Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: StSanta on January 29, 2003, 06:36:32 AM
-
Would you volunteer? Let's say the war had been ongoing for three years and details about it were known.
I like to think of myself as an honest person. I'd probably try to get outta it on medical grounds. Or studies. Like my life too much to lose it in a foreign nation fighting a war politicians had screwed up. But if I couldn't get medical/school leave, I'd accept my fate and go - preferrably as an artillerist, since that tend to be away from the real mens fighting :).
So, be honest. What would you have done/did you do?
-
if you were drafted you couldn't volunteer...however if I was conscripted into the Australian army during the vietnam war, I still didn't have to go. You could object to go to vietnam, and serve your time in australia.
But even still I've got no idea whether I'd go, but honestly I probably would considering the australian tactics and the fact my mates would also go.
Tronsky
-
Already served.
USN 1984-91
Without a change in the law, I can't be drafted. However, if it were ever to come to that, you can bet your life that I would be in line to reenlist.
-Smut
-
I was in that exact situation. 1969... They wouldn't tell us anything about the "war" ... they had no goal in mind. They had no reason that they could give to be there that made any sense and there was a feeling in every American that we were having smoke blown up our ass.
I had a few legal problems and was asked to see the army shrink. given the nature of the "war" I felt that it was a mercenary thing even if not state outright. I told him that obviously I had nothing against violence or even killing but that the wages were low for killing the poor little yellow fellas whom I had no feelings for one way or the other.. I informed him that instead of 300 bucks a month, if he would give me a contract for $300 a head I would fill his office with heads.... In fact... since I disliked him.... I would do him for free to prove my heart was in the right place. think they called my defferment 3a or something.
in retrospect... I had a broken back that was just healed... I shoulda went and then fell down on the last step of the bus as it pulled into boot and not got up no matter what... have a nice army disability forever.
No... I didn't think much of the war. I might have served if there was anything resembling a reason or even if it would have been earlier in the war before it became apparent what a scam it was. I had a lot of friends killed or crippled from that war. I recall telling one of em that later died, that he didn't have to go... he could get out of it... he was scared and intimidated into going... bled out after losing both legs.
lazs
-
Without a change in the law, I can't be drafted.
They drafted WW2 veterans into the Korean War.
-
Yes... without a doubt. I DO NOT desire to die, but if my nation calls and the cause is just then I'd go.
xBAT
-
Oh No!
Let someone else take of it.
-
No.
First of all, I would make a terrible soldier. I don't take bad orders very well. As a firefighter I've gotten into arguements with higher ranking officers who wanted to do really stupid things.
More importantly, I'm older, have a wife and kids and wouldn't want to give them up for anything.
I also have a bad back.
In my younger days, perhaps.
eskimo
-
Originally posted by davidpt40
They drafted WW2 veterans into the Korean War.
Drafted?
Or reactivated?
Big difference.
-Smut
-
I'd be on the Group-W bench with Lazs.
:D
-
When I was younger absolutely and would even now if I thought the cause was just. If Iraq invaded a neighboring country again like Saudi Arabia or Kuwait again I could see going and getting invovled but in this current mess, not a chance.
-
My brother and I enlisted in the US Army in 1968 around the time of the Tet Offensive.
We were just two young, starry-eyed, dumb kids trying to help the country and find a way to get to college at the same time. Our Mom and Dad supported us. My brother went to Vietnam, I did not, due to an injury.
When my brother came home, he was so skinny from being sick with Malaria that we hardly recognised him. He had some medals and a stomach ulcer. 20 years old.
Would I volunteer today, for Vietnam?
No way, unless it was to be with my brother.
-
Im in the same boat as smut....
I have served my term (8yrs ) 4 active 4 inactive, thru service....
drafts have no bearing on me...
Unless we go nazi (or worse) and change our laws..
the only way Ill get involved is if america is attacked Red Dawn style and we have active enemy troops on North American Soil...
Then I would demand a battlefield commission of captain or higher...
If they granted it to me then I would know the **** has hit the fan.. and im needed... If they didn't give me the commission then I'd know our leaders are full of **** and tell them to fight thier own battle...
2 cents
DoctorYO
-
If there was a draft, I doubt that any drafted personnel would actually be sent into combat. War these days is 99% logistics. The people who actually come under fire on a regular basis voluntarily go through more training than a draftee would be able to handle (including a huge amount of 'law of armed conflict' training).
If for some reason congress wanted to make a move away from the current volunteer military, draftees would still go through basic training, but would wind up driving a truck or manning a computer running paperwork way in the back lines.
-
If drafted Id find a medical excuse...
If It was my decision I would join as something as far away from combat...Like a doctor or something...Not that I could..:rolleyes:
-
Sign up? Depends on the situation.
As the situation is now, I don't think I'd go. Although the U.S. is without a doubt the strongest military nation on this lousy rock, I think we have a tendancy to use that as an excuse to push people around and dictate policies to other nations. A great deal of that is due to the morons we elect into office. I'm not convinced that Iraq is the "world threat" that Chimpy says he is. I'm not going to get myself killed fighting in a war for what I think is strictly a war for oil.
If concrete proof came out that showed Iraq to be the world threat that the government claims it is, that would be different. This proof would have to be able to be confirmed by other countries first. I don't believe hardly ANYTHING my government tells me anymore. Then, yes, I'd be willing to go. However, knowing how bad my knees and legs are, its unlikely I'd be able to pass the PT tests, but would be willing to operate in some sort of support function, whether its here in the states or somewhere else.
Now, if someone we knocking on our back door and landing troops etc, I'd sign up in a heartbeat, no questions asked. Bad knees or no.
-
ok mt... you can sit next to me but... no inapropriate touching.
lazs
-
Come on Laz!
Thats his plan on getting out! You wont let MT cop a feel?
Bastage! :D
-
Isnt the cut off age 29?
Turned 29 a few weeks back..
If I had been 18 when Vietnam started with the same parents, I would have joined the Marine Corp and gone.
Prolly would have tried for tanks, but infantry would have been my next call.
-
Originally posted by lazs2
I had a few legal problems and was asked to see the army shrink. given the nature of the "war" I felt that it was a mercenary thing even if not state outright. I told him that obviously I had nothing against violence or even killing but that the wages were low for killing the poor little yellow fellas whom I had no feelings for one way or the other.. I informed him that instead of 300 bucks a month, if he would give me a contract for $300 a head I would fill his office with heads.... In fact... since I disliked him.... I would do him for free to prove my heart was in the right place.
ROFL!!!
Definitely the best reply in this thread :eek::D I can just imagine Lazs in that interview. Hell, I'd have paid $300 to be a fly on the wall. What does a laughing fly sound like?! ;)
Lazs, take care of your health. The world is a richer (and funnier) place for having you in it. :D Bet you would have used the 1911 to "do" the interviewer.
If this thread is open to non-Americans, I would say that I have a great respect for armed forces personnel - mainly because it's a job I could never do myself. I'm about as far from being natural military material as it's possible to get.
-
I just wonder how many of y'all know what the Group-W bench is?
-
and I NEVER touch inappropriately!!
I always do it just right.....
-
I already called and asked if they would reactivate me out of retirement. So far no luck. Part of the problem is that I was senior enough that they need folks at a much lower rank than a LTC., even in a combat MOS. (Armor) :(
I also volunteered for any open slot they needed but manpower isn't enough of a problem to call back retiree's.
Damn
-
I just wonder how many of y'all know what the Group-W bench is?- MT
Let just say:
I don't wanna die,
I just wanna ride my motor -cyy
.......cal
and,
You can get
anything you want
at Alices Restaurant :)
and more to the point, Group W is where you have to go sit if you are not moral enough to join the Army and kill people.
-
McNamara quit in 68 because he knew then that the war was nothing but an exercise in attrition. The US government wanted to show the communist world that it was willing to kill its miliatary with the same abandon that the Communist were doing. "Body Count" being higher for the enemy was considered a 'victory'. McNamara to his shame didnt speak out till long after this consultation fees were gone. Fighting political/economic wars that don't benefit those fighting is just plain silly. Getting killed for Oil seems like folly.
I was drafted in 66, went to panama, was transferred TDY to a Navy project on an Air Force Base. This was McNamara's pet project, seeding the DMZ and Ho Chi Minh trail with electronic devices. We were privy to some of the decisions made at the Pentagon at that time. Lots of ppl died so that LBJ could deliver his attrition message.
-
I know of two people in our squadron who served in the Vietnam War and they have my utmost respect because I don't know if I could.
-
Originally posted by midnight Target
I'd be on the Group-W bench with Lazs.
:D
NOT WITH THE FATHER RAPERS??!!!
So kid...did Officer Obe catch ya litter'n?
-
ok mt... cause yer kinda cute but.... I don't wanna set a precedent.
lazs
-
Gunthr,
Knowing the Tri-state savages that are down here. Getting yourself kilt by motorcycle is pretty good...
I dont know who would run into you first. The Tri=state trash, old battleaxes, or immagrants who got their first license at age 33...
The Florida 500 is no joke... (I95)
2 cents
DoctorYO
-
Like most people that have posted, unless a country is invading the US(invasion's of a 1st world nations just wont happen) i wont join the military. The way i see it all these warhawks that are screaming to nuke someone should go enlist right now or shut the hell up. Unless your one of the people that puts his/her life on the line you shouldnt be screaming to go into war with every other country with no clear objective other then "killem all 'cause they mights gots weopons of mass destruction thats our govnment knows they be having but wanna keep it secerts cause they be smart"
-
Gunthr,
Knowing the Tri-state savages that are down here. Getting yourself kilt by motorcycle is pretty good...
I dont know who would run into you first. The Tri=state trash, old battleaxes, or immagrants who got their first license at age 33...
The Florida 500 is no joke... (I95)
2 cents
DoctorYO
Funny you mention it, Doctor - I crashed a motorcycle straight into a palm tree down here in the late 80's. Broke my back and half my ribs. But daily driving on I-95 is really tempting fate. I-95 is the Ho Chi Min Trail ... and if you drive it on a bike long enough you are going to go down. I would'nt do it.
-
Originally posted by StSanta
Would you volunteer? Let's say the war had been ongoing for three years and details about it were known.
I like to think of myself as an honest person. I'd probably try to get outta it on medical grounds. Or studies. Like my life too much to lose it in a foreign nation fighting a war politicians had screwed up. But if I couldn't get medical/school leave, I'd accept my fate and go - preferrably as an artillerist, since that tend to be away from the real mens fighting :).
So, be honest. What would you have done/did you do?
1. I'm too old to enlist. If they invaded the US I would arm myself though. WOLVERINES!!!
2. If I was not too old, there are two cases:
a. Knowing what I know about Vietnam (30 years hindsight), hell no. I would have evaded the draft to the best of my abilities.
b. Knowing what I would have known back then (Evil Commie PAVN attacking friendly innocent ARVN) then I would not have volunteered, but would have served if drafted.
3. In a really alternate universe where I did not have a bad knee and a birth defect (vision problem), I would have been in the USNA or NROTC at age 18 and would have gone whether I liked it or not.
-
Although ineligible,
It would be an honor if our gvmt. recalled me. I'd go in a heartbeat.
But then, I decided to join in '66, my time in the Army was some of the best and worst times in my life and I feel that I'm a much better person today because of it.
-
For that war?
I rather be jailed.
-
I like to think I'd be capable of doing what my dad did. (He was drafted)
-SW
-
Joined the Air Force in '73 at the tail end of that war. Two months before my turn for a 6 month rotation to Korat Thailand they shut it down. Retired in '95.
-
My brain prevents me from service.
-
In the middle of a career....joined when I was 17 and went to Desert Storm at 18. Got out at 22 and played civilian for 4 years. Came back in at 26, which was 5 years ago. If and when I get out again, I would be first in line if they needed the manpower. No one wants to die, but sometimes someone has to...
-
Originally posted by Dowding
My brain prevents me from service.
No need to feel bad about it. There must be something you can do with your limited abilities. ;)
-
The draft was legally ended 1 month before my 18th birthday.
-
I was 18 when I joined the infantry in 1983. If I was 18 now I probably would go even with the lame bellybutton excuse that GW is peddling.
But now all grown up...not a hope.
Maybe if they identified the cave osama was in and needed volenteers to dig him out..
But not to invade Iraq. And I pity the MPs that tried to make me.
-
Without a change in the law, I can't be drafted
<~~umm i thought all ex military could be recalled incass of emergancy,,,i heard about ex military in veitnam being recalled into servis at 40 years of age allmost,,lol after they severd there time allready and got honorable discharge,,,,i thought there was somthing that they could call you back in time of emergancy,,or has this changed?
-
THe cut off age during nam was 26. The army found out that over that age men would question why they had to risk their lives.
-
Originally posted by hyena426
<~~umm i thought all ex military could be recalled incass of emergancy,,,i heard about ex military in veitnam being recalled into servis at 40 years of age allmost,,lol after they severd there time allready and got honorable discharge,,,,i thought there was somthing that they could call you back in time of emergancy,,or has this changed?
Only if you're in inactive status. Usta be that everyone who joined had a total 6 year commitment, typically 4 active and 2 inactive. Air Force retirees can be recalled though only by the Secretary of the Air Force and up.
-
I served for almost 2 years. Medical cause some moron of a Private decided it would be cool to hit the wrong button on the lift and pinned my knee inbetween an engine and a tank rear deck plate.
If they would take me again I would of already signed up. Only I would of done 11B this time. GROUND POUNDER BABY!
-
I'm epileptic, AKIron. There really is something wrong with my brain. ;) I failed the medical for RAF Officer training because of it - they sent me to the selection centre after the initial interviews and I passed the aptitude tests. But their oversight did come apparent until half way through selection. Doh!
-
Thanks for the honest answers.
I think that most that have an understanding for the dreads of jungle warfare and poorly executed wars in general would be reluctant to go. The older you get, the more you start realizing how fragile life is and how easily it could end.
I mean, I was a real Macho Man(tm)in my late teens and early twenties. I'd wreck dive without proper security, free climb and whatnot. Had a few minor incidents, but nothing to scare me.
Continued with this macho attitude - I'd go to war in a millisecond, no questions asked. Then I started skydiving. Was all macho in the plane. Was all macho when I jumped out.
Had a very violent opening due to poor positioning in the air and when I hung there in the chute I sorta realized 'dude. This can kill you'. Then had a malfunction some jumps later and after that, the testosterone poisoning I had suffered from seemed to have evaporated. Realized that maybe I wasn't so big and incredibly cool/brave.
Now if I just see footage of WWII, I cannot HELP but to think that the fear those soldiers experience is many times worse what I felt when I looked up and saw a the long lines of my chute and the bag where the chute is in refusing to open. And me hurling at 50m/s towards the ground, around 15 seconds below me. Imagined the SMACK into the ground and how my bones and internal organs would be. And then the flesh slowly rotting off my broken bones, halted only through the cremation of what used to be me. Al the deeds, thoughts no more. Love and hatred, the strongest emotions, forever nullified. Odd how much you think about when it's brown trousers time.
I mean, if I thought that was bad, I can imagine what being constantly scared for months at a time must be like. That's why I wouldn't volunteer to fight in such a war. Am now over my testosterone poisoning and all too aware of my mortality and the mortality of others. No longer is there to me any glory in war.
-
When i was 20 years i would be that crazy.
I would shave my hair imidiatly.
Now i know better
If my country is attacked that would be another story.
-
I faced that decision many years ago, my father was in the AAF in WW2 and my mother was a navy nurse when they met. There was never any question or hesitation about what was the right thing to do. I enlisted and volunteered to go. spent 30 months in country before riding home strapped to a stretcher in a c-141 medevac bird. Would I go again? In a heartbeat. Heh, you'd have to retrain me in one of those new m1's tho, the old m48a3's we used are a bit primitave by todays standard.
cars
-
Originally posted by cars
I faced that decision many years ago, my father was in the AAF in WW2 and my mother was a navy nurse when they met. There was never any question or hesitation about what was the right thing to do. I enlisted and volunteered to go. spent 30 months in country before riding home strapped to a stretcher in a c-141 medevac bird. Would I go again? In a heartbeat. Heh, you'd have to retrain me in one of those new m1's tho, the old m48a3's we used are a bit primitave by todays standard.
cars
Cars,
Trust me, it wouldn't be hard to transition to the M1. I did it from the M60 and that wasn't THAT different from the M48a3.
PS. I spent a very brief time in a M48a3 too. :)
to you for your service. Maybe we'll meet in Fidlers Green some day.