uw,
I do believe your military service and mine were a valuable contribution to America...
Yours maybe. Mine surely not.
The military bands are a waste of millions of dollars, probably tens of millions including retirement benefits, every year. My military band service might have been a contribution only in the sense that I lawfully fulfilled my military obligation. And it might have been a contribution because I played a small role that eventually caused the Military District of Washington to lose a federal lawsuit; the result was that the Army was ordered (imagine the Army being ordered!) to stop overtly coercing military personnel to make personal financial contributions to fundraising campaigns of the military's choice. Other than that, my service in the band couldn't possibly have been valuable to anyone unless you figure that it prevented me from going to Viet Nam and thus prevented me and my military ineptitude from getting fellow soldiers killed. Indeed, I sometimes wonder if I might have been more patriotic as an effective draft dodger.
The only reason I enlisted was because my government coerced me into doing so. The other less preferable possibilities were being drafted, going to another country, or lying to obtain status as a "conscientious objector."
Before I enlisted, legal counsel advised me that my application for conscientious objector status would be rejected due to a very specific rule regarding my philosophy. After I enlisted, that rule changed. In other words, one day my government said I was unpatriotic for holding a particular view and the next day it said I was indeed a true patriot for holding that exact same belief. Nothing changed other than the government, but tell that to the poor guy or gal who died in Viet Nam and wouldn't have been there had the appropriate rule been in effect in the first place.
I did not bring up the awards issue...ID did.
You sound like a little kid playing in the sandbox, not like the trained killer that you are. The best you can come up with is "He started it." Neener neener neener. That's exactly what the Dems and Repubs are saying about each other's negative political campaigns these days.
The people are friendly and always helpful...not to mention patriotic.
You should come out of retirement so you can work for the government and decide for the rest of the world who is and who isn't patriotic.
but you will find yourself always welcomed, always assisted and always invited, because you have served America honorably.
Thanks, but the minute you determine that somebody has served America honorably, you're also determining that someone else has been dishonorable. I don't think you and your friends (or anyone) are qualified to be the great arbiters of patriotism. If that's the reason I'm welcome to your community, I'll pass. Does it have a beltway so I can avoid it entirely?
This is my last post on this subject. I apologize to everyone for its uncurmudgeonly tone.
--Mike Buckley |
