Veterans - Would you do it again?

Originally posted by zooplancton
reply to post by NightSkyeB4Dawn

 

i dunno,
on a day to day basis, officers get way better living conditions and quarters, and basic life essentials than the enlisted do. at least in the USN they do. grunt work vs. educated work. i'd go for the later.

You ever hear the saying, "The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence"?

I know you that they were always throwing around the business about "Rank has it's privileges". Well I never got far enough up the ladder to find the privileges all that great.

The quarters that I lived in when I first went in left me with no sleep because I could hear the rats trying to get into the boxes and bags in my storage cabinets. I won't talk about those creatures that they kept trying to tell me were Palmetto bugs that to this day I am convinced are nothing more then roaches on military rations.

High ranking officers probably do get quite a few perks but first you have to get there and it is not easy.

Especially for ones like me that had too hard of a time remembering what is in the books.

reply to post by NightSkyeB4Dawn


I'm not ex-military, I don't think I'd be able to handle it!

I just wanted to say I think this is a really great question, I'll be reading the replies keenly, I respect any man or woman that serves his or her country.

Nice one!

I joined the Marine Corps in 1967 at the age of 17 and in less than 2 years was a disabled veteran that had spent the better part of a 12 1/2 month tour of duty in Vietnam carrying a PRC-25 radio on my back.... I was treated like crap by people that were aware of where I'd been....I had sat at a mass job interview in a large room full of vets and very few that weren't to learn that all of the vets had failed the psychological test, due to their distrust of authority figures. They gave the job to an 18 year old that had been out of high school 4 months..... The government and corporate America don't like veterans was the lesson that I learned and it is still that way from my point of view.... Would I do it again?..... I would rather eat dog feces off of a dirty spoon..... Let the corporate pigs earn their profits doing good for people instead of sending their children off to kill and die in third world countries that are populated with people not of the Christian faith and white in colour..... Would I fight for my country? Yes for the people but not against a loosely defined enemy for corporate gains.

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn

Originally posted by jam321
I would do it in a New York minute.

The military life is just a part of me that just won't die.

Hard to explain but it just one of the few places where I honestly felt that I belonged.

The military life is truly something that is hard to understand unless you have experienced it.

It really is unlike any other and I don't believe that anything else even comes close.

It is never perfect yet in some ways it is living through those experiences that are imperfect that adds to the strength of our units.

It does become a part of you because you are such a large and important part of the whole.

The most important lesson that you learn in the military is that survival is not always about the size and sophistication of your weapons.

So beautifully said...it is the imperfections that make it so...incredible!

I join with four of my brothers (friends) at the time and all of them fell-out through basic training.

I went on through Jump School and 3/4 of Ranger School before I was involved in a parachute accident (100ft. free fall), which forced me into the 82nd Airborne and medical retirement.

I would not change anything...told I would never walk again...yes, I am walking and no one would know unless I told them!

Never bet against a soldier, you will lose that bet!

I will always be a soldier...

Originally posted by hypervigilant
I joined the Marine Corps in 1967 at the age of 17 and in less than 2 years was a disabled veteran that had spent the better part of a 12 1/2 month tour of duty in Vietnam carrying a PRC-25 radio on my back.... I was treated like crap by people that were aware of where I'd been....I had sat at a mass job interview in a large room full of vets and very few that weren't to learn that all of the vets had failed the psychological test, due to their distrust of authority figures. They gave the job to an 18 year old that had been out of high school 4 months..... The government and corporate America don't like veterans was the lesson that I learned and it is still that way from my point of view.... Would I do it again?..... I would rather eat dog feces off of a dirty spoon..... Let the corporate pigs earn their profits doing good for people instead of sending their children off to kill and die in third world countries that are populated with people not of the Christian faith and white in colour..... Would I fight for my country? Yes for the people but not against a loosely defined enemy for corporate gains.

I see Vets several times a week that have been short changed by the system. Forgotten or ignored by our government representatives and under valued by the people that you gave up so much for.

You can not help but be angry and there are many that feel exactly the way you do and it is clearly understandable.

After giving so much and to receive so little, not so much as a thank you or a chance at a decent life, why would they volunteer to do it again.

For all of the men and women that have served our country and have bee sorely treated we bare the shame for that.

There is no shame in your anger and you deserved better. We have let you down and we have let ourselves down. America is so much greater then what we have let her become.

WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN?

Are you kidding me? Absolutely and then some. I served in combat arms from 1991-2005 and am thankful for all the training I received.

During my first couple of years out, I felt a little lost sometimes thinking that I served no purpose to those outside of the military. I mean not much use for a worn out warrior. But now, I am thankful that if/when the SHTF I'll be able to protect my family or others that need it and help them survive. I would be honored to be given that opportunity.

NEC ASPERA TERENT - No Fear on Earth

[edit on 28-5-2009 by OnTheFelt]

Going to be sad if some conspiracy theories turn out to be true, here we have so many loyal Americans willing to still serve and die for their country, but we'll never know if the government are secretly killing their own citizens, murdering the masses, planning attacks with NWO, etc.

It's a shame.

Originally posted by Deus Ex Machina 42
Going to be sad if some conspiracy theories turn out to be true, here we have so many loyal Americans willing to still serve and die for their country, but we'll never know if the government are secretly killing their own citizens, murdering the masses, planning attacks with NWO, etc.

It's a shame.

I am putting all my faith and trust in the loyal Americans.

I am banking on the fact that they are prepared to protect America and the American citizen.

The NWO is not America it is a global cabal that's only purpose is to control all the people by controlling the money, the water and the food.

I pray that not only America and those willing to fight for her will be in that battle if it comes. I pray that every military and every citizen of every other country that is under their radar and wish to remain free will be fighting that battle with us.

Yes i served from 1970 to 76 in the us navy and am a vietnam vet.
and yes i would do it again.

I get care at the VA from some of the best doctors from UCLA medical school.

Have had 5 way heart bypass surgery done by a top cardiac surgeon from UCLA and get all my meds for free.

i would never have been able to pay for medical insurance after i became disabled. and would have not been able to get the high level of care without the VA.

I also get a VA disability pension that i live on all a lot better then social security disability.

reply to post by Deus Ex Machina 42


This government you're talking about murdering the masses in a NWO scenario, trust me. It won't go like they may be thinking it will.

A lot of folks may go down, but they'll be taking a large company with them.

Too many, far too many former combat vets that are now civilians. Not just vets, mind you, but experienced combat vets.

You CAN kill them, but they don't die worth a damn.

Is a frog's ass water tight?

The answer is yes.

Sorry for the one liner.

reply to post by Deus Ex Machina 42


It has always been speculative or corporate conspiracy that has lead this and other nations to war for at least the last three centuries.

There is no way I would miss out on that time of my life. Despite getting cancer from my job, the military was a great expierence for me. I had the chance to repair many things I would not have seen otherwise and maybe I repaired some things I would have never known even existed otherwise. I travelled the world, made many great friends, and picked up a wife in Japan. On top of all the other mentioned benefits, now I get a check from the military just for waking up each day.

Not only would I do it again, I would go back anytime they call.

reply to post by ANNED


I am also drawing V.A. Comp (100%) and it is less than half of what I made before everything caught up with me 20 years ago..... I would have more medical choices if I was a minority unwed mother on welfare..... I hate that I traded my physical health, mental well being and earning capabilities for a tiny fraction of the daily profits of the war profiteers.

Originally posted by hypervigilant
reply to post by ANNED

 

I am also drawing V.A. Comp (100%) and it is less than half of what I made before everything caught up with me 20 years ago..... I would have more medical choices if I was a minority unwed mother on welfare..... I hate that I traded my physical health, mental well being and earning capabilities for a tiny fraction of the daily profits of the war profiteers.

I don't know where you live and I don't know which VA you utilize but I see both sides of the fence on a weekly basis.I would never make the assumption that I know your circumstances nor I am I making excuses for a systems that is often unfair, especially to our disabled Vets. But you don't want to trade your benefits or your health care for what is available to an unwed mother on welfare minority or otherwise.

Things may be different in your state but in mine the welfare system is lacking and dwindling. Our emergency rooms are bulging at the seams because we can't turn away people that come in for treatment and many doctors refuse Medicaid so the only place left is the ER. Sometimes people have to wait days to be seen unless they are presenting with a true emergency.

From where you are sitting it looks like everyone else has it easy and is reaping the rewards of your efforts but the truth is that the whole system is broken and we have all been dumped into the same heap.

If we are going to get out this mess we are going to have to do what we know best. Putting our differences behind us and working as a cohesive unit for change.

I know you don't want to hear this crap and you probably would like to make those responsible feel your pain. Well we are long pass due a through house cleaning and I don't mean a change of the same old guard.

While we are making changes we have to make sure that they leave with only what they came with. This business of paying these thieves into perpetuity has to stop also.

Originally posted by dooper
reply to post by Deus Ex Machina 42

 

This government you're talking about murdering the masses in a NWO scenario, trust me. It won't go like they may be thinking it will.

A lot of folks may go down, but they'll be taking a large company with them.

Too many, far too many former combat vets that are now civilians. Not just vets, mind you, but experienced combat vets.

You CAN kill them, but they don't die worth a damn.

Please express yourself...I respect (Highly) you and your past ATS post!!! I am a vet and see the direction I hope you are not traveling down!!!

reply to post by dooper


dooper,

I can not speak for everyone, but only myself...I sleep in the shadows, but I am in the public, and awake. I am well versed an I am not afaird.

Many vets are in the same place in life, waiting for their moment to protect the constitution and those it is meant to protect!!!

reply to post by NightSkyeB4Dawn


As much as I should have choked a Captain to death, and if we met now in a dark alley only one of us would walk out alive... I wouldn't trade my experience in the military for anything.

If I had not of joined the military...

I would never have seen Europe or Israel.
I would never have seen Africa.

I would never have spent the night underneath an endless sea of stars on a mountain in the wilds of the Horn of Africa, reading "Dracula" with only the light of the moon to see by and chatting idly with my fellow Sailors and Soldiers.

I would have never seen a hurricane over the Atlantic Ocean... on a ship a safe distance away, mind you.

I would have never met French Foreign Legion SPEC OPS members who were not only great men, but completely insane in their training.

I would have never gotten to give bottled water and a handshake to a wandering goat herder on the sands of the desert in Djibouti.

I would have never fired a .50 cal

...and the list could go on and on.

Yes, absolutely, without a doubt.

Without hesitation!!!

USMC Veteran, 5 years...

It made me who and what I am....

Semper