Author Topic: Comparison: Berlin 1989 vs Baghdad 2003  (Read 3263 times)

Offline AKIron

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Comparison: Berlin 1989 vs Baghdad 2003
« Reply #105 on: April 15, 2003, 10:26:27 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Thrawn
You guys talking about the "sacrafice" over serving overseas don't know what you are talking about.  Scrafice compared to what?


Not everyone spent all their time overseas with their families. I spent a couple of years away from my wife and kids and many more away from my parents and siblings. When yer a military brat overseas with your family it's quite different. You have your family with ya. If ya don't know what yer talking about you should keep yer pie hole shut. Just a friendly suggestion.
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Offline Thrawn

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« Reply #106 on: April 15, 2003, 10:41:48 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by AKIron
If ya don't know what yer talking about you should keep yer pie hole shut. Just a friendly suggestion.


D00d, I'm not the only one holding these opinions.  My dad, the guy who actually served holds them too.  I was trying to bring a relativistic arguement to the whole, the sacrafice of going overseas generalisation.  For some I'm sure it was, for others it was a joy, especially compare to serving in other places.

Hell, the same argument can be made for military service in general.  My father joined the RCAF in 1966.  He was airman of the week twice in basic and graduated it as the best airman overall of that group (a couple of hundred guys).  I asked him how he did it.  He said, "Well, if you were airman of the week you got to go the front of the food line.".  He said that basic was like a holiday for him.  "All I had to do was make my bed."  His dad went psyco during WW2.  Treated him absolute garbage.  Military service was an escape for him, not a sacrafice.  

His best friend, who he met in basic was 26 when he joined.  Not a spring chicken by military standards.  He used to work shoveling coal for CN rail, in Calgary.  He new what kind of life he had ahead of him, little money, little chance of improving himself, and death at young age because of the coal dust.  He also didn't see joining the military as a sacrafice, but as an escape of the crappy life he was leading.

Offline AKIron

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« Reply #107 on: April 15, 2003, 10:49:39 PM »
So Thrawn, even though you have no personal experience in the military, your gonna tell those of us who have that our claims of sacrifice are bs?

It's very true that I enjoyed most of my 20 years in the military, including 5 of the 7 years I spent overseas. The two away from my wife and young kids were truly a sacrifice. Agreed, made willingly, but a sacrifice nonetheless. To you and Frog, and anyone else that tries to tell me otherwise I offer you the opportunity to KMFA.
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Offline Hangtime

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« Reply #108 on: April 15, 2003, 10:55:12 PM »
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KMFA.


more correctly, and in context (turn volume up):

KIIIIISSS.   MAAAAAHHHH.    FFFOOOOOKIN.    AAAAAASSSSSSSS!!!!!!!
The price of Freedom is the willingness to do sudden battle, anywhere, any time and with utter recklessness...

...at home, or abroad.

Offline Thrawn

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« Reply #109 on: April 15, 2003, 11:00:16 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by AKIron
So Thrawn, even though you have no personal experience in the military, your gonna tell those of us who have that our claims of sacrifice are bs?


No AKIron, I'm trying to tell you part of my father's experiences, and those of other people who I know, who have served in the military, as they have told them to me.  I know that some people join their countries military out of feelings and opinions, based on the best reasons of idealism and belief in what their countries stands for and a wish to defend it.  But that certainly isn't all the cases or even most.  If you look at the demographics for recruits in the CF, most come from relatively impovrished regions and the military is their only way out.

Quote
The two away from my wife and young kids were truly a sacrifice. Agreed, made willingly, but a sacrifice nonetheless. To you and Frog, and anyone else that tries to tell me otherwise I offer you the opportunity to KMFA.


But that sacrafice doesn't belong to those in the military alone, nor is it necessarily done for ideals I mentioned above.  My dad was stationed at CFB Trenton for a year.  Trenton is about 5 hours away from CFB Uplands here in Ottawa.  It was a hard time for our familty also.  But my dad didn't do it for his country, he did it because it was his job and needed to provide for his family.

PS: And I'm not trying to tell you why you went overseas or why you joined the military.  I'm saying it's not that way for everyone.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2003, 11:03:27 PM by Thrawn »

Offline Sixpence

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« Reply #110 on: April 15, 2003, 11:07:58 PM »
It all depends on your background. I work with a guy who was in nam(we have alot of vets in service). When he was in boot camp, there were guys from the midwest who didn't even own a pair of shoes. They thought the service was great. Where as someone from wealth might not see it that way.

But the great thing about the service are the fringe benefits when you get out. Any civil service jobs. Post office,State trooper, local police. And when you take the fire dept exam, you go right to the top of the list. So if you are young and weighing the pros and cons of the service, think of all the doors that open when you get out. It's a good start.
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Offline Ike 2K#

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« Reply #111 on: April 15, 2003, 11:25:34 PM »
can immigrants become US citizens if they join the Armed Forces?

Offline Holden McGroin

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« Reply #112 on: April 16, 2003, 12:14:39 AM »
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Originally posted by Ike 2K#
can immigrants become US citizens if they join the Armed Forces?


Yes.  After serving a few years, citizenship is a benefit.

Another subject,

As far as sacrifice goes, how about being seperated from you family for several months at a time?  Don't see too many families travelling with the crew of the Nimitz.

How about not seeing the sun for a three month stretch while submerged on a boomer?
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Offline Martlet

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« Reply #113 on: April 16, 2003, 03:39:38 AM »
AHHHHH, he's talking about the CANADIAN military.


That makes sense, then.

Offline Suave

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« Reply #114 on: April 16, 2003, 05:44:34 AM »
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Originally posted by Mini D
No, they were locked in their houses as the Russian soldiers did the looting.  I do find your reference to "supermarkets" quite funny.

Don't look blindly at history in hopes of proving a point dowding.

MiniD


LMAO supermarkets in east germany .

Offline AKIron

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« Reply #115 on: April 16, 2003, 09:02:02 AM »
Some of you guys are so far left and anti-military/anti-America that it really sticks in yer craw to acknowledge that you owe a debt of gratitude to those who make your freedom possible.

Even though I served, or maybe especially because I served, I feel much gratitude towards those guys and gals in harms way in the Middle East right now. To say that they are just doing their jobs and then feel no gratitude is to blind and blight your own soul.
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Offline Sandman

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« Reply #116 on: April 16, 2003, 09:21:45 AM »
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Originally posted by Holden McGroin
Yes.  After serving a few years, citizenship is a benefit.


It's not necessarily a given. I've known a few Philippine citizens in the USN. Citizenship in the U.S. was not automatic.
sand

Offline Boroda

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« Reply #117 on: April 16, 2003, 09:27:17 AM »
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Originally posted by X2Lee
Cant yall 2 dorks just fight it out and not involve the rest of the free world in a nuclear exchange?

Cant we all just get along?

:D


Sorry, I just wanted to explain Mratlet why he is told that it's "not their style" to attack Russia and "eat borsch" in Moscow 3 days later.

Offline Wlfgng

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« Reply #118 on: April 17, 2003, 04:32:06 PM »
tell ya what...

I'll pay for a private room and you two can go at it

Offline AWMac

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« Reply #119 on: April 17, 2003, 04:45:41 PM »
Canada has a Military? :eek:



:D