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 Maybe I am the one who owes an apologyModerators: Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | |
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dex armstrong |
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COMSUBBBS Posts: 3202 Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: Maybe I am the one who owes an apology Let me say, that there are generational diferences and that NOBODY respects this nation's military traditions more than I and my entire family do. NOBODY....damn near everyone serves...all males and three females. That's a pretty damn good record. For example there were thing we weren't allowed to say terms like JARHEAD were not allowed, just as the term COP was not used for POLICE OFFICER...There were terms my parents felt were demeaning to service personnel. Next, we are all familier with the term "Shipshape". There was a time where you took for granted that all service personnel were expected to look neat, clean pressed and polished. You remember trying to pass a shipmate in a passageway while he was bending down to pop a liberty shine on his shoes...buff em up. In my day, that was expected. We replaced soiled service ribbons and repiped our dress blues if the piping began to yellow. We behaved properly in bus stations, theaters, resturants and other public places...because, as we were told in bootcamp...we were the Navy's face to the public...their ambassadors to our nation and our conduct and history were the Navy's most effective recruiting tool. All of us remember the returning high school grad wearing his Marine dress blues, the jumper wearing his spit shined jump boots and the airman wearing Air Crew wings....they were neat, knife edge creases...looking the part of cofident, self-assured winners. It has become apparent by the comments here, that we have reached a point where we are willing to accept a diminished standard and I will have to apologize and accept the reduced image and I will. It hit me hard when I attended Warshots burial and saw Armed Forces personnel standing around a fellow fallen mates grave in what essentially was the equivalent of Jiffy Lube jumpsuit at least it was to me. I now recognize that that has been acfcepted as proper attire. If it was my buddy, I would want to show him the respect that comes with a turnout in Class A's...Different time. I hate the fact that men and women go to work at the Pentagon each day in fatigues while officers and men of outher national forces arrive is neat, clean, pressed uniforms with blouse, tie and service ribbons. There's nothing worse than an old bastard trying to recapture the past and I have obviously become that. Sometime pasionate conviction can bring you pain...this one has. When a valued friend and shipmate calls you a goddam jerk...it hurts. Doc Beeghly is a dear friend and his post made me bleed in my socks. I remember my father placing newspaper on our kitchen table to put a shine on his Cocran jump boots before going to work....He bloused his trousers in those boots with blousing chains and made sure the knot in his tie was perfect...."Hey MaGee, would you press my overseas cap for me?" When he stepped out the door each morning, he looked tough and proud...and spiffy (his term). He had that 82nd slogan appearance "You want to know who we are...just ask us where we'vw been" look. I've come to accept Homer Simpson on my stamps instead of the beautifully engraved stamps of mt youth that were the envy of every stanp collector on the planet....I've come to accept our debased currency sort of a tinfoil sandwich....no real food on airflights, just box lunches....plastic bumpers....and all of the other 'steps down" But, when a man or woman makes a contractual agreement with a nation whereby they agree to serve at risk of dismemberment and death. I am still of the opinion that we owe them the best body armor, armored vehicles, weapons, and yes, first rate uniforms. I get sad when I visit my daughter in Fayetteville NC and find military equipment stores with signs in their windows reading...MOTHERS AND FATHERS OF SERVING TROOPS...IF YOU LOVE YOUR TROOPER. BUT THEM "SECOND CHANCE BODY ARMOR" to replace their military issue. Give them a better chance of battlefield survival." And we did. Well, everyone accept my sincere apology...especially you Doc...I will do my damndest to keep my futue opinions to myself and come to accept the reduced standard totally embraced by this generation. DEX | ||
| docbeeghly |
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| Senior Crew Posts: 184 Location: ConroeTexas | Subject: RE: Maybe I am the one who owes an apology Dex my friend, take it from me that post was not directed at you. check your email. Doc | ||
| Donald L. Johnson |
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Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 602 Location: Visalia, Ca. | Subject: RE: Maybe I am the one who owes an apology Dex, I, too, am not pleased at the way so many of our troops are attired today. But that is a policy decision we are not party to, and must accept. What we can, and should, influence, is the public behavior of our reliefs. As has been pointed out by several others here, military personnel in uniform (and out) are readily identifiable by civilians, and must be more careful of their conduct when out in public. We are at war, but there is a difference between the war-zone and the home-front, and what is acceptable in the (relative) safety of a base-camp in Iraq or Afghanistan or on the base stateside, is not necessarily acceptable off-base. Living near a Naval Air Station, I have also witnessed Sailors and Marines in both working and liberty uniform get more than a little 'carried away" in public places. If it looks like it might get out of hand, or I can see civilians are being bothered by their antics, I try to have a quiet word with the senior Petty Officer or NCO, "Shipmate to Shipmate" as it were. That usually does the trick. If it doesn't, I know most of the Command Master Chiefs on the base, and the suggestion that their boss might not appreciate hearing about their antics does calm things down. I try not to be as confrontational as the retired Marine LCol you described. We served in a different time, but we still earned the right to express our opinions. As long as we keep it civil, I see no reason to apologize to anyone for it. Edited by Donald L. Johnson 2009-08-30 10:21 PM | ||
| dex armstrong |
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COMSUBBBS Posts: 3202 Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: RE: Maybe I am the one who owes an apology Thanks Doc and Don, I've lived too long....at some point generational change leaves you standing at bus stops where the bus just goes by and leaves you standing in the rain. Folks of yours and my generation and those who understand and fully appreciate your views, thin out by getting feeble, relocating to assisted living facilities or being lowered into six foot holes. You two, thanks for your support, it means a lot to me. That's another thing, this generation prefers silence to standing up for a friend. I hate folks who say,"Dex I was all for you, but I didn't want to get involved and run the risk of being laughed at." Shame on weak sisters like that. This country was built by men who stood by their opinions and stood back-to-back with their friends to take on all comers. Men who valued personal loyalty as a manly virtue. When did non-involvement replace standing to shoulder with a friend in support? Somewhere somebody said something like this,"I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it." Where did those men go? A lot of my friends hold contrary opinions, express beliefs that I don't subscribe to, belong to a different political party. religious persuasion, or simply believe in some damn stupid things...but, THEY ARE STILL VALUED FRIENDS and we both just accept their beliefs as being part of what makes them, themselves. What I can't stand is some "holier than thou" pipsqueek getting up on some public soapbox and giving me a lecture on right and wrong. Agiain Doc and Don thank you. You two will never know what a gift your courage anf friendship has meant to me. Your deeply grateful shipmate DEX | ||
| Darrin |
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Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 561 Location: Belleview, Fl | Subject: RE: Maybe I am the one who owes an apology Dex, Sadly when we go to a funeral now a days we look at the duty uniform proscribed for wear and it says ACU's and not Class "A" uniform, the only ones whom wear them now are the funeral detail and that HURTS... I have been to more then my fair share recently and I look and remember my earlier days on active duty and when we had a funeral to attend EVERYONE was in dress uniform standing tall and looking good. My first change of command that I attended in the Navy was in Full Dress Whites and my first in the Army was in BDU's and I asked WTFO and was told that we don't do that in the Army anymore because we are "war fighters" or some BS like that, funeral's used to mean that everyone from the Base CO down showed up in FULL dress unform and now it is our duty unform. While in the 101st we ALWAYS had a set of spit shined boots and uniform to go no matter what and we were not authorized to go anywhere but the gas station on the way home in our duty uniform and now it has slacked to just go and do what you have to do as long as you aren't drinking. Those of us on Active duty get little to say when we are told that we have to change to a new uniform (and yes we have to buy our own) and our new uniforms are not recommended for starch and pressing (due to under night vision goggles they glow white as did previous uniforms). We always knew when someone from Garrison was in the field for the first time in a while because of the way the uniform looks threw the thermal sights of the AH-64A&D And yes time marches on and those whom remember what was right in the world yesterday are precieved as being stuck in yesterday and I am sure that generations before use they said the same thing to the younger guys when they came up. I miss the days when I got up on Saturday Bugs and his buddies were on TV and westerns were still being played all morning and you always knew whom the bad guy was because he wore black and the good guy wore white, now god only can explain the crap that we see now. As an old NCO I have had to learn that times change and the days that I grew up in are now long gone and I can only try to hold the old standard as much as possible without getting in too much trouble for yelling at the soldiers whom truly look like poo. Everyone whom posted made valid points and I have no dog in this fight, remember folks in every fight the parties involved belive that they are both right and it takes a big man and in this case men whom came forward and apologized when it wasn't needed IMHO other then to make sure that everyone was still friends our in our case FAMILY. | ||
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