Nightfall
08-04-2010, 11:53
Sirs,
So I was having a couple of drinks with a retired Ranger friend of mine. He progressively got more and more tipsy as we discussed my coming enlistment and as he did so, became quite beligerant. Up to this point he's been very respectful and supportive of my descision to volunteer. This night was an exception. Questions such as "Why in God's name are you doing this? What the hell is wrong with you? I just don't think you can handle it, you are gonna go places, do things, and see things that nobody should ever have to deal with." He also pointed out that I was way over thinking my enlistment and that I should just go or don't (MEPS for me Tuesday next week)... Either way, the conversation went on throughout the evening, and at about the point he lost his shoes (read: REALLY drunk), he looked at me and asked me the following:
"Do you even know the difference between a soldier and a professional soldier?"
I replied that I didn't have a response for that (not that at this point it would have seemed to make any difference), and he just shook his head, mumbled something, and wandered off. It of course made me feel like a schmuck, him leaving on that note and not explaining where all of this was coming from. Seemed something I should have perhaps already know the answer to. Maybe it was just the beer talking, maybe he was rehashing somethings from his service in his head, maybe not. Either way it's been bothering me for a few days now, so finally, I hesistate to even ask, what did he mean by that? I mean I read all the time the SF refering to themselves as Professional Soldiers and Quiet Professionals, but perhaps I'm missing the forest due to all the trees... Perhaps I'm being too specific with my searches or missing the point entirely then not being specific enough. May I be so bold as to ask for you gentlemen's thoughts on the matter?
"He impaired his vision by holding the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with unusual clearness, but in so doing he, necessarily, lost sight of the matter as a whole. Thus there is such a thing as being too profound. Truth is not always in a well." -E. A. Poe
So I was having a couple of drinks with a retired Ranger friend of mine. He progressively got more and more tipsy as we discussed my coming enlistment and as he did so, became quite beligerant. Up to this point he's been very respectful and supportive of my descision to volunteer. This night was an exception. Questions such as "Why in God's name are you doing this? What the hell is wrong with you? I just don't think you can handle it, you are gonna go places, do things, and see things that nobody should ever have to deal with." He also pointed out that I was way over thinking my enlistment and that I should just go or don't (MEPS for me Tuesday next week)... Either way, the conversation went on throughout the evening, and at about the point he lost his shoes (read: REALLY drunk), he looked at me and asked me the following:
"Do you even know the difference between a soldier and a professional soldier?"
I replied that I didn't have a response for that (not that at this point it would have seemed to make any difference), and he just shook his head, mumbled something, and wandered off. It of course made me feel like a schmuck, him leaving on that note and not explaining where all of this was coming from. Seemed something I should have perhaps already know the answer to. Maybe it was just the beer talking, maybe he was rehashing somethings from his service in his head, maybe not. Either way it's been bothering me for a few days now, so finally, I hesistate to even ask, what did he mean by that? I mean I read all the time the SF refering to themselves as Professional Soldiers and Quiet Professionals, but perhaps I'm missing the forest due to all the trees... Perhaps I'm being too specific with my searches or missing the point entirely then not being specific enough. May I be so bold as to ask for you gentlemen's thoughts on the matter?
"He impaired his vision by holding the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with unusual clearness, but in so doing he, necessarily, lost sight of the matter as a whole. Thus there is such a thing as being too profound. Truth is not always in a well." -E. A. Poe