Take a good hard look at #11's pic. No, not the cat. Check out her eyes. Look, when you are an adult, you are supposed to act like an adult. When you are in the military, you are supposed to represent the USA, and yourself, impeccably. I think she might have a congenital problem, or maybe it is the lack of oxygen at birth.
It is well known that our soldiers and defenders of America, come from the ranks of the poor. How much time did JFK jr spend in the military? Have Barbara and Jenna signed up for a tour? I'm not dissing them, but it points out the difference. Everyone can joke about trailer trash, but I think I'd rather have Lynndie cover my ass, than Paris Hilton.
Popular myth. The vast majority come from middle class backgrounds. Even the members from minority groups, although there they tend to be lower middle class. The poor join gangs. Officers tend to come from the middle class as well, perhaps with a bit of shading towards the upper end, but not much.
Most of the officers I know, especially those who were not formerly enlisted members, come from what those around here that are so quick to denigrate others, might call the wimp or egghead classes. Very few Captain America types, not all that many jocks, although a few.
"It is well known that our soldiers and defenders of America, come from the ranks of the poor. How much time did JFK jr spend in the military? Have Barbara and Jenna signed up for a tour? I'm not dissing them, but it points out the difference. Everyone can joke about trailer trash, but I think I'd rather have Lynndie cover my ass, than Paris Hilton."
Thank you! I look EXACTLY like she does in my Basic Training Photo. I had been up for about 48 hours straight, in an environment that was totally foreign to me (a 17 year old white farm girl!) and scared to DEATH of my Drill Sergeants at that point in time. They take those photos about 1 week into your training. Every Soldier/Sailor/Air Force/Marine/Coast Guard puke can attest to that.
Now...as far as Abu G. goes, I think she's being scapegoated. I don't deny that this has been a terrible blight on the reputation of our military because we hold ourselves to the Highest Standard possible, but Puh-leeze.
When held up against ANY military force in the world, we still rock. We're still the most compassionate when it comes to winning wars and killing the enemy. ;)
Let's not lose sight of the fact that it was a soldier working at Abu G. that saw something wrong and reported it to his Commander and it went up and down the Chain of Command from here. The military could've totally covered this up, but they didn't. They found the guilty and punished them; I'm just not sure this girl should be carrying this large of a sentencing burden.
I've known plenty of military personally that were not "firing on all cylinders." In an All Volunteer force you're going to get Einsteins and you're going to get Gomers.
That's just a Fact, Jack!