could pay to have someone go in your place. Not so in World War I. Not so in World War II, Not so in Korea, Not so in Vietnam until the Lottery System was adopted late during the Vietnam Incursion. After that Soldiers become Volunteers. You actually had to sign up to place your life In Harm’s Way. You got better pay as a Volunteer. You got Health Insurance for yourself and family. You got money to later get your Degree at a College or University.
There is also “a big kicker” when you go into the military: You sign up for a certain length of time; however – at any time the various Branches; Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard can determine in their wisdom you have what is called a: Critical MOS! Military Occupational Speciality. What this means is: If their is a shortage of that MOS….your tour of duty may be extended numerous times before you are released. Imagine being a Bomb Disposal Specialist which right now is considered “A Critical MOS!” These folks are not getting out very soon unless they can get some other crazy to take their place. The Critical MOS issue applied not only to Volunteers but to those that were Drafted as well. Ted Williams the famous Boston Red Sox…..has a Critical MOS as a fighter pilot in Korea. Williams was extended for 14 months. Williams wound up serving in three wars! They kept calling him back.
Today, we read almost daily of Military Suicides, Spousal and Family Abuses, Murders by or on members of the Military that have returned from Theatre, radical behavior patterns, automobile crashes and accidents of all types which are occuring to members of our Military that have retired, been separated or are simply home on leave. We bend our heads like so many puppy dogs to try and understand the various issues in play and attempt to find solutions that make us feel better: More money for PTSD and Concussion-Brain Trauma Studies for example. To put it all into perspective you have to better understand what “being in the military means”: You swear an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of these United States. You learn a series of various skills to protect yourself in warfare. You are forced to follow the instructions of various Officers and others in positions of power that may put you into a position to lose your life. You have to watch despicable acts of violence by your enemies and your own team of proven professionals. You have to follow rules and regulation which sometimes make no sense at all – including very restrictive: Rules of Engagement and many many more issues from which you have little or no control for the entire time you are in the military service.
In 1968, at the 10th Special Forces Training Facility in Bad Tolz, Germany – we were honored to meet true American Heroes. These dedicated soldiers took 60 mile hikes with 180 pound packs – on their days off. They jumped out of helicopter over trees without a parachute or drop line at heights of 40 feet. They worked out every day with incredible weights and a variety of gymnastic exercises that included matt head spins, rings and horse. They were truly our great American heroes and many were to die in Vietnam and other non-publicized military operations off the board and tables of the press.
Today is Memorial Day. This is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave! When we went to the Army in July of 1967…it was not for LBJ or Robert Strange McNamara. It wasn’t to free the peoples of Vietnam from their evil oppressors in the North or their pals in Red China, Cambodia or Thailand. No, we went to serve our two years In Service to our Country ……for 200 years of American History which allowed a society that cared about each other. The story was not one for all the negativity, of the corruption, of the lies, of the evils of the few. No, it was for the good ones. Our loved ones. The good friends that we met along the way that survived. It was because we cared about our fellow man and woman. Not high minded, just because it was the right thing to do.
As we look forward to the Presidential election of 2012, we see a lot of hate. A lot of inner ferment in our society. We see a lot people who do not want to help their fellow men or women. We see the dark and greedy side of International Bankers. We see companies that want to downsize and ship our jobs out of this country forever. We see many politicians that are only in it for the cash from Special Interests. We see the faults as perhaps we have never seen them before, yet if called – we would go again into the Military to Defend this Country! Why? Because, going into the military of the United States… is the right thing to do!
Have a very memorable… Memorial Day!
@ Ron & Anna:
thank you for your post.
I remind our readers of my past posts which affect our military, and their families:
1) Debt & Sacrifice In America: Should 1% = 1%? (Aug 2011)
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2011/10/debt-sacrifice-in-america-should-1-1/
2) Deficit Reduction and Infrastructure Investments for America (Nov 2011)
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2011/11/deficit-reduction-and-infrastructure-investments-for-america/
3) “War is A Racket” by Marine Major General Smedley Butler Two Time Medal of Honor (Sept 2010)
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/09/war-is-a-racket-by-marine-major-general-smedley-butler-two-time-medal-of-honor/
4) Fallen US Marine Garibay’s Mother to Lose Home in Santa Ana (May 21, 2012)
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2012/05/fallen-us-marines-mother-to-lose-home-in-oc/
My father served in the Pacific during WW II. He never talked much about it. In the mid-1980’s, after he retired, my mother and he went on a cruise. My mother woke up in the middle of the night to find him gone. After looking around the ship, she finally found him siting in a deck chair. He said he woke up in a cold sweat and had to get up on deck. He was flashing back to the war, when it was so hot some sailors slept on deck, both to avoid the heat and because they knew they were goners if a Japanese submarine torpedoed the ship and they were below deck. 40 years later. Most veterans and their families have sacrificed far ore than we’ll ever know. I’d like to think honoring them is the one things we can all agree on no matter what else we may disagree about.
“When you see these modern day heroes you can hardly believe that anything prior generations have done can remotely compare to these sacrifices.”
Sorry to be a downer but having just read UNBROKEN, about Louis Zamperini, I really have to disagree with that statement. The number of sacrifices by Civil war, WWI, WWII and even Vietnam soldiers was HUGE by comparison.
As I read about Zamperini’s time as a Japanese POW, the sanctioned torture of Iraqi’s by US troops was never far from my mind. Yes, most of our troops have behaved admirably and of course, were “just following orders”.
I don’t blame our troops, but I do blame all US citizens for allowing these unnecessary wars to go forward. The Iraq war in particular has lost the US the right to claim any moral high ground.
If our Afghan and Iraq war veterans have suffered, we have no one but ourselves to blame.
The real question on this Memorial day is; Do most Americans even care?
I think not.
*Prisoners returning from Japanese Prison Camps: 10 to 12%
Prisoners returning from German Prison Camps: 38 to 42%
Sacrifices come in every war and even in so-called Peacetime…when Training Exercises take many lives each year. Armored Vehicle roll overs of any sort, are mostly deadly.
The sacrifices of the families, friends and neighbors of military serving at any time
in our history has always been painful.
Everyone is just glad to get back home in one piece…if humanly possible.
I’m not the one who posted;
“When you see these modern day heroes you can hardly believe that anything prior generations have done can remotely compare to these sacrifices.”
That is just so much overwrought tripe and knowing full well that it was a load of crap, what was the point?
Why don’t you two take a moment to think about what you’re saying BEFORE you post.
*Anonster: Pray tell us about your Military Service! How long? Where? What Unit?
Then you call deal the clap trap…all you want.
The guys that lost three limbs in WWII, Korea and Vietnam…all died..in most cases. Today’s heroes live…but sometimes living with the loss is harded than not.
But what does that have to do with your statement with “When you see these modern day heroes you can hardly believe that anything prior generations have done can remotely compare to these sacrifices.” Seriously?
And … WELCOME BACK, ANONSTER!
And NOW you can’t say anything, anonster, or have an opinion, unless you were in the military yourself! Sorry honey…
“The guys that lost three limbs in WWII, Korea and Vietnam…all died..in most cases. Today’s heroes live…but sometimes living with the loss is harded than not.”
It is true that we can now save more lives, but there were still over 700,000 wounded soldiers in WWII (wounded in Iraq 32,226). And how about the over 70,000 guys who were gassed in WWI (total # wounded WWI 204,000), how does their “suffering” stack up?
Oh, and let’s not forget the Civil War veterans who were practically synonymous with the word amputation, considering that some 45,000 amputations were performed during that war. I wonder whether you’d rather be operated on today or back in 1864?
I could go on, but do you really want to keep trying to defend that silly statement?
Riverside National Cemetery was packed today.
My grandkids were in awe of fields and fields of US flags.
*Happy Memorial Day…to all. Obama and Panetta looked good doing their stuff!
*Anonster: Again…how many Veteran Hospitals have you been to? How much time
did you serve in the Military? As my friend might say: “You speak like a man with a paper…..!” How many current Vets do you know with disabilities from the these last
three wars? What did you do to bring the depleated uranium bomb issue which affected almost every soldier in Desert Storm… to the Congress? Silly …eh? New Wars bring different heroes and always worse than the last. You seem to represent that old time thought….that losing a leg in the Civil War or World War II was worse than losing one now? Did you see Dancing with the Stars? Did you see last years Mirror
Ball Trophy Winner? 24 surgeries…..that’s a hero!
Hey ass bites,
You are the ones that made the VERY STUPID statement diminishing “prior generations … sacrifices”. By ANY measure the almost 500,000 US service deaths in WWII dwarfs the losses in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I know you probably meant well, but all intentions aside, a stupid statement is still a stupid statement.
I did everything I could to prevent the Iraq war from starting in the first place, not starting a unnecessary war is the best way to prevent casualties. What was the Winships stand on the Iraq war?
If you supported it or did nothing to stop it, you have a lot of blood on your hands.
And as for visiting a VA hospital, I have. I also had two uncles that were Pearl Harbor survivors, one who was German POW, another that flew 51 missions as a bombardier on a B-24, another uncle was blown up on Iwo Jima, my father was stationed in England, my father in-law in the Pacific and my aunts worked as riveters in Long Beach. So shut the fuck up.
“Rachel Maddow in on a the warpath with her book – DRIFT – criticizes Congress for ceding war powers to presidents and says war is now ‘frictionless’ for most Americans”
http://www.dailypress.com/entertainment/la-et-rachel-maddow-20120412,0,6008703.story
“Drift serves as a starting point for dialogue by focusing on the political implications of a disengaged public.”
http://themhnews.org/tag/drift
*Anonster: You sound like a Civil War survivor – you paid the price to have someone else go in your place. Let your relatives complain for themselves. You don’t have the gravitas little boy!
How many days have you personally served on Active Duty again?
Anonster’s saying “You are the ones that made the VERY STUPID statement diminishing ‘prior generations … sacrifices'” sounds more like the sentiment of a Civil War victim than of someone who bought their way out of fighting, doesn’t it?
I don’t know what you don’t just retract that ridiculous assertion and move on. You can use your super-weapon of free-association gibberish to impede criticism.
I am not hiding behind anyone, I’m saying that my family suffered some of those sacrifices that you so blithely dismissed.
You two idiots careen from one stupid assertion to another. Now, because I never served in the military I can’t comment on war. How do feel about Obama being Commander-in-Chief? If I’m not even qualified to comment, how the hell can anyone but veterans be in office?
Oh and by the way, did both you idiots serve or do you think your service gives Mrs. Idiot a free pass?
WINSHIP YOU ARE DEALING WITH A ANTI AMERICAN COMMI . MORE N LIKEY A OCUPO CLOWN , THE BLAME AMERICA CROWD . any one who serves in the military should have our respect all dont follow that concept .. as seen withsome of the people on this site
You pendejo, you don’t even know what anonster was saying. She was talking about all the sacrifices that our Civil War, World War I, World War II, Koean and Vietnam veterans made, which the Winships were denigrating. You are such an idiot.
vern gusano rojo is very dangerous stay away
*You are both full of ashes……and deserve a good swat across the chops! But being that we are kind and caring and veterans……you have the right to call anything stupid. We went to war …so you could do that! So have at it…nerdcakes!
Our assertions stand…et al. If you don’t like it….lump it!
Casting aspersions on the bride shows your even greater ignorance of events and realities…and places you high in the non-veteran stinking order of the extremely and desparate, who believe that you actually have something wonderful to bring to society.
Of course you have the right to rant, scream and jump up and down on any event, issue or thought that involves the United States of America. Unless of course, you are actually illegal aliens. Then you would have to become a real citizen before moving forward.
Love you guys….you keep our blog moving onwards and upwards in every regard.
So then. You two stand by your contention that no sacrifice our Revolutionary War, Civil War, or WWI and II ancestors made was remotely comparable to what today’s warriors go thru.
Sigh … whatever. Moving on…
That’s not what I understood them to say. I understood them to say “narm, narm, narm.”
I thought I was bantering with folks actually living in the 21st century. I didn’t realize that your “bride” was an appendage.
So which is it, did the little Mrs. serve or didn’t she?
“We went to war” or “Casting aspersions on the bride”
And if she didn’t serve, remember she has no business posting opinions about war. So in the future, just post as Ron.
*Your a class act…Anonster…..can’t wait to wait to meet you in person.
We alway wanted to meet a person of your ilk. Sadly, we haven’t had the pleasure
of such of great occasion in a long time.
*Anonster: Hey, we can have coffee sometime and talk over old times……it will be fun.
Just give us the time and date.
An anonymous commenter is anonymous for a reason, ‘Ship. But since you ask, OK — it’s a pseudonym for Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
By the way — was all that supposed to be threatening?
*No Dr. D., we didn’t think anything Anonster said was threatening….at all.
I’m sorry for my lack of clarity. Were your comments to Anonster intended to be threatening? You and I have had much more interaction of late, but I’ve never received such an invitation.
*Dr. D., are you smoking those left wing Luckies again? Let us be clear: This is called Blogging….Not Flogging! Oh you kids!