Military Man...and woman.

08-26-2003, 10:28 AM

The Military Man

The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm howizzitor. He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime.

He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

Timber Loftis · 08-26-2003, 10:39 AM

Nice.

WillowIX · 08-26-2003, 11:23 AM

Ahh so this only holds true for American soldiers? What about all the rest? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Couldn't resist a cheeky comment MagiK.

[ 08-26-2003, 11:28 AM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

Timber Loftis · 08-26-2003, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by WillowIX:
Ahh so this only holds true for MAerican soldiers? What about all the rest? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Couldn't resist a cheeky comment MagiK.

Nope, only the MAericans. MAericans are their own distinctive breed. The best soldiers in the world. So good, in fact, few even know they exist.

WillowIX · 08-26-2003, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Timber Loftis:
Nope, only the MAericans. MAericans are their own distinctive breed. The best soldiers in the world. So good, in fact, few even know they exist.

[img]graemlins/whackya.gif[/img] BAH! You make one little spelling error...

Timber Loftis · 08-26-2003, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by WillowIX:
[img]graemlins/whackya.gif[/img] BAH! You make one little spelling error...

Cheeky is as cheeky does, my dear. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/doh.gif[/img]

[edit]For smileys, so everyone knows we're pals.

[ 08-26-2003, 11:29 AM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]

08-26-2003, 11:47 AM

My post was for American Service People. Far be it for me to speak about some other nations military...I think I would be most chastised. No....I think I had best stick with the services I know. [img]smile.gif[/img]

WillowIX · 08-26-2003, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Timber Loftis:
Cheeky is as cheeky does, my dear. [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/doh.gif[/img]

[edit]For smileys, so everyone knows we're pals.

We're pals? Oh the horror! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

LLAO! Timber my dear, as Long as you and I know surely that is enough. [img]smile.gif[/img]

MagiK, BAH! Now you ruined my fun. LOL!

08-26-2003, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by WillowIX:

MagiK, BAH! Now you ruined my fun. LOL!

Well I could have just posted a big wet smoochie for ya [img]smile.gif[/img] but I thought Id just go with what I posted [img]smile.gif[/img]

pritchke · 08-26-2003, 02:38 PM

That is now but what about after? The Military man after retirement.

Published on Sunday, August 24, 2003 by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dear Mr. President: What Have You Got Against Veterans?
by Gene Collier

At the dining room table of this modest Penn Hills home, Joseph Gluvna has convened the relevant documents with the kind of reflexive precision you acquire from having given 21 years of decorated military service to your country.

Principally, it was correspondence he was showing me. Letters to state and federal representatives, to both Pennsylvania senators, and responses from both them and the various bureaucracies to whom a 54-year-old veteran with service-related hearing loss is still somehow required to genuflect.

But this is mostly about a five-page handwritten letter to George W. Bush he wrote here Feb. 8. Five pages starting "Dear Mr. President" from a military man with 10 years of active duty and 11 in the reserves to his Commander-in-Chief. Five pages on his grave concerns for those in service now, on the viability of the Iraqi operation, on America's role in global politics, on the difficulties faced by veterans in getting benefits due them, and on a half-dozen other salient points. Five pages that sit on his table and agitate him like little else, mostly because they represent too great an effort. Too great an effort for a guy working the afternoon shift at the North Side post office to have exerted on a government that develops its own selective hearing loss on any number of issues, and particularly to the voices of America's veterans.

And too great an effort, certainly, for what he got in return, which is three formulated paragraphs of absolute crap explaining in only the broadest terms the nature of Bush's business in Iraq, including the assurance that the military would be doing its level best not to harm innocent civilians (6,000 are dead at the last count), and including -- this has to be Joe Gluvna's favorite part -- a one-sentence tribute that begins, "by answering the call of duty, these brave men and women serve as an example of courage, bravery, and ... "

George W. Bush is telling Joe Gluvna this?

"A slap in the face for somebody like me," Joe says, his eyes nearly blazing. "Look, it's not like I'm some big combat hero, it's not like that. But look, let me show you."

He shows me the family room wall that fronts his stairway. It frames a wholly unpretentious display of commendations, photos, and medals from a military career that spanned from Okinawa (during Vietnam) to Egypt and Saudi Arabia during Bush War I. George W. Bush has no such wall.

And now ...

"I went to Memorial Day services out here," he said. "When they played the national anthem, I didn't even salute. I think about my son. He's 20. Would I want him going into the service now? I don't want to see anybody killed or maimed needlessly. We'll spend a billion dollars a week over there in Iraq, and we've got veterans here at home who can't get the benefits they're entitled to. I wouldn't want to see the young people in the military get snookered like me. The government uses you and throws you away like an old shoe."

Joe's wife, Marsha, sits in the family room patiently, as if she's maybe heard some of this before. But she knows the pain he feels, and has felt it herself.

"Should I tell her about Laurie?" she says.

Oh yeah, I say.

"I went to high school with her," Marsha says, "and I got a letter from her just a few weeks ago. She's in South Dakota. Her husband, Gary, died July 9. She's still fighting the VA for his benefits, even though doctors said it was from Agent Orange. Started with a melanoma near his jaw. He was in Vietnam until 1974. He was only 48.

"But that's what the government wants. They want you either to die or get frustrated."

Joe's gotten plenty frustrated, but he has refiled for federal disability payments even though he knows his claim is destined to rot in the Washington bureaucracy. So far, in the view of the Veterans Administration, he has a 10 percent hearing loss but is not entitled to any benefit as a result. Plus, he says, any disability payment he would get is deducted from his military pension.

"Do you think if a senator fell down the steps of the Capitol, his disability payments would be taken out of his retirement?" he says.

I don't know the answer to that, but I'm pretty sure Joe won't be writing to George Bush for one.

Copyright ©1997-2003 PG Publishing Co., Inc

[ 08-26-2003, 02:42 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

08-26-2003, 10:39 AM	#2
Timber Loftis 40th Level Warrior Join Date: July 11, 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 11,916	Nice. __________________

08-26-2003, 11:23 AM	#3
WillowIX Apophis Join Date: July 10, 2001 Location: By a big blue lake, Canada Age: 50 Posts: 4,628	Ahh so this only holds true for American soldiers? What about all the rest? [img]tongue.gif[/img] Couldn't resist a cheeky comment MagiK. [ 08-26-2003, 11:28 AM: Message edited by: WillowIX ] __________________ Confuzzled by nature.

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08-26-2003, 10:28 AM	#1
MagiK Guest Posts: n/a	The Military Man The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either. He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm howizzitor. He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low. He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime. He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years. He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

08-26-2003, 11:47 AM	#7
MagiK Guest Posts: n/a	My post was for American Service People. Far be it for me to speak about some other nations military...I think I would be most chastised. No....I think I had best stick with the services I know. [img]smile.gif[/img]

08-26-2003, 02:38 PM	#10
pritchke Bastet - Egyptian Cat Goddess Join Date: September 5, 2001 Location: Calgary, AB Age: 49 Posts: 3,491	That is now but what about after? The Military man after retirement. Published on Sunday, August 24, 2003 by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Dear Mr. President: What Have You Got Against Veterans? by Gene Collier At the dining room table of this modest Penn Hills home, Joseph Gluvna has convened the relevant documents with the kind of reflexive precision you acquire from having given 21 years of decorated military service to your country. Principally, it was correspondence he was showing me. Letters to state and federal representatives, to both Pennsylvania senators, and responses from both them and the various bureaucracies to whom a 54-year-old veteran with service-related hearing loss is still somehow required to genuflect. But this is mostly about a five-page handwritten letter to George W. Bush he wrote here Feb. 8. Five pages starting "Dear Mr. President" from a military man with 10 years of active duty and 11 in the reserves to his Commander-in-Chief. Five pages on his grave concerns for those in service now, on the viability of the Iraqi operation, on America's role in global politics, on the difficulties faced by veterans in getting benefits due them, and on a half-dozen other salient points. Five pages that sit on his table and agitate him like little else, mostly because they represent too great an effort. Too great an effort for a guy working the afternoon shift at the North Side post office to have exerted on a government that develops its own selective hearing loss on any number of issues, and particularly to the voices of America's veterans. And too great an effort, certainly, for what he got in return, which is three formulated paragraphs of absolute crap explaining in only the broadest terms the nature of Bush's business in Iraq, including the assurance that the military would be doing its level best not to harm innocent civilians (6,000 are dead at the last count), and including -- this has to be Joe Gluvna's favorite part -- a one-sentence tribute that begins, "by answering the call of duty, these brave men and women serve as an example of courage, bravery, and ... " George W. Bush is telling Joe Gluvna this? "A slap in the face for somebody like me," Joe says, his eyes nearly blazing. "Look, it's not like I'm some big combat hero, it's not like that. But look, let me show you." He shows me the family room wall that fronts his stairway. It frames a wholly unpretentious display of commendations, photos, and medals from a military career that spanned from Okinawa (during Vietnam) to Egypt and Saudi Arabia during Bush War I. George W. Bush has no such wall. And now ... "I went to Memorial Day services out here," he said. "When they played the national anthem, I didn't even salute. I think about my son. He's 20. Would I want him going into the service now? I don't want to see anybody killed or maimed needlessly. We'll spend a billion dollars a week over there in Iraq, and we've got veterans here at home who can't get the benefits they're entitled to. I wouldn't want to see the young people in the military get snookered like me. The government uses you and throws you away like an old shoe." Joe's wife, Marsha, sits in the family room patiently, as if she's maybe heard some of this before. But she knows the pain he feels, and has felt it herself. "Should I tell her about Laurie?" she says. Oh yeah, I say. "I went to high school with her," Marsha says, "and I got a letter from her just a few weeks ago. She's in South Dakota. Her husband, Gary, died July 9. She's still fighting the VA for his benefits, even though doctors said it was from Agent Orange. Started with a melanoma near his jaw. He was in Vietnam until 1974. He was only 48. "But that's what the government wants. They want you either to die or get frustrated." Joe's gotten plenty frustrated, but he has refiled for federal disability payments even though he knows his claim is destined to rot in the Washington bureaucracy. So far, in the view of the Veterans Administration, he has a 10 percent hearing loss but is not entitled to any benefit as a result. Plus, he says, any disability payment he would get is deducted from his military pension. "Do you think if a senator fell down the steps of the Capitol, his disability payments would be taken out of his retirement?" he says. I don't know the answer to that, but I'm pretty sure Joe won't be writing to George Bush for one. Copyright ©1997-2003 PG Publishing Co., Inc [ 08-26-2003, 02:42 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

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