[pepsionice]

In my family history....going back to the late 1800s....we had a member who jumped up four weeks after they declared the Spanish-American War and volunteered. He went off to bootcamp to some location out in Texas. Along the last week or so of bootcamp, the Army got pictures made of each guy (some memento I assume) and then suddenly....the war came to an end. This guy and the others in his group sat around for roughly six weeks while the Army tried to figure out what to do with them. Then they just dismissed them.

He comes back home with a uniform, a long-winded story about life in Texas, and this picture....and the claim to being a participant in the Spanish-American War. It’s all truthful....just that the war came to a fairly quick end by August and those in the first wave kinda ended the whole thing. War-hero status? He was in uniform, and prepared to give all....it’s just that the war ended shortly after it started.

[niteowl77]

I have a great-Grandfather whose Spanish-American War service is almost identical to what you described. He came home with an "I showed up" medal (as my soldier son call them) and for the rest of his life (and beyond) was a "Spanish-American War veteran." The truth of it all was that he could have possibly become a "hero," and he may have had really good motives for placing himself in a position to be one, but it didn't happen.

I hesitate to wade into the Trump/McCain threads, because I believe I know full well what Trump was really getting at, and at this point in time I will not cut John McCain any slack whatsoever. Most of the usual reliable GOPe mouthpieces will have detonated in indignation by the end of today, and as far as I am concerned, they can sputter and pop pointlessly in their own greasy skillet just like they always do. In the end, their goal is always to protect their own pet corrupt bastards (as in "John McCain") and keep the gray train rolling.

Mr. niteowl77