What Makes You :) Today

[Lee C]

Not my work, just cut and paste:

A SOLDIERS FRIENDSHIP TO A SOLDIER
1. When you are sad -- I will help you get pissed and plot revenge against the bastard who made you sad.
2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.
3. When you smile -- I will know you are thinking of something that I would probably want to be involved in.
4. When you are scared -- I will take the piss out of you every chance I get,until you're NOT.
5. When you are worried -- I will tell you stories about how much worse it could be until YOU STOP WHINING!
6... When your confused -- I will try to use only small words .
7... When your sick -- Stay the f*** away from me until you are well again.I don't want whatever you've got.
8... When you fall, I will laugh my head off at you, you clumsy arse,.........but I'll help you up.
9... This is my oath.... I pledge it too the end.
'Why?' you may ask;
Because you are my friend.
Friendship is like pissing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth

 

[Sarg]

?????

Sarg

 

[Anglesachse]

Just took delivery of Miniatures that I last had in my hand some time in the late 70`s. Can`t stop grinning like a chesire cat :D



Just need to hide it from the misses :sneaky: but I have a cunning plan...........a shop full of miniatures so it shouldn`t be to hard :cool:

 

[Fargo1]

I loved Arfix 1/72 scale soldiers back in the late 70's myself! That is sweet Angle.

 

[JarHed]

Percentage who actually have served their Country in the military

Something to think about!

I remember the day I found out I got into West Point . My mom actually showed up in the hallway of my high school and waited for
me to get out of class. She was bawling her eyes out and apologizing that she had opened up
my admission letter. She wasn't crying because it had been her dream for me
to go there. She was crying because she knew how hard I'd worked to get in,
how much I wanted to attend, and how much I wanted to be an infantry
officer. I was going to get that opportunity.

That same day two of my teachers took me aside and essentially told me the
following: Nick, you're a smart guy. You don't have to join the military.
You should go to college, instead.

I could easily write a tome defending West Point and the military as I did
that day, explaining that USMA is an elite institution, that separate from
that it is actually statistically much harder to enlist in the military than
it is to get admitted to college, that serving the nation is a challenge
that all able-bodied men should at least consider for a host of reasons, but
I won't.

What I will say is that when a 16 year-old kid is being told that attending
West Point is going to be bad for his future then there is a dangerous
disconnect in America, and entirely too many Americans have no idea what
kind of burdens our military is bearing.

In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years.

In Vietnam , 4.3% served in 12 years.

Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on
Terror.

These are unbelievable statistics.

Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the
burden and it is only getting worse.

Our troops were sent to war in Iraqby a Congress consisting of 10% veterans
with only one person having a child in the military.

Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds were not sold.

Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice
nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the
goodness of their hearts.

The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The
volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation.

You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You've lost
relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart
from kids you'll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even
professional athletes don't understand.

Then you come home to a nation that doesn't understand.

They don't understand suffering.

They don't understand sacrifice.

They dont understand why we fight for them.

They don't understand that bad people exist.

They look at you like you're a machine - like something is wrong with you.
You are the misguided one - not them.

When you get out, you sit in the college classrooms with political science
teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan because YOU
WERE THERE and can't understand the macro issues they gathered from books,
because of your bias.

You watch TV shows where every vet has PTSD and the violent strain at that.
Your Congress is debating your benefits, your retirement, and your pay,
while they ask you to do more.

But the amazing thing about you is that you all know this. You know your
country will never pay back what you've given up.

You know that the populace at large will never truly understand or
appreciate what you have done for them.

Hell, you know that in some circles, you will be thought as less than normal
for having worn the uniform. But you do it anyway. You do what the greatest
men and women of this country have done since 1775 -YOU SERVED. Just that
decision alone makes you part of an elite group.

"Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so
few." Winston Churchill

Thank you to the 0.45% who have and continue to serve our Nation and the Nations of the World

Saepe Expertus - Semper Fidelis - Fratres Aeterni
"Often Tested" - "Always Faithful" - "Brothers Forever"

"Marines -- Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"*

Semper Fi

JarHed.

 

[Jimmy1]

Well I got up this morning from a bad dream at 4 am, why am I smiling, because the two border collies followed me into my new man cave and we are sitting here as the sun rises listening to all the native birds chirping and making their calls. No sirens or jets, no dogs barking. It's so peaceful. Give us a week and we will be totally unpacked and it will be better.

 

[Sarg]

Jimmy, first I'd like to extend my condolences on behalf of America, for the loss of your young athlete. Absolutely, senseless. Second, congrats on your new digs. Enjoy.

Sarg

 

[Jimmy1]

Jimmy, first I'd like to extend my condolences on behalf of America, for the loss of your young athlete. Absolutely, senseless. Second, congrats on your new digs. Enjoy.

Sarg

Well the whole town got behind him which is great to see. The parents though and the young fellows that did that, well, unfortunately it's just a reflection of what society is like now over there, here in Australia, and around the world. They just don't get it.
Sign them all up to boot camp, old school, and get a Drill SGT in their face the old way. Or put a gun in their hands and let them lose in Afghanistan or somewhere like that, real combat, they would shit their pants.

 

[JarHed]

It's a sad and scary world today and seems to be getting worse everyday.

There's never a reason for senseless violence or mindless people. Just why does it seem like it's always the good ones, the smart ones, maybe the ones that will help the world change that get taken from us.

I know there isn't an answer to that, but, I just don't know anymore. I do know you can't live your life in fear that something like this can happen to you. It will or it won't. Still just try to get the most out of everyday I'm here. It ain't easy somedays.

 

[Spock]

Percentage who actually have served their Country in the military
Something to think about!
I remember the day I found out I got into West Point...In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years.
In Vietnam , 4.3% served in 12 years.
Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror.

These are unbelievable statistics.

Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the
burden and it is only getting worse.

Our troops were sent to war in Iraq by a Congress consisting of 10% veterans
with only one person having a child in the military.

Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds were not sold.

Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice
nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the
goodness of their hearts.

The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The
volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation.

You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You've lost
relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart
from kids you'll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even
professional athletes don't understand.

Then you come home to a nation that doesn't understand.

They don't understand suffering.

They don't understand sacrifice.

They dont understand why we fight for them.

They don't understand that bad people exist.

They look at you like you're a machine - like something is wrong with you.
You are the misguided one - not them.

When you get out, you sit in the college classrooms with political science
teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan because YOU
WERE THERE and can't understand the macro issues they gathered from books,
because of your bias.

You watch TV shows where every vet has PTSD and the violent strain at that.
Your Congress is debating your benefits, your retirement, and your pay,
while they ask you to do more.

But the amazing thing about you is that you all know this. You know your
country will never pay back what you've given up.

You know that the populace at large will never truly understand or
appreciate what you have done for them.

Hell, you know that in some circles, you will be thought as less than normal
for having worn the uniform. But you do it anyway. You do what the greatest
men and women of this country have done since 1775 -YOU SERVED. Just that
decision alone makes you part of an elite group.

"Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so
few." Winston Churchill

Thank you to the 0.45% who have and continue to serve our Nation and the Nations of the World

Saepe Expertus - Semper Fidelis - Fratres Aeterni
"Often Tested" - "Always Faithful" - "Brothers Forever"

"Marines -- Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"*

Semper Fi

JarHed.

That was one amazing thread of reflection Jar...Thank you for these words! Well done indeed

 

[JarHed]

Can't take the credit. It was forwarded to me from a vet friend as it was to him. Interesting data though.

 

[Sarg]

I got sent something the other day...a one liner that says it all..."All men who go to war die kid, anybody who comes back, well they came back cheated."

Sarg