Yesterday I met a soldier. Bouncy

[CC27]

Chiquitita (716 posts)

Yesterday I met a soldier


Yesterday I met a 30 year old soldier in the Atlanta airport who was stuck there overnight. He asked me for a light. Then he told me he's a Sargent on his 4th deployment who had been in Iraq and is now stationed in Kandahar. He had come back on a very short leave to visit his Dad in Virginia, but missed his connecting flight and was going to have to go back without seeing him. His Dad is in the hospital. He told me he didn't feel sorry for himself because he knows a family from Kandahar, the nicest family you can imagine, he said, who has much greater problems than his. He showed me a tattoo he had on his arm in Sanskrit that he got after his best friend stepped on a mine right next to him. He said, "I told him not to move, that I was going to run around a corner because I couldn't watch," after which he heard his friend blow up alone. It means "purity" he said. He was very skinny and told me about sleeping in foxholes and getting shot at. He was afraid Trump was going to get us into something bad in North Korea and he said PTSD care for returning vets isn't good unless the caregiver has actually experienced war and not just read about it in a book. He said after 12 years in the Army he makes only $40,000 a year. He had the kindness to ask me about myself, why I was traveling too. So it was a mutual listening session. We shared my last two cigarettes, said our names and shook hands, and then I walked to the Park n Ride bus back to my bubble of safety in this world.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028985477

Sure you did.. mole or new DUmmie wanting street cred..

[AzJames73]

and then I walked to the Park n Ride bus back to my bubble of safety in this world.

LOL

[GOP Congress]

Most "Sargents" I know with 12 years in are E7's or E8's who have no time for such nonsense like this. The only thing I agree with is the amount of tours, and that's because Obama never provided for his troops while in office, forcing frequent deployments. Ironically, such deployment rates usually means soldiers obtain higher ranks in relatively short enlistment times, though it plateaus at E-8.

[Drafe Hoblin]

Yesterday I met a 30 year old soldier in the Atlanta airport who was stuck there overnight. He asked me for a light. Then he told me......

There were no cancellations at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson yesterday. 

[SVPete]

Yesterday I met a 30 year old soldier in the Atlanta airport who was stuck there overnight. He asked me for a light. Then he told me......

There were no cancellations at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson yesterday.

Yeah, I think this -tale is less than dubious. Here's two other doubtful points:

He showed me a tattoo he had on his arm in Sanskrit that he got after his best friend stepped on a mine right next to him.

A Caver with military experience can set me straight, but if this guy was "right next to" his buddy when the mine went off, I think he wouldn't be in Atlanta telling this tale.

Second, Sanskrit is an Indian language, nearly dead as a primary language, and mostly used in the Hindu religion. I don't think it would be in use in Afghanistan, especially not as a religio-philosophical symbol.

Neither are hard proof this -tale is fauxny, but they are significant incongruities. Just as the lack of cancellations at Hartsfield-Jackson is an incongruity.

[hillneck]

He had come back on a very short leave to visit his Dad in Virginia, but missed his connecting flight and was going to have to go back without seeing him.

Must have been a awful short leave.  There are multiple flights daily leaving Atlanta for Virginia.  Plus most airlines will do anything for military in uniform on leave.

He said, "I told him not to move, that I was going to run around a corner because I couldn't watch," after which he heard his friend blow up alone.

Bullshit.  That's left wing liberal pansy ass talk.  If you are deployed, you are going to do "WHATEVER" is within your power to help your battle buddy.  Never "I can't watch" crap.

[jukin]

This DUchebag needs a crotch punch.

I award this bouncy no bongs. We are all DUmber for having read it. At no point did this bouncy ever come close to a point or reality. May satan have no mercy on this DUchebag's soul.

[Karin]

Hasn't smoking been completely banned in all airports?

[Maverick1987]

Most people stop having imaginary friends once they turn 7 or 8.   

[BadCat]

Ever wonder why they feel the uncontrollable urge to lie like that?

[SVPete]

Ever wonder why they feel the uncontrollable urge to lie like that?

Narrative-Reality Non-Conformance Syndrome

[Ralph Wiggum]

Hasn't smoking been completely banned in all airports?

Completely outside the terminal, depends on the airport. 

[I_B_Perky]

Most people stop having imaginary friends once they turn 7 or 8.   

The dummies are really like little children that haven't been taught how to behave properly.

[Crazy Horse]

This DUchebag needs a crotch punch.

I award this bouncy no bongs. We are all DUmber for having read it. At no point did this bouncy ever come close to a point or reality. May satan have no mercy on this DUchebag's soul.

I give you two bongs for the Billy Madison quote

[Chiquitita]

I am the person who wrote this on DU. I registered on conservative cave to tell you, respectfully, that this soldier also had no words of praise for Obama's support for Vets either. But he was tough as nails, and a complete gentleman. I'm a 50 year old woman and he could have been my son. I looked at him with those eyes Since his Dad was in the hospital, near the end, they gave him a 36 hour leave. There is a bench smoking area on the north side outside Hartsfield Jackson where we smoked. He missed his connecting flight which wasn't cancelled. It wasn't a political conversation that he and I had. In fact, I wrote it because I think most people without family in the military don't realize the sacrifices men like him make and how little they are paid or taken care of by our government. Yes, I'm one of those people that you probably dislike, and while I have no wish to receive a "crotch punch,"  I would like to engage in real, civil conversation with fellow citizens of this country to see where we might agree. for example, agree with Trumps stance on parts of Title IX. It's a shame that we have come to point in this country where we automatically hate and distrust each other. I don't know any of you, or what you've had to deal with in your lives, but I'm not going to stop talking to strangers in order to better understand.

[BadCat]

I am the person who wrote this on DU. I registered on conservative cave to tell you, respectfully, that this soldier also had no words of praise for Obama's support for Vets either. But he was tough as nails, and a complete gentleman. I'm a 50 year old woman and he could have been my son. I looked at him with those eyes Since his Dad was in the hospital, near the end, they gave him a 36 hour leave. There is a bench smoking area on the north side outside Hartsfield Jackson where we smoked. He missed his connecting flight which wasn't cancelled. It wasn't a political conversation that he and I had. In fact, I wrote it because I think most people without family in the military don't realize the sacrifices men like him make and how little they are paid or taken care of by our government. Yes, I'm one of those people that you probably dislike, and while I have no wish to receive a "crotch punch,"  I would like to engage in real, civil conversation with fellow citizens of this country to see where we might agree. for example, agree with Trumps stance on parts of Title IX. It's a shame that we have come to point in this country where we automatically hate and distrust each other. I don't know any of you, or what you've had to deal with in your lives, but I'm not going to stop talking to strangers in order to better understand.

And it was just so great (fit your favorite political narrative and views) you just had to run and post it at the DUmp so the dregs of society could feel better about their ****ed up lives?

[Chiquitita]

And it was just so great (fit your favorite political narrative and views) you just had to run and post it at the DUmp so the dregs of society could feel better about their ****ed up lives?

I think everyone's life is sometimes f'd up. I did it because I felt admiration for him, I couldn't get him out of my head. I wanted people to give to the USO or something, do something, because these guys on so many deployments and their families are really putting it on the line for all of us and they shouldn't be ignored.

[BadCat]

I think everyone's life is sometimes f'd up. I did it because I felt admiration for him, I couldn't get him out of my head. I wanted people to give to the USO or something, do something, because these guys on so many deployments and their families are really putting it on the line for all of us and they shouldn't be ignored.

So you posted the story to a website full of "people" that loathe the military, and the country they serve?

[Chiquitita]

So you posted the story to a website full of "people" that loathe the military, and the country they serve?

Well I thought there would be no point in telling people who already support soldiers. I was trying to get them to hear his voice. If you look at it on that site you can see there are several Vets on there that reply, so maybe not everyone on DU has the same experience or feelings about the military.

[DumbAss Tanker]

A Caver with military experience can set me straight, but if this guy was "right next to" his buddy when the mine went off, I think he wouldn't be in Atlanta telling this tale.

I don't believe that's what he said.  Remember it's already second-hand when the DUer hears it, of course.  Bounding mines 'Set' when stepped on and then fire a small charge which blows the actual mine out of the ground when the pressure is removed from the trigger, then the main part blows up about four feet above the ground.  He's saying the soldier he was talking to baled on his buddy, the buddy who froze on top of the triggered mine and then apparently tried to jump away once the soldier in the airport was out of sight around the corner.  Now if you're not under fire or under other urgent pressures, it's not a hopeless situation, but it takes balls of steel to both stay frozen in place and for your buddy to dig out around the mine and immobilize the actuator until you can both boogie, and of course if you screw it up you could both get killed instead of just one of you.

Second, Sanskrit is an Indian language, nearly dead as a primary language, and mostly used in the Hindu religion. I don't think it would be in use in Afghanistan, especially not as a religio-philosophical symbol.

Mostly it'd be in Arabic, maybe it was and the DUer just doesn't know the difference, but to the SE, Afghanistan runs up against what was once colonial India so it's not impossible.  Plus it was the soldier who had the tattoo done, somewhere, and for whatever obscure reason of his own, he might have chosen to have it done in Sanskrit.  Hard to say.

[BadCat]

Well I thought there would be no point in telling people who already support soldiers. I was trying to get them to hear his voice. If you look at it on that site you can see there are several Vets on there that reply, so maybe not everyone on DU has the same experience or feelings about the military.

Well thanks for your support, as for the other denizens of DU, I have ZERO respect for them, we've been reading their views for years and they are indeed a despicable bunch of "humans".

Maybe in the future, you could support the troops by NOT voting for politicians who continually cut their funding.  Do not support politicians who vote to go into a war, and then three months later, pretend they didn't and come out against it.  Do not support politicians who withdraw prematurely (tactically, not sexually) giving rise to enemy organizations like ISIS and essentially wasting every American life lost in the conflict.

Doing that would indeed show your support for the troops.

[Chiquitita]

I don't believe that's what he said.  Remember it's already second-hand when the DUer hears it, of course.  Bounding mines 'Set' when stepped on and then fire a small charge which blows the actual mine out of the ground when the pressure is removed from the trigger, then the main part blows up about four feet above the ground.  He's saying the soldier he was talking to baled on his buddy, the buddy who froze on top of the triggered mine and then apparently tried to jump away once the soldier in the airport was out of sight around the corner.  Now if you're not under fire or under other urgent pressures, it's not a hopeless situation, but it takes balls of steel to both stay frozen in place and for your buddy to dig out around the mine and immobilize the actuator until you can both boogie, and of course if you screw it up you could both get killed instead of just one of you.

Mostly it'd be in Arabic, maybe it was and the DUer just doesn't know the difference, but to the SE, Afghanistan runs up against what was once colonial India so it's not impossible.  Plus it was the soldier who had the tattoo done, somewhere, and for whatever obscure reason of his own, he might have chosen to have it done in Sanskrit.  Hard to say.

He told me the tattoo on his forearm was in Sanskrit. There's no lie there. I'll admit that when he told me about the mine (I'm a woman with no experience in the military), what he actually said to me was that he had told his friend, who was having problems with his wife, that he was going out into a dangerous situation and his head wasn't in the right place. He felt something bad was going to happen to him. Then he said he was near his friend and went around the corner because he just couldn't face seeing him get blown up. He felt bad about it. He did something in a split second and he felt sh***y about it. Anyway, all of this was in the context of us talking about male/female relationships and how hard it is for people on the battlefield when they are having marriage problems.

[Chiquitita]

Well thanks for your support, as for the other denizens of DU, I have ZERO respect for them, we've been reading their views for years and they are indeed a despicable bunch of "humans".

Maybe in the future, you could support the troops by NOT voting for politicians who continually cut their funding.  Do not support politicians who vote to go into a war, and then three months later, pretend they didn't and come out against it.  Do not support politicians who withdraw prematurely (tactically, not sexually) giving rise to enemy organizations like ISIS and essentially wasting every American life lost in the conflict.

Doing that would indeed show your support for the troops.

Fair enough. I agree with everything after your "Maybe in the future..." I've been on DU since 2004, but rarely post. Some are jerks, some are people I respect. I don't bunch them all together, just like I don't bunch conservatives all together. Who was the best candidate for supporting Vets and for not getting us into war in your opinion, going back to the primaries? I thought on the democratic side it was Bernie.

[BadCat]

Fair enough. I agree with everything after your "Maybe in the future..." I've been on DU since 2004, but rarely post. Some are jerks, some are people I respect. I don't bunch them all together, just like I don't bunch conservatives all together. Who was the best candidate for supporting Vets and for not getting us into war in your opinion, going back to the primaries? I thought on the democratic side it was Bernie.

Rand Paul on our side.
Welcome to CC, we're really not as bad as we seem ( well, sometimes we are ), have fun here.

[Chiquitita]

Must have been a awful short leave.  There are multiple flights daily leaving Atlanta for Virginia.  Plus most airlines will do anything for military in uniform on leave.

Bullshit.  That's left wing liberal pansy ass talk.  If you are deployed, you are going to do "WHATEVER" is within your power to help your battle buddy.  Never "I can't watch" crap.

It was American Airlines. They told him it was his fault he missed his connecting flight. I asked him wasn't there another flight he could get on. He was on 36 hour leave and there wasn't enough time, plus weirdly the USO told him they didn't help with travel.