The main difference between, if I may, the people who think and feel as we do and the people who only see things from one direction is that it must be a great deal more comfortable to be doctrinaire.
Joe, I think you have it nailed at least from my point of view. My entire family, on the male side has served in so many wars, the civil war (U.S. Army three years), WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. The troops are me and my family. In fact my great uncle Bill served with the 1st MarDiv in both world wars, was gassed in WWI and tried to enlist again for Korea, he was found out though and told he was to old but not before the Denver Post carried a picture of him in uniform taking the oath again.
Uncle Bill was gassed in WWI, Mustard Gas, he was very ill and temporarily blinded. In WWII he spent the entire war in the Pacific and I know you all know what that means. One uncle was at Pearl Harbor and another at the Battle of the Bulge. My dad spent all of WWII and some kind of secret Army Air Corps base in Brazil, and I worked for the Naval Amphibious Command during Vietnam.
Having lived in San Diego for so many years and because of my family history I have to say I love the troops. They are fine young men and women. But all wars are political in the beginning and that will always be so. Today while I was out on errands I saw a Marine Corps recruiting office and stopped in to get a Semper Fi sticker for the bumper of my car. When they looked up as I came in the door I told them that at age 56 I was able, willing, and ready to serve. They were shocked and laughed heartily when I told them what I really wanted. Then the best thing happened one of the guys their had been to Iwakuni, Japan, were I was at the end of the Vietnam war and we swapped Iwakuni stories, he was maybe 25 at the most. It was great.
Funny thing though is all that I know about the history of the military involvement of my family with the exception of my great, great grandfather is what I pried out of them. Even my dad, none of them really talked much about war. I did not know my Uncle Pete was at Pearl Harbor until 1965 and then he just casually mentioned in passing.
This war is different - we have a cowboy in charge with a cabinet of oil entrepreneurs. Sheesh.
I don't doubt that your folks didn't talk much about being in the various wars. I have always found that to be true about veterans. They talk about it, if at all, to other veterans who have a better understanding of what it is to be in the midst of war.
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I would ask you one thing though. Please, there is a group of men who have been disparaged unjustly throughout their existence. Their name, and in some cases, themselves, have been dragged through the mud. Though it is true that some have not lived up to the highest principles of their group, especially in regards to social habits and hygiene, we cannot continue to allow the denigration of these proud men.
You said:
Quote: This war is different - we have a cowboy in charge with a cabinet of oil entrepreneurs. Sheesh.
This is an insult to all cowboys.
Joe
You are right Joe Nation and I apologize muchly - being a native Coloradoan, spent a lot of time on a ranch on the Western Slope, and I am huge fan of the PRCA and two steppin. Guess the press has brain washed me.
Good grief what can I say.
When I lived in Washington, D.C. and used to come to Texas every year people were always asking me about all the "beautiful" Texas women and my reply was always who has time to notice other women when there are so many great looking cowboys that look so good in their jeans.
One of my big problems with this whole thing is that it isn't and never has been a war, no matter how much it's called that.
Did anybody ever seriously think that the huge American military might wouldn't be able to crush Iraq? I think some of the implications of what we have wrought may just now be starting to sink in.
And from what I've read about cowboys, they were nothing at all like Bush. Which only goes to further prove the fact that this is a totally uneducated, disinterested person.
You are right mama this is just another battle like the Gulf War. This is nothing comapred to Midway, or D-Day, or the American Civil War. This is a techno war plotted on a computer just like a game.
