I am a former Marine and it wouldn’t be slander if be after, I’d be after the Army dog who attempted to rat me out and tell him he doesn’t rate to blow his breath in my presence and then proceed to dress down the “officer” like he’s never had an ass chewing before. This would be in an attempt to illicit an aggressive action and then on his back he goes.
Agreed that the prior Army individual had no business bothering the old man, who made no extravagant claims about his service. Neither did the police, though they were or had been Marines according to the article. There have also been quite a few changes in Army uniforms since the 1950s. Same with Marine uniforms? My dad was in the Army infantry in the early ‘50s.
I was 31, when I went through initial training, by the way (referred to as “old man” and many other more interesting names). Felt that I owed something to my slightly older peers who’d gone to Vietnam.
There were a couple of twins in the same platoon because of the “buddy program” recruiting effort of that time—my platoon. A drill sergeant slapped one of them, and the other one yelled, “Ow!” [Yeah, it was probably pre-arranged.]
Temps went over 100 degrees many days. During that three months, we only wished they’d make us swim. ;-)