Did YOU serve, OP? I don't care, I really don't, but just thought I should throw that question out there. I was a "printed circuit board" repairman. We had 2 x semi-trailers hooked together with a cat walk. (We called them Vans) 1 van was the repair side, other van was stuffed wall to wall with electronic equipment to test all sorts of other electronic equipment. The AIT (school) to learn how to solder 128 pin computer chips, + learn how to run the equipment, was 11 months long. Extremely in depth electronics theory and practice. That is the reason I joined, to get an electronics education. And that is what I say when some one says thank you for your service. "I served to get an electronics education and I got It!!!" So I was a REMF, rear echelon mother fucker/in the rear with the gear. Never shot a bullet in anger/was never sent to the sandbox.
Now with all that said, you know where I am coming from. Army medically retired me after only 6 years due to bad knees. I fought it, I appealed the honorable/medical discharge. I wanted to stay in. Only 6 years in, I had re-enlisted once, and planned on doing 20 years. But no, Army says I have bad knees, so they honorably discharged me. I do get compensation monthly, and it is tax free. I ask for, and receive, a 10% discount every time I go to Home Depot or Lowes. I do NOT participate in all the free food giveaways on Veterans day.
Now with all that said---I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT OTHER VETERANS, EVEN IF YOU ARE A VET, IDGAF WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME OR ANYONE ELSE. UNTIL YOU HAVE WALKED A THOUSAND MILES IN MY FUCKED UP LEGS IDC WHAT YOUR FUCKING OPINION IS---KINDLY FUCK OFF.
Thst was the most respectful and disrespectful reply I have seen.
My title was bad I've said this to a couple people.
I should have just said I'd like hats designating front line in the shit combatants versus pencil pushers. I had bad experience with 2 vets who didn't do shit but cheat the system they get full medical and pay no proper taxes and brag about it. As I pay over 20k a year in property taxes
Great points I will fuck off now
LOL, that last paragraph I wrote, I was trying to channel Colonel Jessup from "a few good men" movie where he is saying "I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to, until you pick up a weapon and walk a post, fuck right off." (something like that) Cheers to you and happy new year.
You too sorry if I offended
Learn to read the medals and insignia on the hat and you will know.
The red orange green Vietnam medal just means that they served in the theater. An arrowhead on the Vietnam ribbon means they were on the front lines (but lacking it doesn't mean they weren't.) A silver star ribbon (blue white red white blue) means they did some outrageous shit. A bronze star (red-white-blue-white-red) means nearly the same thing, especially with a V pinned in the middle (for valor in combat.) The other stuff gets down into the weeds, but the only ribbon (AFAIK) with purple on it is a Purple Heart, and you can't miss it, it's all purple.
You also need to realize that "in combat" is a grey line. My grandfather stood by the door in Westmoreland's plane with a pistol while they base they were at was being attacked. He never fired it. Does that count as combat? My business mentor was inside the tail of a C-130 trying fix the hydraulics so they could get off the ground while a mortar attack was going on (hence the need to get off the ground.) While he's in there, watching shrapnel make a little light show by punching tiny holes in the hull, was that combat?
All good points again I needed a better title that was more clear. Your comment cleared a lot of it up
I've heard of officers driving out into the desert to give each other bronze stars. Even within the infantry / combat specialties there's still fuckery going on. Just look at Audie Murphy's book: written by a Hollywood script writer. Vasili Zaitsev was similar, a brave and competent guy blown up way out of proportions. Other than what's recorded on video, consider war stories as being only as good as their teller.
I was in a similar boat as you. Similar MOS but I was deployed once with a maintenance battalion and once attached to an armor battalion but still serving in a maintenance role. Only went outside the wire twice. Worked the front gate for 1/2 my first deployment.
All that being said, quit being a whiny bitch. You didn't do shit. I didn't do shit. OP is right. Some guys got their fucking legs blown off or inhaled agent orange and I had to sit in a guard tower and try not to fall asleep. Poor me.
On top of that I'd go as far as to say most veterans don't deserve any level of respect. I know dudes that were COLOSSAL pieces of shit. Garbage NCOs too stupid to do anything else until they got out and then wave the veteran card around looking for admiration and a ticket to easy street coasting on fake valor. Dumb drunk retards who couldn't lead a roped horse to a sugar cube riding around with DV plates because they have shin splints.
You fucked your knees up. Boo hoo. Nobody made you sign up now you want to act like you did this country a great service. My hips are jacked. I'm not bitching about it. Realize you got fucking conned and you aren't a hero. The biggest difference between you and me is I wasn't disillusioned when I signed up.
Seek... Professional....Help......
Bro, you did 6 years and never deployed.
6 years of what, sweeping motorpools and doing PT? And your knees were that bad? Did you even leave the house when you grew up?
6 years of what, sweeping motorpools
LOL, not even that. Being a remf, and a 7-10 man maintenance team, we didn't do much, physically. PT? Yes. Ran 15-20 miles a week for 5 + years. Bad knees. (grew up on dairy farm, milking cows, raising beans, corn, winter wheat and tobacco)
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