Our Troops

Why not ask them how they feel about you speaking for them?

How about asking them if they mind me pressing for them to come home?

How about we ask them which is worse, disliking the war or sending them over without the proper armaments?

How about we ask them if they want the ability to buy their own personal gear, like body armor, again?



You must be so proud, having refused to answer the question of why don't you enlist. Really easy to talk tough about soldiers when you don't have to suit up for yourself.
 
The Brits were like this in Victorian times. The Empire was dominant and of course the military (including the Royal Navy) was imperative in maintaining the Empire. Back home there was much pride in the Empire and occasionally there was pride in the troops. But Rudyard Kipling saw through the bullshit:

TOMMY

by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)



I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
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"The year before that, a 24-year-old specialist from Washington state escaped a second tour of duty, according to his sister, by strapping on a backpack full of tools and leaping off the roof of his house, injuring his spine."

lol, dumbass.
 
Onceler said:
I'm telling you, this simply cannot be. Dixie convinced me that only liberal pinheads want to end this war, and that the troops & Iraqi people are resolute about "completing the mission" and want the U.S. to stay there for an indefinite period years into the future.

He's spoken to hundreds of them, and there hasn't been a one who has uttered any sort of protest or opposition to the war, or any reluctance about fighting it.

It just can't be.
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jesus talks to him in the shower too.
 
Grind said:
"The year before that, a 24-year-old specialist from Washington state escaped a second tour of duty, according to his sister, by strapping on a backpack full of tools and leaping off the roof of his house, injuring his spine."

lol, dumbass.
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im sorry if someone finds the above comment offensive but I just can't help but laugh at the image of some redneck retard slowly climbing up onto his roof and then leaping off of it like a bird taking flight. The fall wasn't enough, he needed a bag of hammers on his back. lolllll.
 
Grind said:
im sorry if someone finds the above comment offensive but I just can't help but laugh at the image of some redneck retard slowly climbing up onto his roof and then leaping off of it like a bird taking flight. The fall wasn't enough, he needed a bag of hammers on his back. lolllll.
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Why did he have the tools in his backpack? Hey it could be because he wanted people to think he was doing some roofing and then accidentally fell off. Poor bastard.
 
Grind said:
"The year before that, a 24-year-old specialist from Washington state escaped a second tour of duty, according to his sister, by strapping on a backpack full of tools and leaping off the roof of his house, injuring his spine."

lol, dumbass.
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A few of those who enlist in an all volunteer army are not too bright.
 
Grind said:
im sorry if someone finds the above comment offensive but I just can't help but laugh at the image of some redneck retard slowly climbing up onto his roof and then leaping off of it like a bird taking flight. The fall wasn't enough, he needed a bag of hammers on his back. lolllll.
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From a one story roof? I can see why he added the tools.

I posted on a board where one of our regulars told the story of how, when he received his draft letter for Vietnam, he layed down in his driveway and his friend ran his legs over with a car. They were hoping to break his legs. And a lot of people made fun of him, for years, on that board. Not one of the people who made fun of him had ever been in Vietnam for one goddamned hour. Nor can any of us imagine what it would be like to be 18 years old, and receive an envelope in the mail, telling you were going to go to a jungle in Vietnam and people were going to try and kill you, or capture you and put you in a hole somewhere and you might never be seen again.

Well, the guy ended up in Vietnam and he survived his one year tour, and he came home, so that decades later a bunch of comfortable fools could make fun of him on the internet. Our soldiers of today, though it's true they aren't drafted, don't have the comfort of "if i can just make my tour, i can go home, i can get to live". They go back , and back, and back again.

So we can laugh... but I wouldn't. Things change on a dime and you never know when they'll change enough for you to get one of those letters. And you don't know what you'd do if you did. Desperate people do desperate things.
 
You know, Indisputable, I get tired of this "we love our soldiers" that you spout, but in the same breath you talk about them staying longer.

The longer they stay the more likely it is that they die. Some love you have there, sparky.

If there were a good reason that they went, or if there was a need for them to be there for our safety, I would agree that they should stay. But Saddam was not even close to our biggest threat (if he was a real threat at all). He was not even close to the worst dictator out there. The people of Iraq enjoyed a much better standard of living than many people in other countries did. And women enjoyed much better status that in most muslim nations. And Saddam was not a radical muslim. The WMDs that he had were minimal at best.

In short, we had no real reason to invade Iraq, other than the regime change that several presidents had recommended (but had the good sense not to get bogged down in).


Time to bring them home.
 
Darla said:
From a one story roof? I can see why he added the tools.

I posted on a board where one of our regulars told the story of how, when he received his draft letter for Vietnam, he layed down in his driveway and his friend ran his legs over with a car. They were hoping to break his legs. And a lot of people made fun of him, for years, on that board. Not one of the people who made fun of him had ever been in Vietnam for one goddamned hour. Nor can any of us imagine what it would be like to be 18 years old, and receive an envelope in the mail, telling you were going to go to a jungle in Vietnam and people were going to try and kill you, or capture you and put you in a hole somewhere and you might never be seen again.

Well, the guy ended up in Vietnam and he survived his one year tour, and he came home, so that decades later a bunch of comfortable fools could make fun of him on the internet. Our soldiers of today, though it's true they aren't drafted, don't have the comfort of "if i can just make my tour, i can go home, i can get to live". They go back , and back, and back again.

So we can laugh... but I wouldn't. Things change on a dime and you never know when they'll change enough for you to get one of those letters. And you don't know what you'd do if you did. Desperate people do desperate things.
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I am not sure what I would do. Luckily, I enlisted and was discharged during peacetime (relatively so anyway).

But I have two sons and two daughters that could find themselves in a war, or draft situation.

Both of my sons are serious intellectuals and both have taken a couple of foreign languages, so I hope they would be used behind the lines instead of on the front lines. But in modern warfare, the lines don't mean as much. I would imagine my oldest would be a conscientious objector. The middle one would do what he felt was right (regardless of popular opinion).

Hopefully I never have to face these situations.
 
Solitary said:
I am not sure what I would do. Luckily, I enlisted and was discharged during peacetime (relatively so anyway).

But I have two sons and two daughters that could find themselves in a war, or draft situation.

Both of my sons are serious intellectuals and both have taken a couple of foreign languages, so I hope they would be used behind the lines instead of on the front lines. But in modern warfare, the lines don't mean as much. I would imagine my oldest would be a conscientious objector. The middle one would do what he felt was right (regardless of popular opinion).

Hopefully I never have to face these situations.
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how does conscientious objection work? Couldn't anyone use that excuse? I've always wondered
 
Grind said:
how does conscientious objection work? Couldn't anyone use that excuse? I've always wondered
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No. You have to have a lot of backup for that. You have to have talked to clergy, teachers, written about it, joined the Quakers, etc, for some time before you are drafted. You’d want to start laying that groundwork now as a matter of fact. And, you must espouse pacifist beliefs. You cannot believe that “this war” (whatever war is in question) is immoral, but that all war is immoral.
 
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