From my cold dead hands! - A little Gun History

Originally posted by hypervigilant
reply to post by TopElite

 

Right now with the awakening of people all over the world that have taken to the streets and the redeployment of the troops in Iran I am feeling uneasy... Hopefully the guys coming home aren't as brainwashed as my boot camp training platoon was when asked if we had to be sent to L.A. if riots were to occur would we shoot to kill civilians if ordered to do so? We all answered yes.. We'd returned from 2 weeks of rifle training at Camp Pendleton that day and were told we may have to be sent there because Dr Martin Luther King had been shot and killed in Memphis and riots were expected in Watts... I am still amazed at how thoroughly conditioned we all had become in 6 weeks...I am afraid that things and times are about right for us to find out who will or won't lock, load, and fire first...  

I share your current uneasiness. I was talking with a civilian buddy of mine just last week about martial law. He is totally confident that our military would never use force against Americans.

I'm with you on this. I think a good number of active duty military would follow orders. They would totally believe they were defending our country from "domestic terrorists" and would feel justified in killing us if told to do so. Most are just kids with very little critical thinking skills and even less life experience. 

I also remember an incident at Camp Pendleton when I was there (early 90's). There was a big rise in gang activity near base and several drive-by shootings had occurred between gang members and the MP's at the gate. I remember our security group piling into a truck locked and loaded one evening to confront these civilian gang bangers. Fortunately they fled before we arrived (hence the term drive-by) but, I know I was ready to shoot some American citizens that day. 

If martial law is declared one day I truly hope the majority will use restraint and good judgement. Hopefully we won't find out...the good news is there are more veterans out here than there are active duty. 

reply to post by seabag
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Being an old man I am still shocked when I think of the first time I was under fire and how a platoon of grunts didn't hesitate to run into the trees that the firing was coming from.. They weren't ordered to do it but someone took the initiative to head that way and the others followed.. I was toting a radio and had to stay with the CP group to coordinate ground to air liaison but saw a guy stumbling out with a badly wounded arm when a corpsman from the same neighborhood I was from in Dallas took the green towel he had around the back of his neck wrapped it around his wound and ran into the woods carrying the guy's M-16... That day was the first time I had directed an airstrike and it and many more had been called in on the hill we were on before going up it.. We had moved a little further and were rounding the treeline in the open having to take cover in a bomb crater when we were fired on... The rest of the CP had topped the crater and went into one beside it and I was freaked out and froze at the top because I could hear the bullets flying over my head as I tried to make myself move out into the next crater.. A Chi Com grenade went past me and into the bottom of the crater and I was motivated to fly out and into the other crater landing on top of the company Gunny and the C.O... I got to talk numerous helicopters onto a corner of the hill to pick up the dead and wounded and bringing in water and ammo then ate some C Rats and got into a hole and watched as flares were being dropped from planes to illuminate the area with parachute flares that was covered with elephant grass that swayed in the wind like the flares also did making me think at times that I was seeing NVA moving in droves toward us.... That was my day of on the job training that I knew would come but had no idea would be as insane, surreal... I couldn't fathom that in time I would crave the excitement of what had been so terrifying as a break in the boredom of endless days of walking in the jungle and elephant grass covered hills and mountains... A year later I'm a 19 year old disabled veteran back in Oak Cliff and trying to adjust to the changes in the country and myself and I've yet to be successful...If I had any kind of clue that things would get as screwed up as they now are I would have headed anywhere I could get to where thing could be better but that would have been impossible to do because the same people that were profiting then by war and corruption are even more powerful and are everywhere... The most I was paid was $185 a month including combat pay, the same rank today is paid $3600 a month with combat pay.. It is better money than most young people can make anywhere else and more than they pay a veteran that is rated at 100% + disabled... When I got out and got somewhat sorted out, I started questioning every perception I had ever had or would ever have about everything... I found that every citizen should be armed and committed to being proficient with firearms... Our country is being over taken from within.

Originally posted by seabag

Originally posted by hypervigilant
reply to post by TopElite

 

Right now with the awakening of people all over the world that have taken to the streets and the redeployment of the troops in Iran I am feeling uneasy... Hopefully the guys coming home aren't as brainwashed as my boot camp training platoon was when asked if we had to be sent to L.A. if riots were to occur would we shoot to kill civilians if ordered to do so? We all answered yes.. We'd returned from 2 weeks of rifle training at Camp Pendleton that day and were told we may have to be sent there because Dr Martin Luther King had been shot and killed in Memphis and riots were expected in Watts... I am still amazed at how thoroughly conditioned we all had become in 6 weeks...I am afraid that things and times are about right for us to find out who will or won't lock, load, and fire first...  

I share your current uneasiness. I was talking with a civilian buddy of mine just last week about martial law. He is totally confident that our military would never use force against Americans.

I'm with you on this. I think a good number of active duty military would follow orders. They would totally believe they were defending our country from "domestic terrorists" and would feel justified in killing us if told to do so. Most are just kids with very little critical thinking skills and even less life experience. 

I also remember an incident at Camp Pendleton when I was there (early 90's). There was a big rise in gang activity near base and several drive-by shootings had occurred between gang members and the MP's at the gate. I remember our security group piling into a truck locked and loaded one evening to confront these civilian gang bangers. Fortunately they fled before we arrived (hence the term drive-by) but, I know I was ready to shoot some American citizens that day. 

If martial law is declared one day I truly hope the majority will use restraint and good judgement. Hopefully we won't find out...the good news is there are more veterans out here than there are active duty. 

The crazy thing is I watched a documentary about a study they did about how many ex military personal when they get out start to join gangs or they are active in gangs when they join the military. They are just joining for the money and the specialized training the military gets. The story said something like only 1% of active military are active gang members which doesn't seem like that much but 1% is around 10,000 soldiers in active military careers are also active gang members. There was a ex marine that tried to kill 2 cops after he got done serving the country. The reason why they caught him is surveillance cameras and investigators picked up on his half moon advancement on enemies which they teach in the military.

This is just crazy to hear that drive by shootings were going on at MPs this is ridiculous. I'm sorry they had to go through that from American citizens. Thanks for your service as well seabag !