From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Sep 04 2002 - 17:47:37 MDT
--- Jeff Davis <jrd1415@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Fellow veterans, and "those who only stand and wait",>
> And while I'm askin'--Yo! Lorrey!--you're fond of
> mouthing off re your patriotic credentials--show us
> YOUR scars, recount for us your heroic deeds, help
> us--the unworthy bleating helots gazing up upon our
> betters in awe--to appreciate the great
> sacrifice/heavy price you paid, and by which you
> secured your claim to first-class Heinleinian
> 'citizenship'?
THis is really a rather pathetic sort of pissing contest now. If you
are gonna use "Starship Troopers" as a standard, you must also accept
the standard of service used in the novel. Everybody from the company
clerk (whose primary injuries are paper cuts) to the base gym manager
who might get tennis elbow, to the military scientist who ruins his
eyesight on bad monitors and poor lighting is fufilling the Heinleinian
'federal service'.
As it was, I worked as an electrician on F-15s and F-111s, as well as
being an anti-sniper security adjutant. I was involved in the Panama
operation, among other things, lost half of a toenail root to bad
combat boots, injured my back lifting an AC generator into an F-15,
welding burns in my eyes from poor quality welding goggles, got a
ricocheted bullet in the leg, oh, and my pickup truck was crushed by an
idiot who dropped a 1000 lb genset on it during the mobilization for
Desert Storm (with the USGovt denying liability and the insurance
company claiming an Act of War exemption, I was stuck with no truck and
a fat car loan).... as it was I was discharged a week ahead of orders
to go to Saudi for the big Spring Break Volley Bomb tournament, and I
wasn't interested in staying in due to the political situation at my
last base.
Oh, and when I got out, the gummint defrauded me of my GI education
benefits (which I'd paid for, thanks) to the tune of $12,000. Yeah, I'd
say I paid my share.
I didn't conveniently die or lose a photogenic limb, sorry to
disappoint you. I have plenty of vet buddies who have done so, and when
I mouth off, I'm mouthing off as much for them as for me, and for the
guys who didn't make it back, like a buddy of mine from high school,
Wade Hector, who died in Desert Storm. Or Dave Morehead, a shooting
buddy who lost part of a leg and a good chunk of his intestines from a
mine and a burst of AK-47 fire (respectively) at Khe Sanh (who won
something like three purple hearts, a Bronze Star, and I think the DSC
from his actions there.)
There was my father and uncle, who both served in a mobile artillery
unit in the 1960's. They didn't go to Vietnam, but they have both lost
most of their hearing due to the damage of their service.
Now, I'm not so strict as to think that everybody should absolutely
serve in the military. Many just aren't cut out for it, many are not
capable of serving. I've often thought, though, that at least one
member of each generation in each family ought to serve. Having a
sibling or parent as a vet does go a long way to educating civilians
about military life and the duty and costs of citizenship.
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