pretty sad......IMO

[patrickg450]

Today is Veterans Day.

Not one post.

Not one thank you.

Not one story about a grandfather that made it back home.

Not one story about a Vietnam Vet that lost his best friend, his platoon, his brothers.

Not one story about that single mom that served in the Middle East, how she had to leave her kid (s) at home with their grandparents.

Not one story about how lucky one was to have served and seen their brothers/sisters go away knowing the they might not return, yet they escaped it all by pure fate.



There are thousands stories out there, why are we not talking about them? Why are we focused on being divisive knowing we need to unite as a country?


I am sad, and I just spent 4 hours with my local brothers that shared my fate. Proud Veteran.



GSM3 USN Greenfield

 

[JV]

Thank you for your service Patrick. ::003::

I received a "Thank you " from a fellow worker as soon as I got to work this morning.

MM2 USN

 

[arjayes]

Today is Veterans Day.

Not one post.

Not one thank you.

Not one story about a grandfather that made it back home.

Not one story about a Vietnam Vet that lost his best friend, his platoon, his brothers.

Not one story about that single mom that served in the Middle East, how she had to leave her kid (s) at home with their grandparents.

Not one story about how lucky one was to have served and seen their brothers/sisters go away knowing the they might not return, yet they escaped it all by pure fate.



There are thousands stories out there, why are we not talking about them? Why are we focused on being divisive knowing we need to unite as a country?


I am sad, and I just spent 4 hours with my local brothers that shared my fate. Proud Veteran.



GSM3 USN Greenfield

I'm a vet as well, Patrick, but I disagree with you. I feel more like these guys (there are many more examples):

http://thefederalist.com/2015/07/16/3-reasons-to-stop-thanking-me-for-my-military-service/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/sunday-review/please-dont-thank-me-for-my-service.html?_r=0

http://www.salon.com/2014/10/28/the_decadence_and_depravity_of_thanking_our_troops_partner/

http://thetab.com/us/syracuse/2015/10/26/thank-you-for-your-service-724

It really has become a token gesture. I personally hate being thanked for my service. I'm proud that I served, but I did it for my own personal reasons. Not for any selfless desire to serve my country. And I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of the members of our (thankfully) all-volunteer military are like me. Heroes are few and far between, and I'm certainly not one just because I spent six years in the Navy.

All that said, happy Vet's Day to all the vets out there!

 

[JRE]

Today is Veterans Day.

Not one post.

Not one thank you.

Not one story about a grandfather that made it back home.

Not one story about a Vietnam Vet that lost his best friend, his platoon, his brothers.

Not one story about that single mom that served in the Middle East, how she had to leave her kid (s) at home with their grandparents.

Not one story about how lucky one was to have served and seen their brothers/sisters go away knowing the they might not return, yet they escaped it all by pure fate.



There are thousands stories out there, why are we not talking about them? Why are we focused on being divisive knowing we need to unite as a country?


I am sad, and I just spent 4 hours with my local brothers that shared my fate. Proud Veteran.



GSM3 USN Greenfield

Ahem...
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=20902.msg300139#msg300139

 

[tomatocity]

I'm a veteran USAF 2/6/1068-8/6/2016 and I am a proud of serving... but I don't have to celebrate it. I do celebrate other veteran's and proudly fly the American flag on my Tenere. Plus don't hesitate to shake the hand of another veteran and offer "Thank You For Your Service".

For all who have served and those who supported (parent, wife, husband, child) a now veteran "Thank You For Your Service".

 

[EricV]

Sorry, I had to work. Like 99.9% of veterans, Veterans day is not a holiday they get off, much less one with pay. At least I get holiday pay, even though I had to work anyway.

As an invisible veteran, trust me Patrick, get used to it. I have zero benefits, and never will get anything from the VA since I did my time in the early to mid eighties. Can't even join the Navy Federal Credit Union, since I don't meet their standards as a Vet with an honorable discharge and zero NJPs. Have to be retired, (with pink ID), active or a dependent. Gee, I feel the love. :-[

Thanks for your service. Keeping our country free, isn't free. Because we did our time, we still have the right to vote for some asshat that is slightly less disappointing than the other asshat. : Then have the electoral college vote how they want to vote.

Happy Veteran's day.

 

[arjayes]

Sorry, I had to work. Like 99.9% of veterans, Veterans day is not a holiday they get off, much less one with pay. At least I get holiday pay, even though I had to work anyway.

As an invisible veteran, trust me Patrick, get used to it. I have zero benefits, and never will get anything from the VA since I did my time in the early to mid eighties. Can't even join the Navy Federal Credit Union, since I don't meet their standards as a Vet with an honorable discharge and zero NJPs. Have to be retired, (with pink ID), active or a dependent. Gee, I feel the love. :-[

Thanks for your service. Keeping our country free, isn't free. Because we did our time, we still have the right to vote for some asshat that is slightly less disappointing than the other asshat. : Then have the electoral college vote how they want to vote.

Happy Veteran's day.

C'mon, Eric. What were your expectations when you joined? I served from 1981-1987 after bailing out of college and did my time in submarines. Especially during that time frame very few of us ever engaged in combat. I never expected anything but a paycheck, and that's what I got. What exactly is your bitch about how you were treated?

 

[EricV]

My expectations were nil for myself. I don't expect SSI either, despite paying into it my entire working life. It just annoys me that the VA claims to be all that, but isn't helping people that need help. My personal experience has been negative, in that when my Dad needed help, (Korean War Marine), he got nothing except denial from the VA that his issues had anything to do with his combat experience. In his case, the VA as much as told him his time didn't count because it wasn't a "war".

Now days, any time I see a spot for veterans info on an application, I read the fine print and I and the others of my era don't qualify. Gee, sorry, you're not veteran enough. What was it Yoda said, do or not do, there is no try. Everyone that served is a veteran. We all deserve the same respect.

 

[tomatocity]

Eric, it wasn't until the very late 90's that Korean War veteran's could join the VFW.

 

[EricV]

Eric, it wasn't until the very late 90's that Korean War veteran's could join the VFW.

And like the subject line of this thread, that's pretty sad.

Now I see memorial signs for "The Global War on Terrorism" since they can't define post Iraq/Afgan conflict.

 

[True Grip]

78-81 US Army 81-83 National Guard Huey Mechanic

I do wish our vets were taken better care of especially combat vets who really pay a price. I'm not worried about benefits or a pat on the back. I didn't get the free meal voucher at work yesterday because I was to busy. I served because this is where I live my home my country. I grew up talking to relatives who served and looked up to them. My son is in basic training right now and will go to OCS next and
then serve in the Guard. I think he decided to serve for the bennies but also knows how much respect I have for the men I know who went to war and put themselves in harms way for all of us. I'm proud of him and excited to see him in a few weeks.

Patrick sounds like you went to a VFW and got depressed listening to some old vets. They may be nice old men doing their best to forget their past but they are not the cream of the crop. All of us vets are brothers but I dodge the barstool vets. Sorry if that sounds bad!

 

[RCinNC]

I'm a vet as well, Patrick, but I disagree with you. I feel more like these guys (there are many more examples):

http://thefederalist.com/2015/07/16/3-reasons-to-stop-thanking-me-for-my-military-service/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/sunday-review/please-dont-thank-me-for-my-service.html?_r=0

http://www.salon.com/2014/10/28/the_decadence_and_depravity_of_thanking_our_troops_partner/

http://thetab.com/us/syracuse/2015/10/26/thank-you-for-your-service-724

It really has become a token gesture. I personally hate being thanked for my service. I'm proud that I served, but I did it for my own personal reasons. Not for any selfless desire to serve my country. And I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of the members of our (thankfully) all-volunteer military are like me. Heroes are few and far between, and I'm certainly not one just because I spent six years in the Navy.

All that said, happy Vet's Day to all the vets out there!

Thank you so much for posting this, and those links. I have never really been able to put my finger on why the whole "thank you for your service" bothered me so much. I'm proud of my service with the 82nd Airborne, don't get me wrong, but I always felt totally uncomfortable when someone would see the "AA" patch on my helmet and thank me. I know the origin of the gesture is probably buried somewhere in the collective guilt of a nation that treated returning vets from Korea and Viet Nam in a less than stellar way, but it's taken on a hollow feeling. It feels more like an obligation, as if when you don't say it, you're somehow less than patriotic. It's almost a social convention now, rather than an actual gesture. And truthfully, from my standpoint, the gesture, heartfelt or not, was never necessary in the first place. I volunteered, for reasons both patriotic and practical, and did my job, and then got out. That's it. I've even begun to see this gesture extended to other professions; I've had people thank me for my career in law enforcement.

The best way to thank the veterans in this country would be to clean up the quagmire at the VA so the guys who desperately need those services can actually get them. Those are the only thanks I ever need for something I did a long time ago.

 

[Calboy]

The people that served in the military in combat, and lost their life because of that, are victims of war, not heroes.
The government will strap a small piece of worthless metal on your chest and call it a medal, wrap the casket in the American flag, give the 21 gun salute while the national anthem plays in the distance.
They'll tell you what you want to hear and make you even bigger than the Greek Gods. Hero this, and hero that, reciting the exact words of the Hegelian philosophy in which what the country can do for you is irrelevant while what you can do for your country is everything.
It's so much bull that it makes me puke each and every time I hear or read something about it.
Ask a son or a daughter that lost a father in the war, a wife that lost a husband, a mom or a dad that lost a son, and see then what they think about the hero status.
A revolution may happen in the streets but never, ever, originates there. Same thing with war. It's fought in the air or on the ground but it never originates there.
Everything starts in the minds of the psychopaths that unfortunately rule this world as we know it. In the minds that cannot comprehend compassion, love or humanity.
Nobody in the 1% has ever had to worry about being a hero, or a victim of war. That's because they just start them and have the commoners do the fighting to no end.
Enlisting in the military only perpetuates this state of affairs.
And if you ever have any doubts about what to do with your life, they'll bring out the flag and a song and we will be all dancing like the "patriotic" monkeys that we are.
I don't know if I should laugh or cry...

 

[Standby diver]

Didn't you guys get the NAVADMIN, the Navy no longer uses ratings as identification.

HM1(DSW) Pascik, IDC

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[arjayes]

The people that served in the military in combat, and lost their life because of that, are victims of war, not heroes.
The government will strap a small piece of worthless metal on your chest and call it a medal, wrap the casket in the American flag, give the 21 gun salute while the national anthem plays in the distance.
They'll tell you what you want to hear and make you even bigger than the Greek Gods. Hero this, and hero that, reciting the exact words of the Hegelian philosophy in which what the country can do for you is irrelevant while what you can do for your country is everything.
It's so much bull that it makes me puke each and every time I hear or read something about it.
Ask a son or a daughter that lost a father in the war, a wife that lost a husband, a mom or a dad that lost a son, and see then what they think about the hero status.
A revolution may happen in the streets but never, ever, originates there. Same thing with war. It's fought in the air or on the ground but it never originates there.
Everything starts in the minds of the psychopaths that unfortunately rule this world as we know it. In the minds that cannot comprehend compassion, love or humanity.
Nobody in the 1% has ever had to worry about being a hero, or a victim of war. That's because they just start them and have the commoners do the fighting to no end.
Enlisting in the military only perpetuates this state of affairs.
And if you ever have any doubts about what to do with your life, they'll bring out the flag and a song and we will be all dancing like the "patriotic" monkeys that we are.
I don't know if I should laugh or cry...

Rant much? I read what you had to say until I hit the comment about the 1%. To me that's a keyword that means rational discussion is no longer possible, so I tune out and walk away.

 

[Standby diver]

The people that served in the military in combat, and lost their life because of that, are victims of war, not heroes.

The government will strap a small piece of worthless metal on your chest and call it a medal

Ask a son or a daughter that lost a father in the war, a wife that lost a husband, a mom or a dad that lost a son, and see then what they think about the hero status.

There are no victims in our volunteer services. Perhaps the bystander Iraqi can be called a victim but no marine or army infantry ever was a victim, they are willing participants.

Those worthless pieces of medals stand for something, they aren't given to you by the government, they are awarded by your peers and superiors. I never got an award that said "sign the government" it is usually a CO or some one of the like.

I know plenty of people who have lost family in this war, while there is a lot of pain that goes with it I dont know a single person who isn't proud of the one they lost. I have been to more memorial services than I would have liked to, and there is always a mix of sorrow and being proud.

My twin brother lost both legs making the grass grow in Afghanistan about 7 years ago, there is a lot of stuff we can no longer get do together, snowboarding hike, surf. But I am proud as f*** of him.

And as someone who is still enlisted--going on 9 years--I will pretend you meant no offense by the phrase "patriotic monkey" and I will do you a favor and not take offense.


Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Roge]

I served with the British Army 76-90 did my time in NI, thankfully was out before the debacle of the Middle East started. I have family who serve in bot world wars and had the benefit of listening to my grand father tell he didn't need a day set aside to remember the Somme and others, he served 1913-1919 he remembered it every day. I know many years after that he was right.
So on most days I remember the friends I know and served with, the ones that are no longer with us and the friends I never got a chance to know, so most days have a little sadness in them.
But on these special days I also rage at the politicians, bishops and mullahs of all persuasions who start the conflicts and stand back whilst soldiers (no matter what colour uniform or mode of transport) do their bidding and innocents fall victim to collateral damage. Those same politicians, bishops and mullahs who stand righteously at the head of rememberence ceremonies with no conscience at all

 

[RCinNC]

You know, there are a lot of people alive today, who lived on to have wives and families, because some buddy in combat stuck his neck out and maybe lost his own life so his fellow soldiers could live. That happens a LOT, because that's the flip side of the human nature that you failed to mention when you talked about the psychopaths who start wars. Nobody is charging a machine gun emplacement because he worships the United States; he's doing it because his and his friends' lives may very well depend on that sacrifice. You can deride them as "patriotic monkeys", or dispute whether or not they can be called heroes, but they are most decidedly not "victims of war". If you were in Grenada, or Panama, or Iraq, or Afghanistan, you weren't there against your will; you volunteered. You're going to have a hard time finding a Soldier or Marine or Sailor or Airman who ever considered themselves a "victim" if they were injured in combat; they'll tell you they were a soldier who got wounded. And I won't dispute that you could probably find a parent or wife that hates the military because their loved one was killed, but because I was in the military and maybe know more about it than someone who wasn't, I can tell you that a lot more families, though they mourn the loss of their loved one, know that he or she was doing something they felt was important, or needed doing. And in a sense you're right; that bit of metal they pin on your chest is worthless. A couple bucks worth of pot metal and fabric. And even what the medal symbolized might be worthless to the soldier who earned it, because you'll find that most guys who win medals for bravery didn't give a damn about the medal, or the recognition, or the United States, or the US Army, while they were earning it; they sure as hell gave a damn about those guys who may have been pinned down by hostile fire, or who flew a dustoff into an area under heavy fire to rescue the wounded. They didn't do those things for medals, or praise, or the love of Uncle Sam; they did it for their fellow soldiers. You can deride those guys all you want as patriotic monkeys, or tools of Imperialism, but those guys absolutely embody the characteristics that you seem to think they lack; compassion for their fellow man. If you don't think that it takes a Herculean amount of compassion to crawl into an area where you know you have a good chance of being killed just so you can rescue your buddy, then I don't think you even know what compassion means.

If there was some magic wand you could wave to simultaneously change the human nature of every person on this planet, you might be able to do away with armies, and the people who fill them, and everybody could follow the "ain't gonna study war no more" philosophy. Well, humans have been around now for about thirty thousand years, and we haven't managed that feat yet, and any civilization that hasn't been willing to fight has been swallowed up by another one that was. You can absolutely dispute the reasons for a war, or the justifications for it, or the righteousness of it, but don't denigrate the people who put boots on the ground to fight that war as some sort of puppet of the government. I don't speak for all vets, but I went in for my own reasons, none of which had anything to do with being brainwashed.

 

[Calboy]

There are no heroes of war but only victims, and I don't care how's sliced and diced in words or otherwise.
One war hero is someone else's criminal, plain and simple.
And I'm talking in general terms here as there's isn't enough time to take everything and everybody into consideration.

 

[arjayes]

Great to hear from some guys who have been there. You're why I feel proud on Veterans Day.