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Originally posted by youdidntseeme
Originally posted by Jagermeister
Then you come home and sit homeless on the street because the VA doesn't give a damn and neither do the people once you're all used up.
Thank you for illustrating exactly the point of this thread and many of the replies with that statement.
Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, Guardsmen and Marines deserve better than that.
Originally posted by 31Bravo
Prior 5 year active duty and current Army Reserve Sergeant, radio check - over.
I usually disregard comments from anti-military ATS members bud.. IMO most of them wouldn't join even if the war WAS being fought for the right reasons. Dig in deep to your new career and make your own decision.. yours will be the valid one that counts, others can just keep reading Alex Jones and CNN/FOX.. good luck.
Originally posted by DerbyCityLights
Former NAVY 2nd class Petty Officer checking in. DC2.
Originally posted by leelo
reply to post by youdidntseeme
Op,
Once you are actually in the military, go through boot, camp, get deployed, watch your friends get deployed, and essentially get a "look behind the veil" your opinions will change. Not necessarily in a bad way, but after I joined ( I am now out) I have many mixed feelings. I am very against war, I do not like what the government is doing, but I do care about my friends and family in the military. But i the same time I was no longer to take any more BS since I some how felt like a lacky. It is hard to explain, but I am sure at some point you will understand me.
Originally posted by leelo
reply to post by youdidntseeme
Op,
Once you are actually in the military, go through boot, camp, get deployed, watch your friends get deployed, and essentially get a "look behind the veil" your opinions will change. Not necessarily in a bad way, but after I joined ( I am now out) I have many mixed feelings. I am very against war, I do not like what the government is doing, but I do care about my friends and family in the military. But i the same time I was no longer to take any more BS since I some how felt like a lacky. It is hard to explain, but I am sure at some point you will understand me.
Smedley Butler on Interventionism
-- Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.
War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.
I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.
I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.
There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.
It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.
I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.
Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Where are all the Teacher supporters, The social worker supporters, The Doctor and Nurses supporters?
Why must we put those in the military on a pedestal?
Originally posted by SGTSECRET
Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Where are all the Teacher supporters, The social worker supporters, The Doctor and Nurses supporters?
Why must we put those in the military on a pedestal?
Many members of the military sign up KNOWING there is fighting going on, and KNOWING that there is a good chance they will be put in harms way. Many also sign up because they are proud of their country, and would like to be part of the force that will protect it. Don't even start with the whole 'they aren't fighting for our freedom' crap because I am already aware of this and have been in the middle of it. Whether the wars are right or wrong has nothing to do with it. So many people like to talk about how members of the military are so bad and brainwashed and multiple other negative things, but think about this...what if we DID get invaded somehow or WERE attacked sometime in the future? These same people talking down to todays soldiers would be begging for their help calling them brave and patriotic. Point is, you CAN support members of the military WITHOUT supporting the decisions of our current leadership.