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Thordic, please don't get me wrong
It's not that I do not believe you or your friend. You see, I'm around a LOT of real (seen the paperwork), "been there, done that's" all day and have become cynical, perhaps too much so, when I hear about someone telling their war stories.
Go to your city library and see if they have "Stolen Valor", it will open your eyes in shock and shame.
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Army, the gentleman I was refering to is at least 65, and is one of those guys you just don't see when you play woods ball. He was not bragging about being in nam, Just elaborating on the use of full auto as fire support for the rest of your team when he kind of got sidetracked and told us about an actual incedent. He generally plays only in the morning, because his arthritis tends to get the best of him.
As for being a judge of military tactics, I have not served, but I have played paintball since the late 80's and consider myself to be a little better than average. This old fart regularily smoked me when we played. Now paintball and combat are two entirely different things, but many of the skills involved are the same.
I'm not sure exactly what he was involved in and have mostly heard about it second hand. I do not have the right to ask him, so I wont. The one time he talked about it did not seem like bs to me.
MM12074
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ive been in the army for 10 yrs im getting out next month i dont know what happened to the army i joined the standards just dissapeard.i think its a reflection of the times. kids arnt raised with the same values i was brought up with and that extra week of values training in basic isnt going to instill this in them especially since a lot of nco's dont care anymore the last 5 pvts ive received in my section have all received feild grade art15's this is a step below court marshal for you civilian types sad thing is that now im required to send them to the promotion board after 2 yrs these guys are the future of the nco corps thats why im getting out and the black berret is a slap in the face to all who have earned it. i know i didnt
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Magadeth: If I got your dander up, that was not my intention. Please, accept my sincere apologies.
Yes, you are right, Pball and combat are not related but the skills involved can be used either way. Since you are a veteran of the "woods wars", you can judge the tactics used by your friend as to be genuine. You mentioned he only spoke of his service offhand, this is telling of the man. As you know from the above posts, bloodied vets won't simply yak on about where they have been.
Do me a favor? Next time you see him, shake his hand and thank him for his service. Too many real 'Nam vets never got that. Don't worry about sounding or looking sappy, no Soldier ever hears or sees it.
As for his arthritis, boy can I relate to that
HOOAH!
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Army, if you don't believe me, look him up if you can. Cpt. Kenneth Dandorph. I have his email address if you really want to get picky I'm PRETTY sure he was a captain, anyway. That I could be wrong about. And a lot of what he did was with the south vietnamese army. Training type stuff. I never said he killed 3 billion people, I just said he did some cool stuff that made me go "wow".
And I admitted that other teacher was a crackhead. He supposedly saw combat once when whatever he was policing came under fire, but I can't back that up, and "came under fire" could be a stray firecracker. The first guy I have every reason to believe is legit, though.
I also had an ex-Navy SEAL teacher, but the closest he came to doing anything was being somewhere in or near Panama during that mess at the airport. He wasn't there, but he was a SEAL at the time, and he was somewhere down in central america when it happened. Probably sitting in a hotel room or something, but he never claimed combat anyway.
[This message has been edited by Thordic (edited 08-22-2001).]
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Not to send this thread into a whole new direction, but i was talking to my dad the other night. He went to Vietnam. All i know is that he processed arial sp? recon. photos. He was far away from the major action.
Things that I get from what little he talks about it are: the B-52s were awesome, but the F-4s were even better. He loves that jet.
That's it. A major piece of who my dad is....what he served through and that is all I have!
Well, when we were talking, we were comparing my grandpa, a WW2 vet, and himself. You see, WW2 was probably the highlight of the century for the US. We rallied behind that cause like no other. When the vets returned they were heros.
Nam on the other hand was different. But you see, a lot of soldiers in Nam were son's of WW2 vets. They knew what their dad's did and how they were treated upon return, but got no such glimpse of heroism.
Now, before you say, "Well, Nam wasn't a war." I say, SO WHAT! We are sending our troops to die somewhere, then we best rally behind them! I hope to someday be able to talk to my dad and get more specifics about what he did and how he was treated. But because he talked about it so little while i was growing up, it's like it never happened.
btw, thanks Army for explaining the whole Jane Fonda thing. I had no idea. It makes me mad.
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No need to apologize, I just wanted to clarify.
"Do me a favor? Next time you see him, shake his hand and thank him for his service. Too many
real 'Nam vets never got that. Don't worry about sounding or looking sappy, no Soldier ever
hears or sees it."
Allready have.
MM12074
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Army or anyone else who knows, could you tell me why this horrible decision about the black beret was made? I haven't really heard why this was done but I don't like it and have let my representative and senators know that I don't like it. My dad was SF and I have friends who were Airborne or Ranger, I've heard how hard they worked for the privledge of wearing those funny hats. This decision to make it general issue just seems so disrespectful that I cannot make sense of it. What's the explanation?Comment
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Shartley is right on.
GEN Shinseki was never a line troop, always drove a desk. Which means; he does not have the slightest idea what the average GI thinks or wants.
95% join the military for the discipline and feeling of worth to the Country, God knows you can't make a living at it. Problem is, the military had been "dumbed down" so much that you can't get the discipline you craved. The Army and Navy went to what is called a "stress card". This running joke is for when you feel the Drill Sergeant is "picking on you", you can hand in your card and the DS has to give you a "time-out". What a crock of..... Needless to say, this has brought moral to an all time low.
Did anyone know that, right now, we are at a lower readiness level than before WWII? Right now, we could not stage another Desert Storm. Right now, we could not sustain against a maximum effort by North Korea. Right now, we could not send 3 complete Naval battle groups to anywhere in the world. Right now, we do not have a single complete Division in the Army. Right now, we do not have the lift capability to deliver a full tank Battalion to anywhere. Right now, we can not fly a full Apache flight without unsustainable breakdowns. Right now, less than 40% of GI's can hit a 25m target correctly 21 out of 40 times.
I'm just sticking around to see what happens next
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army where did you get that info?it dont sound entirely correct to me.we might not have the numbers we had before but the world is differant now.we still have the most powerful military in the world.what unit are you in?essayonsComment
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Good reading for anyone who believes the people touting that there is NOT a problem with our military and its readiness to fight major conflicts.
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lol..problem? cmon. theres more than a prob. its called public opinion. im getting out of the canadian military, ive had enough bullcrap for a lifetime in the last 4 1/2 years.not sure when i stopped caring but it was sometime in '99. think the U.S. has it bad? I've only been doing militia stuff for the last couple years and on the west coast somedays i can't even walk the 15 min it takes to get to base without hearing some sort of comment...its really disheartening. the beret thing? heh the CF goes through so many uniforms the word has lost its meaning, but i agree that was garbage, and surprising...we always say "well at least the states doesnt..."etc. one thing i like about the states tho, and ill never forget is when i see a bumper sticker "my son/daughter is in the ....whatever branch" thats the type of attitude that i think is failing. youd never see that up here. noone wants to know your alive unless its to complain about having to pay the pitiful amount you get for such dirty thankless work. so to Army, i hope you'll always wake up giving a crap about what you do, cause its an empty day when you dont. I can no longer bring myself to care about people who dislike me so, and a system pumping out soldiers i feel nervous about sitting beside on a range let alone a live fire situation. but heres on for the road and those like Army strong enough to still care HOOAH!Comment
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