The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: terry on December 04, 2010, 03:15:10 PM
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truedelphi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Dec-03-10 09:20 PM
Original message
Today I kept my mouth shut.
There is a local business here in my neck of the woods that also runs the recycling program.
A few days ago, M. and I took our valuable objects in for the usual ten to fifteen bucks worth of redemption rewards. The young man working the booth mentioned he had spent eight years in the military and that he had been to Afghanistan and Iraq. This didn't surprise me, as he had that "ghetto" look people have when they have seen too much bloodshed. (This particular person is a white guy, and possibly has never even driven through an urban ghetto.)
Today I went back over to his booth. It was very quiet there tonight. No one else was around. I had a small bag full of soda cans as a prop.
And I asked him to talk to me about his experience.
Well, once he started talking, he could not stop.
I can't describe my reaction to what he told me. He had no shame about any of it. Some one of his superiors had entrained his heart and mind to believe that the Iraqis needed killing, and that the Geneva Convention was simply a piece of paper that would take more American lives than it was worth.
However the longer he talked, the more relieved he was. I had sensed his pent-up energy earlier in the week, and that was why I made the visit to him.
In some ways, this experience was not new to me at all.
My father had begun unraveling the edges of his soul when I was only three years old. He needed someone to listen to him about his battle experiences in WWII. Over the next five or six years, I knew the names of the towns in Belgium and Germany that his platoon had been through as well as he did.
But nothing my dad ever told me was of blatant disregard for human life. Did my dad kill innocent people? Yes, he did, but it upset him.
The eight year old that I used to be asked him about that, saying "Daddy, you only killed the bad people, right?"
And his answer was a sad and quiet one: "You fire a 155 millimeter Howitzer shell into a village, you sure don't know who you are killing. But you certainly cannot prevent the killing of innocent people."
Eight year old me: "But they were Germans, anyway, weren't they Daddy?"
Dad: "They were my cousins." This said in a mournful tone. (His family on his mother's side were Von Muellers. So he did indeed kill his cousins.)
The young man in the recycling booth was not at all constrained by any sense of people being people. Iraqis were the enemy, and there were good Iraqis only when they were pumped full of ammo.
Anyway, I left the recycle booth feeling that maybe talking about his experiences helped him in some way. I didn't criticize him. I imagine I will be back, and he will have other stories, as grotesque as the ones told to me today.
And maybe someday I will mention a metaphysical talking point to him -- that basically people are people.
And part of what helped me keep a lid on my feelings is this: he may have wanted to be a soldier all his life. But it was his superiors who allowed him and everyone around him to act much more like the Nazis acted during WWII, and much less like the Americans fighting the Nazis did.
And for those of his superiors who shaped his training so that he ended up doing the things he did, I hope there is a really awful place in hell.
There is so much wrong with this totally fabricated story. I have no words.
link (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9685171&mesg_id=9685171)
modified by franksolich to show name of primitive who posted this--sorry for the inconvenience, and carry on
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There is a local business here in my neck of the woods that also runs the recycling program.
A few days ago, M. and I took our valuable objects in for the usual ten to fifteen bucks worth of redemption rewards. The young man working the booth mentioned he had spent eight years in the military and that he had been to Afghanistan and Iraq. This didn't surprise me, as he had that "ghetto" look people have when they have seen too much bloodshed. (This particular person is a white guy, and possibly has never even driven through an urban ghetto.)
I didn't read pass this part. I couldn't. My blood will shoot out of my eyes. War isn't nice.
The disdain this leftist cocksuckers have for our military really gets my blood boiling. Here the military are, thousands and thousands of miles from home and their loved ones/friends, and the DUmmies/liberals piss on them like no tomorrow. I'm sick of it. Show that you are proud of our military. They fight for our freedoms and keep us safe.
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I wish I could bitch smack this ass through the computer. :bird:
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Today I went back over to his booth. It was very quiet there tonight.
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What a crock of shit.
This didn't surprise me, as he had that "ghetto" look people have when they have seen too much bloodshed.
And WTF is that supposed to mean?
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What a crock of shit.
And WTF is that supposed to mean?
Good question? What the hell is this idiot talking about?
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What a crock of shit.
And WTF is that supposed to mean?
Good question? What the hell is this idiot talking about?
That means that the OP has NO idea of what the military is about. NONE. The OP has never served and would/should NEVER be allowed to serve.
KC
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He had no shame about any of it. Some one of his superiors had entrained his heart and mind to believe that the Iraqis needed killing,
Total bullshit. Total absolute bullshit. No-one who has been in battle brags about how many people they had to kill. :hammer:
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Does this mean we're going to get cooler-looking uniforms?
O-)
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What a crock of shit.
And WTF is that supposed to mean?
Quote
This didn't surprise me, as he had that "ghetto" look people have when they have seen too much bloodshed.
And WTF is that supposed to mean?
Sounded damned racist to me.
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Does this mean we're going to get cooler-looking uniforms?
O-)
Well, the Army already got their little French berets. :gay:
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Well, the Army already got their little French berets. :gay:
Ahem ....
REAL men;
(https://82ndairbornedivisionmuseum.com/cube/images/uploads/Patches/Mess%20with%20the%20Best-%20Die%20Like%20the%20Rest.jpg)
MOSTLY men;
(http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTb_qe2vpMFngAGN.jzbkF/SIG=133qjtgb7/EXP=1291594782/**http%3a//www.bigpapasportfishing.com/Otherimages/Marines-Dress%2520Blues-NAME.jpg)
FRENCH men;
(http://www.wardrobecostume.co.uk/admin/uploads/300/51_11484_French_Beret_300.jpg)
Please note the headgear.
:lmao:
KC
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Speaking of the recycling center...how much are bloody, half rotten teeth worth these days? DUmmie may soon have a few of those to sell.
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Ahem ....
REAL men;
(https://82ndairbornedivisionmuseum.com/cube/images/uploads/Patches/Mess%20with%20the%20Best-%20Die%20Like%20the%20Rest.jpg)
MOSTLY men;
(http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTb_qe2vpMFngAGN.jzbkF/SIG=133qjtgb7/EXP=1291594782/**http%3a//www.bigpapasportfishing.com/Otherimages/Marines-Dress%2520Blues-NAME.jpg)
FRENCH men;
(http://www.wardrobecostume.co.uk/admin/uploads/300/51_11484_French_Beret_300.jpg)
Please note the headgear.
:lmao:
KC
:cheersmate:
Just a bit of inter-service ribbing. :-)
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Does this mean we're going to get cooler-looking uniforms?
O-)
Nothing cooler looking than my son in his dress blues!
Cindie
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:cheersmate:
Just a bit of inter-service ribbing. :-)
But of course.
:tongue:
KC
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Hey, the Marines are great assault infantry. Unfortunately if you add anything with an engine, you better hope it doesn't have windows or you'll be cleaning a lot of tongue marks off the inside of them. Same thing's pretty much true of the Airborne, come to think of it.
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Sounded damned racist to me.
Bouncy from the start. There is a reason that veterans at the family get together and talked in a hushed voice over a beer and stop talking when the other family members come too close.
As far as looking ghetto? He is telling me that he is lying through his teeth right there.
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How much do I need to pay that guy for my couch session?
I have a lot to get off my chest and I'd like to see what kind of diagnosis he can come up with for me.
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How much do I need to pay that guy for my couch session?
I have a lot to get off my chest and I'd like to see what kind of diagnosis he can come up with for me.
Personally, I'd like to introduce him to folks that have killed people in the line of duty. I know a bunch of soldiers and more than a few cops that have shot peopl in the line of duty.
There were excesses in Iraq. There were also cases when people should have thought better of their very legal orders that weren't for the best. I know there were, some from what I saw and some from stories I heard from people I believe. That doesn't make the mission wrong.
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What a crock of shit.
And WTF is that supposed to mean?
You got me. My Oldest Brother has been in two wars as a Helicopter pilot and no one would know it unless he told them. As for the fact he was a pilot and not a grunt then you might want to hear about the number of holes in his Huey when he flew into hot LZs. He remembers to thisday the number of hits he took. Who ever posted that shit about havinga Ghetto Look needs to be beat like a rented mule. My first Plt Sgt In the 101st was a black man and he would be pissed if anyone had said this to his face. He served with the 173rd Airborne and managed to come out safe and not once did he ever have some look that would give anyone cause to say something so blatantly gutless as what the OP posted.
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Total bullshit. Total absolute bullshit. No-one who has been in battle brags about how many people they had to kill. :hammer:
And no one I know..including myself...tend to open up to total strangers about what we've seen/done while deployed either.
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This particular person is a white guy, and possibly has never even driven through an urban ghetto.
Pretty sure the DUmmie has never been on Bragg Blvd, outside the gate of 32nd Street in SD, Port Hueneme (think "La Colonia"), Fort Bliss, etc., etc...
Granted, a lot of them have been cleaned up, but not all, and not all the way.
Oh, and DUmmies? Take the worst ghetto in this country, multiply it by about a THOUSAND, and that still won't approach some of the shitholes I saw in my travels--not even close.
****sticks.
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What a crock of shit.
And WTF is that supposed to mean?
Got a question for the Marines here.
My grandson was due to go into basic training and was in a hit and run accident. Broke his arm and the date has been moved back to Feb when the arm heals.
Some woman who works with my daughter -in -law told her a story about her son in basic training who is now over seas.
Story goes that when her son showed up for Basic, the very next day they pulled the wisdom teeth of all men who still had them, then kept them awake for 24 hours out running about doing push up etc.
She told DIL that had she known before he went in she would have had his dentist pull them a month early.
She also said she was told that until her son was 3/4 through training she should not make arrangements to visit the graduation as there was a large wash out of men that simply could not handle the training.
My son went ARMY and I have no idea how the Marines do things but could this possibly be true???
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Vesta--throw the bullshit flag.
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And no one I know..including myself...tend to open up to total strangers about what we've seen/done while deployed either.
That was the key to my knowing it was a bouncy in the highest degree.
Some people are alive only because it's against the law to kill em.
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Got a question for the Marines here.
My grandson was due to go into basic training and was in a hit and run accident. Broke his arm and the date has been moved back to Feb when the arm heals.
Some woman who works with my daughter -in -law told her a story about her son in basic training who is now over seas.
Story goes that when her son showed up for Basic, the very next day they pulled the wisdom teeth of all men who still had them, then kept them awake for 24 hours out running about doing push up etc.
She told DIL that had she known before he went in she would have had his dentist pull them a month early.
She also said she was told that until her son was 3/4 through training she should not make arrangements to visit the graduation as there was a large wash out of men that simply could not handle the training.
My son went ARMY and I have no idea how the Marines do things but could this possibly be true???
Wisdom teeth do get pulled but it is usually a mandatory 1-2 days SIQ (sick in quarters) and another day or so of light duty.
If you get set back then your graduation date is moved as well. The recruit could have failed tests and needs remediation.
The 24 hours thing is called The Crucible and it is meant to add stress and to push the recruits. Not as bad as you would think. The navy does battle stations where you are up for 24 hours as well. Pretty much the final exam. But that is at the end.
Now she could have been talking about in processing. You are kept up for a while while paperwork and the like are filled out but no recruit can be made to do any kind of PT until medically cleared and that usually takes a few days at least.
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Got a question for the Marines here.
My grandson was due to go into basic training and was in a hit and run accident. Broke his arm and the date has been moved back to Feb when the arm heals.
Some woman who works with my daughter -in -law told her a story about her son in basic training who is now over seas.
Story goes that when her son showed up for Basic, the very next day they pulled the wisdom teeth of all men who still had them, then kept them awake for 24 hours out running about doing push up etc.
She told DIL that had she known before he went in she would have had his dentist pull them a month early.
She also said she was told that until her son was 3/4 through training she should not make arrangements to visit the graduation as there was a large wash out of men that simply could not handle the training.
My son went ARMY and I have no idea how the Marines do things but could this possibly be true???
The VA pulled my wisdom teeth. I was back in the world though and discharged from active duty. I went to the VA Hospital for a different thing and they yanked out my wisdom teeth.
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Wisdom teeth do get pulled but it is usually a mandatory 1-2 days SIQ (sick in quarters) and another day or so of light duty.
If you get set back then your graduation date is moved as well. The recruit could have failed tests and needs remediation.
The 24 hours thing is called The Crucible and it is meant to add stress and to push the recruits. Not as bad as you would think. The navy does battle stations where you are up for 24 hours as well. Pretty much the final exam. But that is at the end.
Now she could have been talking about in processing. You are kept up for a while while paperwork and the like are filled out but no recruit can be made to do any kind of PT until medically cleared and that usually takes a few days at least.
In boot camp at Great Lakes we had one hell of a workout after passing through the final medical quals. As for the wisdom teeth, they didn't pull mine, I still have them. I've never had any problems from them.
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In boot camp at Great Lakes we had one hell of a workout after passing through the final medical quals. As for the wisdom teeth, they didn't pull mine, I still have them. I've never had any problems from them.
Went trough there as well. It was to work the shots in so you wouldn't be sore from them. :lmao:
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Story goes that when her son showed up for Basic, the very next day they pulled the wisdom teeth of all men who still had them, then kept them awake for 24 hours out running about doing push up etc.
The way it was 46 years ago, they pulled bad teeth that couldn't be saved and you went right back to training....they kept us up all night the first night, a couple hours sleep the next 2 nights and then things settled down.
She told DIL that had she known before he went in she would have had his dentist pull them a month early.
I got my teeth fixed before I went in....I'm a baby when you mess with my teeth.
She also said she was told that until her son was 3/4 through training she should not make arrangements to visit the graduation as there was a large wash out of men that simply could not handle the training.
That's true to a certain extent....things happen and one can be set back...most do all they can to prevent that.
My son went ARMY and I have no idea how the Marines do things but could this possibly be true???
Yes but the wisdom teeth bit sounds a little hard to believe.
Thank goodness they didn't have the crucible when I went thru basic. That sounds like 54 hours of hell.
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Went trough there as well. It was to work the shots in so you wouldn't be sore from them. :lmao:
Military shots... :lmao:
At Parris Island when we went for shots they had a set of parallel bars with us lined up to go thru them. Two Corpsmen, one on each side, shot you in the butt at the same time with a needle. Then you stepped up one step and two more Corpsmen shot you with the hydraulic guns at the same time.
Well the guy in front of the guy in front of me flinched when they shot him with the hydraulic gun and it tore some meat out of his arm. He had some blood run down and drip off his elbow and the guy in front of me passed out. They just bent over and shot him lying on the deck and the rest of us step over him until he came too.... :rotf:
When we went for dental records and to get our teeth fixed I tried to tell them I didn't need any dental work done... :rotf:...they deadened half my mouth anyway. ...so dead my eyelid on that side was drooping... When the dentist got to me he said, "Get the hell outta my chair. You don't need anything." Went back the next week for the other side and came out with another drooping eyelid.... :rotf:....the military has their own way of doing things.
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Went trough there as well. It was to work the shots in so you wouldn't be sore from them. :lmao:
I remember the assembly line of shots where you got needled in both arms with the final one being a massive dose of penicillin or something in the butt cheek. That one was commonly referred to as "the square needle in the left nut".
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Went trough there as well. It was to work the shots in so you wouldn't be sore from them. :lmao:
Ah, yes--the dreaded "bicillin shot". Rusty square jagged needle which goes into the left nut.
Although they did make us do a shitload of situps after we got them.
And as for wisdom teeth, they were identified in boot camp--sub volunteer, nuke, but they didn't get pulled until just before my SECOND Westpac, 3 YEARS later. Ah, the wonderful world of dry/infected sockets when you're in 12/12 shiftwork. 2 days SIQ each side. My roomie was nice enough to stop at Beeman's and pick me up a bowl of saimin noodles when he came back each day.
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I remember the assembly line of shots where you got needled in both arms with the final one being a massive dose of penicillin or something in the butt cheek. That one was commonly referred to as "the square needle in the left nut".
I was the horrible person that gave those shots. But I got out of the bad one due to a penicillin allergy. We used to call them the peanut butter in the a@# shot.
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tabasco (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Dec-04-10 04:11 PM
Response to Original message
48. Rear echelon troops who never went off post
love to brag about how many Iraqis (or whoever) they killed.
Just an FYI.
pinboy3niner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Dec-04-10 04:42 PM
Response to Reply #48
52. And grunts who saw real combat...
...typically are reticent about it--and offended if they are asked, "Did you kill anybody?"
Years ago, I ran into a Desert Storm vet who told me, proudly, "I got four confirmed kills." Then he asked me how many confirmed kills I had in Vietnam. I was still reeling from his boasting about how many 'kills' he had.
In VN, I only remember the term 'confirmed kills' being associated with snipers. For the regular grunts, there is no official determination of your 'kills' and no such category in your personnel records.
In fact, most of our combat was small firefights, and when they were over, we proceeded on our mission. We didn't deviate from our route to inspect the enemy position (from which they always carried off their dead and wounded) or to follow blood trails (which was almost always an invitation to an ambush). And few in my platoon would have wanted to count personal 'kills.'
My conclusion at the time was that my acquaintance with the "four confirmed kills" was a phony, someone who had never really seen combat.
tabasco (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Dec-04-10 08:39 PM
Response to Reply #52
66. Sounds like a liar.
I was a grunt for several years and in combat in Somalia.
The only time I ever heard the term "confirmed kill" was for snipers, and maybe tanks on other tanks.
This incident really happened but the guy in the story is the liar, not the guy telling the story. Sure that's the ticket. :whatever: