On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 14:48:44 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 2/11/14, 2:32 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 13:09:34 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 2/11/14, 11:08 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 08:43:21 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:



It's an interesting posit, though. Isn't that sort of how you entered
the military...you were promised food, clothing, training, and a
paycheck? Why, I'll bet almost everyone who received that "Report for a
Physical" letter got on the bus, right?

But, hey, go ahead and cackle.

I never got "the letter". I was safely ensconced in my 2S when I made
the decision to join up and the promises made were kept.
There was also a sense of actually "doing for my country" as JFK asked
us to do.
I understand that to you and your friends the whole concept of serving
your country was "just for suckers". Let someone else put their ass on
the line so you can be safe.


My friends and I, as you put it, did not associate serving this country
with going to Vietnam and killing Southeast Asians.

Neither did I. When I joined we had just elected LBJ and he was going
to keep us out of that war. He promised.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/johnson%20vietnam%20lie.mp3
The fact is the majority of the people in the military as a whole,
never went to Vietnam.
With your credentials, you should have been able to land a spot in
Germany. Then you could have used all of those language skills you
brag about to meet people you didn't have to shoot at.



To what end? You fellows seem to think that I missed something important
by not going into the military and having the opportunity to kill people
who meant my country no wrong.

I did spend nearly a year in Vietnam, up close and personal to the
action, but as a civilian. I saw a significant number of dead people of
both sides, and I often asked myself, "What the hell was this guy doing
here, fighting in a really stupid war and dying for nothing." And in
the end, that is all the guys on both sides died for...absolutely nothing.

Only the military contractors gained from that war. Oh, and of course,
the officer corps, because wars create billets and promotional
opportunities.

Promotional opportunities went to enlisted and warrant officers also. If you'd been, you'd have
know.