Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigaba
IMO, the above underscores the following quote from the OP.
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re: being told to kneel down and worship our heros.
As Agoge2 said, it's not about hero worship. But there is a gulf between those who have served and those who haven't.
I have been retired for almost 20 years so I have been out of the military almost as long as I was in the military. There has been nothing in my second career that can hold a candle to what I did during my 20 years on active duty. Not even close.
I joked with a co-worker once about his sports injuries (he had screwed up his back playing rugby). I broke a leg on a jump and ruptured a tendon on a rappelling tower. It kind of closes down the conversation. And I was fortunate enough to serve through a period of relative peace (75 - 95). Again, it's not about hero worship or that my experiences are any better than his. But they are vastly different.
I've got a motivational poster that says "Bloomburg says that when he was in college he wasn't responsible enough for a gun and doesn't know anyone who is. I know a lot of guys who remember 19 differently". There's a lot of truth in there. When I was 19 I sat on a hill overlooking the Korea DMZ and watched a battalion of the 2d ID march in to cut down a tree. There are precious few things in civilian life that parallel those kinds of experiences.
I'm not positing rightness or wrongness, just the recognition that the gulf exists.
I'm pretty sure most veterans are not looking for hero worship. Speaking for myself, I would be happy if our country would just fulfill their side of my (re)enlistment contracts.