Thanks for the memories of Ft. Jackson!

none | 12/15/05 | Dan Brown

[BuddhaBrown]

Thanks for the memories!

I was a young recruit from Minnesota sent to Ft. Jackson for basic training twenty-some years ago. I was proud to serve then and I am very proud of the current batch of recruits there now that you highlighted.

The level of patriotism displayed by some of America's youth is almost miraculous considering the dregs of society who would seem to have the most influence over the 12-25 year old demographic:

Professional athletes demonstrate selfishness, self-aggrandizement and a complete lack of manners. If not now extinct, then certainly maturity, courage and self-sacrifice are at least endangered in professional sports since the death of the very honorable Corporal Pat Tillman.

Government and its schools often teach moral relativism and other terribly harmful liberal concepts. And the degree of incompetence displayed in the system seems to rise with the age of the attending students to the point where 'professor' seems now a rank awarded by the enemies of virtue to the most ungrateful, un-American educators.

Rappers preach vile hatred toward all things decent and violent disrespect to all folks female. If they traded their Tech-9s for AK-47s and learned to speak English they could pass for Islamists.

Liberal politicians and their comrades in the press love to blame America and Americans for everything including the weather. And, even though they disavow outsourcing, their brains have the stamp of that funniest of Marx Brothers, Karl, while their spines have a distinctly flexible French design.

Hollywood attacks patriotism and decency at every turn and awards moral decay with its highest honors. Now they would have us believe that one of our proudest icons, the American cowboy was not the hard-working, pistol-packing, justice-seeking gentleman that we thought but rather a hard-on-wielding, fudge-packing, thrill-seeking sissyboy.

For surviving the war on civility and engaging in the battle for common sense on a daily basis, these kids should all receive at least a bronze star just for making it to Ft. Jackson.

It is nice to know that we Americans can look to that segment of our youth for the inspiration that the above institutions once provided. And that inspiration is sometimes demonstrated at the early stages of young development. As an example, I have reprinted below a letter I sent to a local public elementary school. They had the kids (including my nephew Colton) write letters to relatives who are veterans and then read the responses in class. The fact that they requested the letters was encouraging enough. But the reaction to my somewhat patriotic response letter was even more heartening. My nephew was proud, the other kids respectful and even the teacher was grateful and not at all offended by the one mention of God and the one small swipe at liberal protesters.

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November 11, 2005

Dear Colton,

Thanks for the Veterans Day letter! I am proud of you and your school for remembering this special day. It is a day when Americans reflect on the fact that freedom is not free, it has cost this great country the lives of many good men and women.

In answer to your questions, I served three years in the Army with the 10th Special Forces Group Airborne, sometimes called the "Green Berets". Our motto was "De Oppresso Liber" which is a Latin phrase that means our job was to bring freedom to people who are oppressed.

I was a communications guy so I used all kinds of radios, satellite links and computers to do my job. I was also the NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical) guy for my platoon which meant I had to help train guys on what to do if those nasty weapons were used against us. The food was similar to school lunch food when we were back at our home post called Fort Devens in Massachusetts. But when we were in the field training we had to eat MREs which are not-so-good food in small plastic pouches.

We did all kinds of training including patrols for days through woods and swamps, always cold and wet and with very little sleep. And we jumped with parachutes out of big propeller planes called C-130s and jet planes called C-141s. We also jumped from and rappelled with ropes from helicopters.

Sometimes we had to jump out of planes at night along with hundreds of other guys all carrying our guns and about an eighty pound pack. It got kinda scary sometimes and dangerous. Many guys ended up tangled together or landing in trees and swamps and getting injured. Sometimes funny things happened too - our platoon's jumpmaster accidentally fell out of the plane over a shopping mall once but he was able to open his reserve chute and land safely embarrassed. Other training included mountain climbing and scuba diving which were both alot of fun.

I did have a gun, it was an M-16 automatic rifle. They made us practice taking it apart and putting it back together many times so that we would be able to do it very quickly and in the dark if necessary. We also trained using larger (50 cal.) machine guns, grenades, anti-tank weapons and explosives.

At the time I got out in the late 80's I was a sergeant in charge of a small team of guys. Those guys end up like your own brothers after living and training with them so long. I still miss some of my Army buddies twenty years later. We were fortunate in that America was not involved in any large wars during that time, but most Americans have a relative or loved one that has given their life to help keep people here and elsewhere free.

I know you have several relatives who are war veterans or who died in service. And you have an uncle on active duty right now in the middle east which is an area that has had very little freedom as we know it and which has produced most of the evil terrorists that plague the world today. But, thanks to America, that area now has two countries that are in the process of setting up free governments. Those 50 million people and their millions of descendents can then join the millions from America, Europe, Asia, the former Soviet Union and elsewhere that owe their freedom to people they don't even know, American soldiers, who fought and died.

Some people spend their lives whining and complaining that we should not be risking any lives in the pursuit of freedom. And some people spend their lives defending that freedom which allows others to lay around complaining. Veterans Day is a time to ignore the complainers and remember the soldiers who have served this country with honor. They are the ones who keep America free. And America cannot be great if it is not free. God bless America and those who serve the cause of freedom.

Love,

Dan "Uncle Buddha" Brown
Amery, WI

[BuddhaBrown]

I meant this as a reply to an article someone submitted about the current crop of recruits at Ft. Jackson. But I lost track of the thread or it died before I replied. Since I typed a long reply I wanted to post it somewhere. I Hope this is not the wrong place for it.

[Khurkris]

Dood Post Buddha. I did Ft. Jackson in late Aug. '68 and went on from there. I still have memories of that place. Some of which are almost pleasant.
We all gotta start somewhere..;-)

[DakotaRed]

Memories :)

I did Ft. Jackson in February '69 and like you, went on from there. In all, I got to experience a lot I never would have, both good and bad.

[GarySpFc]

I remember doing my basic training at Jackson in 1963, and went the full route after that. My DI at the time was SSgt. Constable, and every day he told me I positively would not make it.

[wafflehouse]

i spent some quality time in Ft. Jackson in early '97..
it seems more fun now than it did then :-)

[wafflehouse]

no, make that early '96.. i cant count today :-)

[Washi]

Ft. Jackson, July/August 1984.

[BuddhaBrown]

I was there shortly before you.
I had SSGT. Barnes and SSGT. Noble.

[Washi]

Those names don't ring a bell. I had SSGT. Smith (believe it or don't.)

Charlie, One, One. Right next to "Drag-A** Hill."

[miele man]

Must've changed the Battalion designation. I was in A-4-1 right across the street from the top of Drag Ass hill. The Bn HQ was right beside the top of the hill on the same side. This was in February 1967. I still have red clay in my pores from so much low crawling. It was snowing when we arrived and burning hot when we left in April. Loved it. Uh huh.

[MP5SD]

I was in B-4-1 ten years later in Feb 1977 I'll always remember the place and the water tower at the top of the hill. I spent alot of time out in the street in the front lean & rest.

[jmpmstr4u2]

I was a Drill Instructor there in 90-91. I have pleasant memories of that Base.

[miele man]

Yes, I recall the water tower but everything across the road behind our barracks was off limits. After qualifying on the rifle range, some of us were allowed to cross the road to a small snack bar that served 3.2 beer. Gosh, it was horrible.

I still laugh when I think about the NG from my platoon who was made to low crawl inside his firing position on the rifle range. As you know, there was barely enough room for one person to stand up in it and the DI had the rather round kid crawling around in it. He had almost shot the DI when he pointed a loaded M-14 away from down range and "at" the DI. Needless to say, the rest of us became even more vigilant about what we were doing on the range. This same kid would fall out of formation when we did double time runs just to cross an intersection.