[quote=“TainanCowboy”]A friend emailed me this story a while back. Its sort of relevant to this thread and tells of one mans thoughts on decisions he made many years ago.
I am not saying these thoughts and feelings should be those of anyone but him. Its a discussion I have had with quite a few people over the years. And many have come to echo what Mr. Conroy says.
Please read the article before commenting on his choice of title.[/quote]
That’s an interesting piece TC. I’ve enjoyed his books and movies, but knew nothing of his personal life. The Great Santini is one of my all time favorite “war” movies.
I imagine there are a lot of people out there now who feel like this.
It’s interesting how many here were around military camps as kids and then joined.
My father was in the Oz air force and we travelled base to base when I was a kid until we hit Malaysia. We stayed in Penang for six years before Perth where my old man got out. My grand father had been at Gallipoli as a sniper with the light horse and later became a pilot. He flew for the remaining three years of WWI including the silly push into Russia in 1919.
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Well I did try actually … my father was in the army, we lived in Germany for 12 years and I spent a lot of time in the camp and sometimes off camp with the soldier bunch and I volunteered twice, twice I got turned down because my lenght didn’t correspond with my weight than I got on a diet and lost a lot of weight … got to do my service for two whole days and than they sent me home … they decided I wasn’t fit enough for service ( I had just recovered from a fractured foot), I guess it would have been fun as I was assigend as a truck driver at the unit and camp I spent time as a kid in Germany … but than … after growing older I started thinking otherwise, but I guess I was kind of brain washed as a kid, seeing all the tanks and military gear and all the military having fun, drinking beer adn stuff …
my nation was going to war. guys i knew were being sent over. i did what healthy young men do in such times: i took myself down to the recruiting office and joined up.
smedley butler was right. war is a racket. rich guys get richer off of wars while the children of the poor pay dearly.
my unit had a rash of suicides upon returning home. lotsa mysteriously sick guys (whatever became of the “gulfwar syndrome”?) and peculiarly malformed kids.
amazingly, i am contemplating going back down to the recruiting office again. the need for troops is great and i still have much to give. better me than some stupid kid.
[quote=“jdsmith”][quote=“TainanCowboy”]A friend emailed me this story a while back. Its sort of relevant to this thread and tells of one mans thoughts on decisions he made many years ago.
I am not saying these thoughts and feelings should be those of anyone but him. Its a discussion I have had with quite a few people over the years. And many have come to echo what Mr. Conroy says.
Please read the article before commenting on his choice of title.[/quote]
That’s an interesting piece TC. I’ve enjoyed his books and movies, but knew nothing of his personal life. The Great Santini is one of my all time favorite “war” movies.
I imagine there are a lot of people out there now who feel like this.[/quote]
God…I was having flashbacks of macguire AFB watching that. Love the scene with the swirly.
[quote=“skeptic yank”]my nation was going to war. guys i knew were being sent over. i did what healthy young men do in such times: i took myself down to the recruiting office and joined up.
smedley butler was right. war is a racket. rich guys get richer off of wars while the children of the poor pay dearly.
my unit had a rash of suicides upon returning home. lotsa mysteriously sick guys (whatever became of the “gulfwar syndrome”?) and peculiarly malformed kids.
amazingly, i am contemplating going back down to the recruiting office again. the need for troops is great and i still have much to give. better me than some stupid kid.[/quote]
Where to start?
Suicide in the services is indicative of the type of people they attract. It’s also a side effect of the drinking which is the social grease in the military.
You’ve done your time, why consider another bout when you’ve already said that “war is a racket. rich guys get richer off of wars while the children of the poor pay dearly”? By that I mean you are already jaded. You are older, you can see through it. You’d be doing nobody any favours, least of all yourself, by returning.
Absolutely! The best thing about a voluntary army is that there is scope to reject what doesn’t sit well with you. It is a crucial component in the social contract.
i dunno about your blanket assertations about military suicides. in my limited exposure it seemed guys were tormented and couldn’t get used to normal life.
i also don’t know about the “all volunteer army” in that it creates a tempting toy for any president to play with. the present day US military is a huge subculture in which many folks consider “civilians” to be inferior to military folks. we thus have created and maintain a military caste. not a good thing for a purported democracy. a huge standing army is not always a good thing. if the president has to create an army for every war adventure he wouldn’t be inclined to use it so rashly.
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Quote:
America is good enough to die for even when she is wrong.
That is a dangerous attitude for anyone in any country to have. I highly disagree with that statement. My country, right or wrong? No. [/quote]
I agree with Quentin. The guy who considers himself a coward may not mind dying for the wrong war, but the people he is trying to kill might. Maybe a draft with very few exemptions is the only thing that can put a rein on getting into the wrong war.
[quote=“v”][quote]
Quote:
America is good enough to die for even when she is wrong.
That is a dangerous attitude for anyone in any country to have. I highly disagree with that statement. My country, right or wrong? No. [/quote]
I agree with Quentin. The guy who considers himself a coward may not mind dying for the wrong war, but the people he is trying to kill might. Maybe a draft with very few exemptions is the only thing that can put a rein on getting into the wrong war.[/quote]
That or it’s a great way to lose a lot of wars you do get into. Taiwanese men must do military service, and I would hate to see them get into a war.
[quote=“skeptic yank”]i dunno about your blanket assertations about military suicides. in my limited exposure it seemed guys were tormented and couldn’t get used to normal life.
i also don’t know about the “all volunteer army” in that it creates a tempting toy for any president to play with. the present day US military is a huge subculture in which many folks consider “civilians” to be inferior to military folks. we thus have created and maintain a military caste. not a good thing for a purported democracy. a huge standing army is not always a good thing. if the president has to create an army for every war adventure he wouldn’t be inclined to use it so rashly.[/quote]
I know very few in the military that truly think they are superior to civilians. But I do think the professional force has meant a) that you get public officials that have no f’ing clue what the true consequences of their actions are and b) a public that is largely dis-associated /disconnected from the ‘costs’ of any conflict.
It is a bit of a bromide that people associate the Marian reforms of the Roman Army that while it created a much more effective military, the the burden and ‘cost’ of war switched to the disenfranchised, war become more about political & economic gain than defending the Republic and a de-linking of the military lotalty from ‘Rome’. Any paralells?
than I got on a diet and lost a lot of weight … got to do my service for two whole days and than they sent me home … 
they decided I wasn’t fit enough for service ( I had just recovered from a fractured foot), I guess it would have been fun as I was assigend as a truck driver at the unit and camp I spent time as a kid in Germany … but than … after growing older I started thinking otherwise, but I guess I was kind of brain washed as a kid, seeing all the tanks and military gear and all the military having fun, drinking beer adn stuff …