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"Served in a combat zone." For many, in fact, a great majority, that includes sitting on a FOB, getting coffee from the Green Bean maybe a taco from Taco Bell and heading back to their CHU to watch a little TV. Never actually experiencing "combat" besides the occasional IDF.
Frankly, unless they are infantry or one of my peers (including those weird foreign types like KJ,) I just figure they did their rotation like everyone else and came home sporting their OIF/OEF ribbons, "combat" awards and patches. And unless they step out of their lane, I don't give them any less respect than I do everyone else. Mostly because I don't care, but also because I figure we all have a role. Stay out of mine, I'll stay out of yours. |
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PJ, It sounds like you have been to KAF.
![]() I have respect for all who choose to wear a uniform regardless of whether they have one or the other function. I feel a mutual respect with those of us who have been in combat. I also have the greatest respect for the medical personnel who may never come close to combat. When said; I will say that a soldier who has been in a fight has some skills that you can not learn otherwise, and if you use people with this special competence rather than denigrate them then it's really something that can lift the level of a unit. |
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"Some people go a whole career in the military without getting into a fight, some people volunteer to go to every fight that pops up while they are in."
I was at Fort Benning, Georgia when Desert Storm(part 1) started. Most of the people there did not deploy, but within a few weeks I requested reassignment to one of the few units from Benning that deployed. Got turned down, but just volunteering won't always get you there, either. |
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Where does it all end though?
What do you call "combat"? Making up pay slips in the office in the rear of a war zone, servicing the equipment that keeps men safe and in the field, being subjected to random occasional enemy fire, patrolling, being engaged in the exchange of fire? I gave up going to Vietnam Veteran's get togethers after about the first two or three meetings, because of this crap. I was not personally targeted, but I was disgusted with those who made statements belittling the service of "Pogos" (Personnel On Garrison Operations) and those other than "Grunts". I made myself decidedly unpopular when I suggested that none of the above persons slung too much **** about Pogos when the choppers arrived to take them back inside the wire, or to deliver a hot meal or mail etc. No doubt my service was also called into disrepute when I departed, but true to their type not much was said to my face. So, it just goes to show that being a Combat veteran doesn't make some people worthy of any special respect. After all is said and done 99% of us were only there because we were obeying orders. Yes,... there were some who would have gladly volunteered, many did. But just being a "Combat Vet" is doesn't necessarily make you a better man or worthy of particular respect. |
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