Obama and the Minister

Let me help you understand a little more about me. I am the son of a career AF officer who worked deep in intelligence. I was in my “terrible twos” when I met my dad for the first time. He had been recalled to service after WWII for the Berlin Airlift. After that, he was in Korea and God knows where until he got sent to Germany in the mid-50s (we went with him wherever he was stationed except for the war zones)). By the time I enlisted in the Navy, in many respects, I had already served over 16 years in the military as a dependent. As an intelligence operative, my father was considered dangerous enough to the USSR that they tried on several occasions to murder him.

My brother, my sister and I, as well as my grandfathers (career) and great grandfathers (also career) all served in the military. My mother’s dad was my dad’s CO in the Coast Artillery in the early part of WWII. That’s where my mom and dad met.

And (says he, piling on), lest you think I was just a crappy sailor with a bad attitude, I thoroughly appreciated the training I received, loved the jobs I had, truly liked the people I worked with and enjoyed the places I went while I was in the Navy. But, a life in the Navy wasn’t for me OR my sister (a Navy nurse), nor was life in the Army for my brother. We all made different choices.

That doesn’t mean that military life is bad, it just wasn’t for us. You liked it enough to make (I guess) a career of it and I say more power to you. It’s people like you and my dad and my grandfathers and great grandfathers that make it possible for people like me and my brother and sister to pursue other options. For that, I say to you, as I say to those currently serving in the military, “thank you for your service”. Your service and your sacrifice are above and beyond the call.

When I enlisted in the Navy, I did so to avoid the draft and, because of Vietnam, I was never going to be able to get a job with any career potential because I hadn’t served my country, nor had I been declared 4F. When I completed my first enlistment in 1971, I couldn’t get a job with any career potential (even with an avionics background) because I HAD served my country . . . . . . . and John Kerry, Jane Fonda, Walter Cronkite and the rest of the DBM had changed the public’s opinion not only of the progress of the Vietnam War, but had smeared the characters of those of us serving at the time.

When I was in-country, even as a member of a flight crew, I wasn’t issued a weapon and never fired a shot at any time. Still, I was treated as a doper and baby killer by those in private industry when the only thing I wanted to do was get a good job, finish college and mind my own business. But, society’s attitude towards Vietnam era veterans made that goal impossible which is why I went back after 15 months.

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