An Average Military Man

email sent to me | 11/15/03 | anonymous

[livesbygrace]

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 howitzer. 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. And now we even have woman over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so. As you go to bed tonight, remember this shot.. A short lull, a little shade and a picture of loved ones in their helmets.

[livesbygrace]

I thought this put kind of a face on some of our brave young men...

[Holly_P]

My son - an "old man" at age 29.

[dwilli]

The average age of the military man is 19 years

Untrue..The average age of recruits is 19 yrs old...The average age of the entire military is 24-25 ears old.

[Graybeard58]

Great big correction here. The picture is of MY son. I posted it with screen name Holly because she is a member here too and uses my comp (Holly is my 18 year old grand daughter). She went off and left her account still logged in and I didn't log out for her. Not a major screw up though. The soldier in the pic is her Uncle.

[VOA]

Ollie North gave his short version of the current "average" soldier in Iraq during a
recent airing on "Focus On The Family".

Actually, they aren't average these days...probably about the best-educated volunteer
Army ever fielded.

As much as it pains me to agree with an ivy-tower professor at USC, the prof
did sum up our current active military's face:
"More 'Shane', not as much 'John Wayne'."

(but I suspect some Marines would challenge the professor on that! LOL!)

[taxed2death]

The article left out one important description....they have brass ba!!s big enough they need wheel barrows to cart them around. As a group, these people (men and women) define bravery.

[Who dat?]

Untrue..The average age of recruits is 19 yrs old...The average age of the entire military is 24-25 ears old.

I always wondered about the 19 year-old average age claim. I know several that are career guys with 15-18 years in so far. That puts them in their 30’s at a minimum… There are a lot of people that fit that description too.

It would tend to skew the 19 year old figure upward, that’s all.

I don’t know where they pulled that figure from. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the average age of an Army infantryman in Viet Nam was 19 or so… maybe that’s where it came from.

[FormerlyAnotherLurker]

That's why I usually don't bother reading stuff "from e-mails". Especially when they say anonymous. They almost never are anonymous but are just someone too lazy to credit the author or search for the source.

" The mean age of all active officers was 34 years, while that of enlisted members was 27 years."

FROM:
http://www.defenselink.mil/prhome/poprep2001/chapter4/chapter4_4.htm

[FormerlyAnotherLurker]

Apology, the "too lazy" in my previous refers to the people who send the e-mails, not you.

[Cacophonous]

Nice post. It's easy to forget these just kids. I had dinner with a couple of young troopers; one fellow was nineteen with a wife and kid and another on the way. Good kid.

[Skwidd]

I'm 28, and have been in ten years. My guess is that the average E-1 to E-4 is 20-24 years old. They refer to me as 'the old man' because I know that Ozzy Osbourne had a job before he had a TV show. Gosh, I even have some of his songs--not on MP3, but on one of those primitive CDs! Doesn't the old man know that no one actually buys music anymore?!?!?

Funny stuff. Oh yeah, and go ahead and make comments about my academic ability and perceived brainpower ('can't spell very well'). I have a bachelor's degree (and am working on my master's) and have given more than one smart-ass college hippy a run for his money. And I'm not even the best among them--there are some Nuclear Power squids who can make me look stupid without even trying.

[dwilli]

It's the spin that the antiwar factions put on any conflict
to make it appear that the only military people fighting the war are young, underprivileged, uneducated boys fresh from the farms and housing projects.

[ken in texas]

... Ozzy Osbourne had a job before he had a TV show. Gosh, I even have some of his songs--not on MP3, but on one of those primitive CDs!

CDs??? Those new fangled things? I've got Ozzy on vinyl... :)

Take care, and God Bless!!

[Eagle Eye]

Damn dude. You got me. <<<>>>> These guys are great, they're not usually clean, but they're in great spirits.

[FormerlyAnotherLurker]

H_ll, I can top that - I've Got Ozzy on vinyl. A sort of black plastic disk like thing, used during Fred Flintstone's time, occasionally recovered in archeological diggings...

My father's nickname in the 8th AF in WWII was Pappy, 'cause he was so old - 26 - flying B17s.
Most(all?) of the guys I deal with, officers - O5+, some E7s, have graduate degrees, a lot with PhD.s (PhD in a real subject not education - I know quite a few teachers and taught some Ed grad students in summer school - the dumbest students in college outside the AD). So I'm well aware of the quality. Most of my civilian friends are shocked and think I'm lying -they can't be THAT smart if they're in the service, etc. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. As a group I'd say the military is smarter than the general population. Easily smarter!

When I searched for the e-mail text I found it lots of places. I heard it more than a year ago on the radio and the average age of 19 stuck out like a sore thumb. I meant to track down a source but decided I've better things to do.

[Skwidd]

H_ll, I can top that - I've Got Ozzy on vinyl.

Vinyl? Oh, you mean for the gramaphone! I've heard of those. Dealing with that hand crank must be a real pain.

(Skwidd runs away, cackling madly, barely evading the grasping hands of his elders)

[VOA]

livesbygrace, I apologize to you and Jim Robinson for a short diversion of your thread...
but I thought some folks might like details on how to really tick off Saddam, Osama,
and their buddies: send a package to some good soul doing the heavy lifting in Iraq,
Afghanistan or elsewhere.

Dear Fellow Freepers...I'm hi-jacking this thread for a short side-bar in hopes to inform you and to motivate y'all just a bit.....
the deadline (November 13th) for mailing military care-packages via the APO/FPO route to
our best and brightest has passed.

BUT...you can still mail military care packages!
I know, I DID IT YESTERDAY! (Saturday 11-15-03)

TIME to:
SHOP
BOX
and
MAIL

for shipping advice, see threads at these URLs:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1003802/posts
(please not that the USPS website URL are missing a ".com"),
and remember to mark the "Redirect" box and write in "Commander/Chaplain"
on the Customs form...that way your box will definitely be used
AND
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/997310/posts


Further info. on VOA's mailing of two packages on 11-15-03, Saturday

I'll admit that it's costly. I loaded up one of the free "Priority Mail" cardboard boxes from the
local United States Post Office.
I loaded up each of two boxes with all sorts of "comfort food" and "personal hygiene" items that
should be useful, no matter if the recipient gets them or they are redirected by a "commander/chaplain".

I loaded each boxes with food items like...
flavored coffeed (e.g, hazelnut flavored that had sugar in the blend),
artificially-sweetened Tropical-Punch-flavored Kool-Aid (so sugar isn't required),
Spam-brand "Oven-roasted Turkey" (no pork products; metal-sealed for long-term preservation)...something
that a hungry Iraqi might really appreciate as a gift),
Lipton soup-packets in the flavors of "chicken noodle", "ranch", and "beef onion" (humble, but a change of pace!)
Oreo Cookies ("America's Favorite Cookie"...so I bet US soliders like 'em),
M&Ms -- holiday-colors...bet those will be well received around the tent!,
disposable razors (and a bar of "Burma-Shave" brand shaving soap!),
new toothbrushes (heck, might just be useful in cleaning an M-16!) and toothpaste,
solid-form under-arm deoderant....

I'm sure that folks who've actually served in a long-term deployment far from home, especially when separated
from beloved family and friends DURING THE HOLIDAYS can come up with even much more meaningful
and significant items to send to those who are abroad...protecting us, their fellow band of brothers and sisters,
and, at a long reach.....you and me.