Civilians Don't Get It.

[Jimmy1]

The problem we have here, and I don't know whether you guys have it either is the 2% of service personnel who disrespect the uniform they are wearing, they get into fights in clubs and bars, and the openly boast that they are in the army, navy, whatever. They give a bad name for the other 98% and should be hung, drawn, and quartered.

Another prime example of misunderstanding of service personnel by civilians is depicted by the movie 'Rambo'.
Let us be, we will do what we have to do and get moving.

 

[Jimmy1]

And not only do the standard civilians not get it, the government don't get it either. Here in Australia, they are bringing our boys home, a good thing, but they are also cutting the defence budget. So now the boys will be brought home and there will be no exercises to send them on, so they will get bored and discharge and then we will be back to square one, until the next terrorist attack. If the boys stayed in, there would be a good chance the young ones with PTSD will be picked up on and they can get the right help.

 

[BV101]

I think as civilians we all had / have different priorities. Do I buy Vita Cola or Cockta? Do I go to Hodzic or Zeljo for my lunch? That was all the worry they have. Providing kids don't get sick, houses don't burn down, jobs don't get lost its all fine.
But put a civilian in a war situation and they do okay. And afterwards its not forgotten. It brings people together. There is no "wow" factor from being in the army, because everybody went through it. Nobody thinks any less or more importantly any more of anybody else.
Our government gets it for sure, but its totally swamped with trying to put the physical things back together. We have 50KM of working motorway. Thats 50KM constructed in 18 years. We have houses still in the capital (right in the centre) that are destroyed.
But I am losing the point. I just think its sometimes not fair from us to expect the rest of the world to change and be different if it does not effect them? Maybe? When it does civilians get it. And they can be heroic in there own way. Look at this picture. Its very famous from where I lived. Crossing the lines, running sniper positions, being shelled, just to get to her place of work. Mela absolutely gets it. She understands what is important. ANd this says to the the JNA... "go f**k yourself, you aren't taking away my dignity".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leicaakademiemayfair/7029215103/in/photostream/

 

[Zipperhead]

You are right Alan, those that lived through it understand. Most of us aren't from countries where our populations had to live through it though. And truely, I don't want them to. Seems silly, but I want them to understand without having to understand. Vicious loop there. My expectations aren't realistic.

Nice picture Alan. It says allot to those of us that have been there. And those that haven't will never see what we see. They will just see a lady walking past a soldier.

 

[BV101]

You are right Alan, those that lived through it understand. Most of us aren't from countries where our populations had to live through it though. And truely, I don't want them to. Seems silly, but I want them to understand without having to understand. Vicious loop there. My expectations aren't realistic.

Nice picture Alan. It says allot to those of us that have been there. And those that haven't will never see what we see. They will just see a lady walking past a soldier.

Its a strange one hey? I was in BBI earlier this year thinking to myself "how do I get out of here, I don't like this at all... oh fark my breathing is running away with me"... but I also thought, and this is the important bit "look at all those teenagers hanging round, texting each other and lounging round doing nothing". But thats exactly what we fought for isn't it? for people to have a normal life. And hard as it is for me to understand it, teenagers hanging round shopping centres is normal. Running around in the desert with a gun shooting at locals is not normal. Nor is flying planes into buildings just before anybody thinks something different about me.
Maybe just looking after number 1 or number 1 plus a couple is normal? I don't know really. I suppose the examples I have as measures aren't the same, but sometimes I don't understand these threads at all.

 

[T^3]

3 years of dropping off and picking up my son from school while sitting in the gym waiting for the bell, the two people I got along with, talked with and to me seemed the most normal, was a fast attacker's wife and an ex firefighter. (something just drew us together) Go figure.

 

[tho9900]

I dated this girl for awhile who would get furious (no idea why) we could walk in a restaurant and within 15 min either the other person at a nearby table or I would somehow initiate a conversation... and yes they were all ex military... she was like "htf do yall know it, it's scary!!!" We just do... she was telling me it freaked her out how we could start talking and it sounded like we knew each other for years...

In a sense we did... even tho it was the first time we met.. yes there is a difference..

 

[Bill Simmons]

To me there is a lot more going with "civilians" than their lack of understanding of people in the military. I don't think that in general they understand much of anything and worse than that I don't think they give a shit about much of anything. Yes, they yell and scream about all kinds of shit, but what action do they take? I hear this all the time...well, that just the way it is, nothing we can do about it, not my problem, I got no time to deal with it, there ought to be a law, someone should.....and on and on.

I am more and more convinced that the "only" people who have any ability to give a shit about us is us. At the very least I can get a piss off from one of you guys and a lot of kind words also. Most civilian will not even look me in the eye when I say good morning. I don't think that is because of who I am, they just don't give a shit who you are.

And sure, there are exceptions, always a good kind worthwhile person if you dig deep enough. Problem is you need a large f*cking diesel excavator to dig deep enough in today's world.

 

[Jimmy1]

I am just playing the devils advocate here.
You could say we are fortunate really that our countries are not overrun by foreign powers. Ask someone in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, etc, etc. Ask them about the military??
The same back in WWII, they got it then. Everyone was working for the war effort back then. Today it's total ignorance until something happens like 9/11, or the Lockerbie airline crash. We can't blame the civilians really, they only read what is in the news and watch the headlines. If all the politicians and the media were preaching about helping the veterans returning home, there would be more understanding.

We only understand because we lived it and still live with it and will always live with it. At least I can say on my death bed that I fought for my country, what will they say.

 

[BV101]

I am just playing the devils advocate here.
You could say we are fortunate really that our countries are not overrun by foreign powers. Ask someone in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, etc, etc. Ask them about the military??.

Yes, really fortuntate. That kind of thing is rubbish.

 

[Sarg]

It's laziness, pure and simple. It takes work to care. It takes hard work to preserve our freedom, and very few civies care enough to really govern ourselves. That's why we have a 20% turnout rate for elections. That's why we've lost this precious nation. To greed. To power. To self-indulgence. We're fat, lazy and don't give a rats ass past the I-Pod.

Not a good prognosis for freedom.

Sarg

 

[JarHed]

We used to call it 'going back to the world', 'cept we didn't know that it had all changed before we got there. It we're the round peg in a square hole, I must be a triangle or some other polygon. Never fitted in at 'home' and don't think I'm gonna' worry about changin' now.

People spit on me when I got home. I mean actually. That's a whole story in itself. But it sure opened my eyes about the world I was coming home to.

Most people just don't get it,,,,,,,,, life that is. There more worried about what kind of car you drive or house you live in and other stupid shit like that. They watch a movie or play some video war game and think they know how I feel about stuff. F**k them.

Even the ex-miliary people have made me feel like shit so they aren't exempt either. The fact that I'm not a serial killer is only the fact that I don't want to spend the rest of this shitty life in jail or kill myself over people that just aren't worth the scum I scrape off the bottom of my boots.

So, you may be askin', how do I really feel????????????????????? Real BAD DAY RANT.

Jar