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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Grainne who wrote (107826)	8/28/2005 6:57:03 PM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

I was in the Navy in the early 1950s. In case you think that the Navy was soft, or that I am hopelessly anachronistic in my views, my two sons went through Marine Corps basic training at Quantico in the first gulf war and served in Iraq. One of them won the Bronze Star. They would be among the first to tell you that the characterization of basic training as "brainwashing" is pure bull%&#. My sons were both college graduates and very unlikely candidates for brainwashing. I was only a high school graduate, and a more likely candidate, but having earned a Ph.D. afterward, I think I would remember if I was brainwashed. Of course basic training is intended to test one's mettle and involves a healthy degree of humbling, but not humiliation. I remember my CPO telling me that I was no better than piece of whale&^t on the ocean floor once when I screwed up. Oh my goodness gracious, how could the nasty man have said that to little old me. It's a wonder it didn't ruin my life. C'mon, this is about kids like myself growing up. Basic training to me was a whirlwind of drills, physical training, tough classes, acquiring many new skills, maturing, and finding my place in the Navy. Yes, we learned a lot of history and came to have a feeling of real pride to be serving in this branch of our services. I was never indoctrinated politically in the slightest way. Nothing I experienced could remotely be considered "brainwashing." It was one of the greatest experiences in my whole life. My sons had a rougher time than I did in the Marines, and came out much the better men for it. Currently, one supports the war, and one opposes it. The Marines made men of them, but never brainwashed them. You could never find two more independent thinkers. They take immense pride in being former (not "ex") Marines. You can always find former servicemen who will speak ill of their service experiences, for whatever grudges or political motives, but don't believe everything you read just because you would prefer it to be true.