Adopt a Soldier

[jordonj]

- Edit: Never thought you'd stand up for me, Doug. Thanks.

Doug stands up for Bjorn?!  It's the end of the world!!!!

 ;D

[Hagar]

[quote]Doug stands up for Bjorn?!

[C]

If that's the end of the World then so be it.

Looking out of the window, the world doesn't appear to be ending...

[eno]

So my opinion on that topic is nothing because I don't have military experience.


It's the whole "respect" thing that sickens me. Why deserves a soldier more respect than anybody else?

Maybe I was a bit strong saying that your opinion wasn't valid ......  but I think it will be mellowed by actually doing your military service.
I have respect for anyone who is willing to put their life on the line to defend (right or wrong) their beliefs within the constraints of conventional warfare.
I've put myself in that position and thankfully never had to  go to war, however I was prepared to do so if necessary. I have even more respect for the people of all sides who have died and been injured during all wars past and present.

[Romulus111VADT]

It's the whole "respect" thing that sickens me. Why deserves a soldier more respect than anybody else?

It's simple, vets go into the service knowing full well that they may lose their lives fighting to defend the ideals of their respective countries. They go into combat to defend those ideals and though none want to die in order to preserve these ideals. They are fully aware of the facts that they could lose their lives. They are willing to risk their lives for people they will never know.

What are you willing to die for and other than Police and Firefighters, how many people in civilian life are willing to pay the ultimate price to protect people that they don't know and to die to protect their rights as free people?

[eno]

Thanks Romulus you put it far better than I did.

[Hagar]

It's simple, vets go into the service knowing full well that they may lose their lives fighting to defend the ideals of their respective countries. They go into combat to defend those ideals and though none want to die in order to preserve these ideals. They are fully aware of the facts that they could lose their lives. They are willing to risk their lives for people they will never know.

While this might be true in time of war, many young people join the services in peacetime for a secure job & the first-class training. I've lost count of the number of people I've seen on this forum alone seriously contempating joining the air force for the simple reason that this is the only way they could ever be trained as a pilot. Most of them have no interest in the military or any intention of making a career out of it & will leave the service as soon as possible to hopefully start earning big money working for civil airlines. I have no doubt that at least some of them would be horrified at the thought that they would have to go & fight.

[C]

While this might be true in time of war, many young people join the services in peacetime for a secure job & the first-class training.

I can vouch for that. When the time comes to decide I can then decide whether I want to make a life of it, or have a second career, away from the extra pressures of military life.

[jordonj]

I think that any blanket statement about people who go into the military is foolish...

Some even go into the Military to escape charges (I know of a young man who did...and he was later discharged).

Some enter the Military out of patriotism, some because they are from a generation of soliders.  Others enter because no better opportunities exist (particularly here in Michigan...though most recruits come from "middle-class" families, from what I understand).

It's also easy to show wrath against the solider who may have run over a child in the country where he or she was serving...but the rest of the story is that children are often used to stop convoys for an ambush (even back as far as Vietnam that was true)...you can never know unless you've been in the soup and just had to swim.

I also know that there are some veterans who just become drunks and when held accountable to their actions, just offer up the fact that they're veterans to avoid taking responsibility for themselves...though support for American Vets is one of the things on the chopping block budget-wise, which adds yet another twist to this.

As far as I'm concerned, I do respect miltary vets...whether or not I agree with them politically (and most vets I know don't talk politics very often).

[Hagar]

Let me just make this clear. Members of the military services of my own country have my full support as they are doing their duty. They go where they're sent & have no choice in the matter. I respect the conscripted men (women have never been conscripted in my country to my knowledge) even more for doing a dangerous job they never intended doing to the best of their ability & probably scared stiff for much of the time. I have shaken hands with ex-RAF & ex-Luftwaffe WWII pilots & been honoured to do so.

As for thanking them for doing what they did, I must admit this never occurred to me. If people feel differently about this in other countries then that's fair enough but please don't ask me to follow suit. As I said earlier, this topic is aimed at Americans supporting members of their armed forces on active duty. It's possible that Graybeard, presumably an American himself, never considered it might provoke this sort of response.

[Romulus111VADT]

[quote]I think that any blanket statement about people who go into the military is foolish...

1)Some even go into the Military to escape charges (I know of a young man who did...and he was later discharged).

2)Some enter the Military out of patriotism, some because they are from a generation of soliders.

[jordonj]

Yes, many veterans become drunks. If you had to deal with PTSD and the horrific memories of war. You'd understand. Yes veterans can go off the deep end and become violent. This is normally because the government that made so many promises reneged on promises made. Many vets end up homeless because the war stress makes it impossible to hold a job. Even Audie Murphy lived in a YMCA for several years until a WWII vet that was associated with Hollywood took him in.

Like I said, there's a rest of the story.

But there are also Vets that don't take responsibity for themselves.  I worked at a job where the foreman of the place was a vet (or so he said), but instead of doing his job, he's hide in the back all day and smoke cigarettes.  Many times he stank of booze.  He played favorites and was verbally abusive.  In short, he was an illustration of the saying "if you want to test a man's character, give him power".

Another employee who was there (also a vet), wouldn't do any work that required the least bit of effort.  Another vet there would cause trouble by spreading rumors.

The guy who ran the place wouldn't do anything about their behavior as he would just say "they can't help it, because of what they've been through".

Now Romulus...before you start ranting, I don't say [b]all[/a] vets are this way...but there are some bad apples everywhere (even among vets), and PTSD doesn't excuse bad behavior.

It comes down what I said before:

I think that any blanket statement about people who go into the military is foolish...

[FF_RacerXXX]

Just read the "Rules"

No Politics!

Well as the original post reads "Adopt a soldier"

1.That means Any soldier from any country

2.Adopt a soldier not his politics or his country's politics.

3.I'm sure Greybeard certaintly does not view anything on the web as U.S. only

4.We may not post much but we both read almost everything in here!

5.He (Greybeard) was only stating a fact ie. You can adopt a soldier if you wish, and if you don't wish o.k

Thank you all very much for the time.

[Romulus111VADT]

[quote]

Like I said, there's a rest of the story.

But there are also Vets that don't take responsibity for themselves.

[BFMF]

I don't say [b]all[/a] vets are this way...but there are some bad apples everywhere (even among vets), and PTSD doesn't excuse bad behavior.

Nobody is perfect, not even military.

But you can't let a few bad apples cause you to think everyone is evil