Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Are "support the troops" and "thank you for your service" just empty phrases?
US Defense Watch ^ | November 4, 2015 | Ray Starmann

Posted on 11/04/2015 12:39:13 AM PST by pboyington

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-40 last
To: pboyington
The Vietnam War was a different story entirely. In many ways, it was the beginning of the giant schism in American society between the military and the public. Even though there was a draft, wealthy kids could stay in college on deferment after deferment, while others who couldn't afford college or who didn't have the brains or the desire to attend a university, were subject to the draft and a ticket to Southeast Asia.

But some of those who had the means and the brains enlisted and didn't wait for the draft.

For those who had the means but not the inclination, the deferment was the means by which the New Left skewed the pool of teachers, sociologists, psychologists, journalists, etc. to the Left, towards their Communist ideologies, and so populated those sectors with people polluted by their ideology they guaranteed the next wave of leftist minds would have the credentials to propel their mindset forward another generation.

While Americans were winning the war in jungles, rice paddies, and skies over Southeast Asia, another war was being lost in the universities and television studios of America.

The result: a gigantic cultural divide between the mainly blue collar military and the public who gradually began to blame the war on the troops and began to lash out at the brave men who fought in Vietnam.

A public who had lost the basic belief that our cause was just, our warriors noble in their task, who had lost sight that the fight for freedom at home and abroad was a worthy fight, because their minds had been filled with the muddied mush our enemies fed them daily from the bully pulpits of the news media, the entertainment sector, and every aspect of popular culture.

In sync with our enemies' agenda, even as we showed our martial might, we allowed our cause to be undermined, we quit having our children pledge their allegiance to their Country and their God at the start of their school day, abandoned clarity of thought for the 'expansion of minds' and turned our cultural back on the concept that an idea can be unequivocally right to the exclusion of all other ideas. While the messiness of war was played across magazine pages and the television to horrify the insulated masses, the slaughter of babies in the womb was declared a 'right'.

There are some things which will always be right, and some which will never be right. There are some people, people who do or did run toward the sounds of trouble rather than away, who know this deep in the fiber of their being. For them no explanation is necessary; for those who do not understand, none will suffice.

America has trivialized so much with 'hashtag this' and "save the..." that that even sincere thanks come out in catch phrases that have been stripped of value and become cliches, despite being genuinely meant to convey respect, thanks, and admiration.

Just send a check, pennies a day to...and you will be absolved... That is what 'caring' has been largely reduced to. People 'communicate' via Facebook or linkedin or text back and forth across the table, not face to face.

Scoundrels do hide behind those phrases, and the sincere may be stripped of credibility by the triteness of those combinations of words that rise so easily, almost fashionably to their lips, no matter how sincerely they are meant.

And while you were away, some pencil-neck in human resources was cooking up a new policy which would have you keel-hauled for calling some stupid ______ (fill in the blank) a stupid ______ (fill in the blank) in just so many words.

It makes the transition from living and playing and fighting rough to the rabbithole of civilian Candyland harder; the tendency to engage in conflict resolution under a different, more basic set of rules suddenly unacceptable--to the same people you were fighting for.

Keep in mind most of them have never had to depend on the person next to them for their well being or their very lives. Some of them have only watched another's back for the opportunity to put the proverbial knife in.

Many who are sincere will find another way to say thanks, beyond the phrases rendered trite by people who use them without understanding, but that does not mean those who do understand mean what they say any less when they say thanks. Take it at face value, most of us mean it.

FWIW, I am not a veteran, was a firefighter/EMS for a while, and have worked nearly 4 decades in the oil patch, where about half of the people I have worked with have been veterans.

When I say "Thanks" --and that's for whatever you did, from paperwork or answering phones to heavy contact--I mean it.

21 posted on 11/04/2015 3:01:54 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Smokin' Joe

This is year zero 15. I cannot fathom all the work and expenditure. I only know we are being played...Big Time.


22 posted on 11/04/2015 3:17:39 AM PST by noodler (!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: mylife

We saw this too. I need not recount... the Dear price...
Okay I’ll say it. He wants it.
Don’t speak, I don’t know your reasons
I don’t know your getting to
Don’t tell me cause it hurts
Oh Gosh NO
Leak to press my honey
Shooting field my baby
OH, Oh
We have to go to a funeral at the same day as our trip?


23 posted on 11/04/2015 3:31:59 AM PST by noodler (!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: pboyington

They mean well, but it does embarrass me. The ones they should thank are the ones that did not come home. I can not remember my time in the Jungles of Viet Nam without wondering why me? Why did I survive, and the man next to me did not?

It embarrasses me that I survived.


24 posted on 11/04/2015 3:32:21 AM PST by CIB-173RDABN (Nothing to add at the moment)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: noodler

No matter how hard the rank and file work, nor how well they do what is expected of them, the CEO and the BOD can bring the company down.


25 posted on 11/04/2015 3:35:25 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Smokin' Joe

Amen on that,Smokin


26 posted on 11/04/2015 3:41:16 AM PST by noodler (!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: pboyington

>>some kind of psychological Band-Aid for the majority of Americans who will never serve and have no desire to serve?

That’s what it is for most Americans. It’s just a form of fandom, much like the sports fans who talk about what “we” did on the field last weekend.


27 posted on 11/04/2015 3:50:22 AM PST by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: noodler

Why in the freaking world would any administration say they were going to put the best into a place at a time unless they want them to be a target? This is beyond insanity. This is murder. I hope this is a smokescreen for something else and probably is both.


28 posted on 11/04/2015 3:50:44 AM PST by noodler (!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Bryanw92

It was always a higher MORAL ground. That was ammunition we earned and was pissed away.


29 posted on 11/04/2015 3:56:35 AM PST by noodler (!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: pboyington

The “hero” stuff is a bit much. My military service was simply because I felt it was an obligation I should fulfill, I did and moved on.

Today (more than I saw in the past) there is rampant rent-seeking in the military (fake end-of-service disability, PTSD). It’s impossible to have a rational discussion on how to limit these costs.

Senior leadership is rewarded for political achievement and implementation of social engineering. Half of the defense budget is consumed with non-military stuff. You’ve never seen a senior level resignation when stupid things that put troops at risk are asked of them (such as unthinkable ROE in fighting an enemy)

In the past military service was something you did and then returned to your life. Today it’s an entirely separate culture that is deliberately set apart from the rest of America. Taxpayers are expected to pay for lavish benefits for retirees who have no way of really knowing what it’s like to be a taxpaying American just trying to get by

The ability to get a lifetime “check” and basket of benefits seems to be the goal for a large part of military members/spouses.

It’s enormously expensive for what we get, and we aren’t likely to be able to sustain it.

There are taxpayer heroics that are unappreciated paying for our entire Federal rent-seeking bureaucracy, including the military.


30 posted on 11/04/2015 4:05:52 AM PST by RFEngineer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Iron Munro

Liberals mouth phrases “Support the troops” to provide cover for their true leftist beliefs and their dislike for nationalism, the military, weapons and Americanism in general.


Not too far off. They want to “support” the troops with social services (and social engineering). Y’know, things that will tie up the Military in knots. Not things they really need, like up to date weapons and equipment that will help them win wars.

And, when no one is looking, they will advocate cuts to pay and benefits.


31 posted on 11/04/2015 4:08:51 AM PST by rbg81 (is pr)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: pboyington

Either support or disdain for the military rests solely with the utterly corrupt old media monopoly. The new media has reignited genuine gratitude for our warriors. The old media had citizens spitting on our Vietnam vets. Jane Fonda should have been executed.


32 posted on 11/04/2015 4:10:52 AM PST by Neoliberalnot (Marxism works well only with the uneducated and the unarmed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pboyington

A few years ago I was at the Albertsons Grocery in Stuart, Florida.(which has since been closed).
I saw an older gent with a navel cap on and went and thanked him for his service.
He looked at me, smiled, broke down and started crying.
His cap said U.S.S. Indianapolis.


33 posted on 11/04/2015 4:16:19 AM PST by Joe Boucher ( Obammy is a lie, a mooselimb and pond scum.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rbg81
Not too far off. They want to "support" the troops with social services (and social engineering).
Y'know, things that will tie up the Military in knots. Not things they really need, like up to date weapons and equipment that will help them win wars.
And, when no one is looking, they will advocate cuts to pay and benefits.

Details may vary but the heart of the matter is that posturing, lying and covering up are the liberals stock in trade.

liberals simply mouth platitudes while scheming to undermine the military and America.


34 posted on 11/04/2015 6:22:33 AM PST by Iron Munro (<p> The wise have stores of choice food and oil but a foolish man devours all he has. Proverbs 21:20)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: dp0622

Do Vets feel this at all times in War?

When I first deployed to Iraq I was rather nervous about possibly getting killed/wounded. The FOB I was at was for a time known as mortar alley. The first few times we took rockets/mortars I was quite beside myself with the “Oh crap!” feeling. After many days of it I was more annoyed than anything else.
My wife asked me how it was and I told her it was boring. When she finally found out about the rockets/mortars she asked me how I could say it was boring. I told her that after it happening so often for so long it became boring.
I do still get that tingle in my stomach in certain times/situations. Such as when driving along and seeing an item along the side of the road that just doesn’t look right. And I absolutely HATE driving in the lane next to those concrete barriers!


35 posted on 11/04/2015 6:30:05 AM PST by rfreedom4u (Rick Chollett for President!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Joe Boucher

I always says thanks to the older vets from Vietnam and before. One Vietnam vet actually got teary-eyed when I shook his hand and told him “Welcome Home!”

After my 26 years of service I feel like we should be apologizing to the older vets for pissing away what they fought to keep.


36 posted on 11/04/2015 6:36:03 AM PST by rfreedom4u (Rick Chollett for President!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: pboyington

The lyrics to Taps!

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest
God is nigh.

Fading light dims the sight
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright
From afar, drawing near
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise for our days
Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars’, ‘neath the sky’
As we go, this we know
God is nigh.


37 posted on 11/04/2015 6:37:16 AM PST by rfreedom4u (Rick Chollett for President!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rfreedom4u

thanks for your service man. I will back up my thanks with increased donations to the brain damaged soldiers. I feel for them terribly. I am sorry you have to go to the stress of noticing things while driving even. I am glad you got back safe.


38 posted on 11/04/2015 7:35:34 AM PST by dp0622
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: pboyington

Veterans are the buffer zone, the middlemen and women, who can and should educate civilians about the military and more importantly about service to this country.


And here I thought Vets were terrorists as told to me by Homeland inSecurity. Learn something new every day.

The more dumbed down and leftist the younger generation is made via propaganda in “education”, the less volunteers the military will have.

The more the military becomes an anti-Christian, homo dominate man rape machinery, the less normal people will join the military. The more unconstitutional and evil our country’s government becomes, the less there will be in motivation to fight for freedom on the side of the government.

Obama has made some serious challenges for the US military. As intended...


39 posted on 11/04/2015 8:59:03 AM PST by SaraJohnson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pboyington; All

If anyone has any other ideas for contributing, please post:

Any Soldier
http://www.anysoldier.com/index.cfm


40 posted on 11/04/2015 12:29:47 PM PST by beaversmom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-40 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson