Armistice Day/Veterans Day 2025
One more under my belt.
The Cold War, 1985.
I didn’t join for patriotism, or any noble ideals. I joined because I had lost my father to cancer, was stuck against my will in a country I didn’t understand; which made big promises about freedom, but wasn’t really following through.
I was angry, and I was hurting; and the recruiter swore enlistment was a way back to places and countries that I understood.
He lied, of course.
The military did what the military is very, very good at: took an angry, hurting, scary-smart, violent young man and gave him purpose, direction, and an outlet for his rage.
Also tinnitus, bad hips, crappy knees, the motrin tolerance of a bull elephant, a liver that cries in the shower at the mention of alcohol, and an even lower tolerance for bushwa than prior, but honestly: I would have had all of that anyway, but probably attached to a rap sheet instead of an Honorable Discharge.
It also gave me a look at what my country could be — not what it was, but what it was capable of — and a damned good look at everything (good, bad, and sodding ugly) that I could be.
Would I do it over again? There are some good memories, and some bad. Good experiences, and crappy ones. I didn’t form the fraternal bonds that others did.
I wouldn’t like to do it again, but it did keep my monumentally bad personal choices from becoming felony records, so it would probably behoove me — should I have to re-live those days — to do it all again.
Only ... not Combat Arms next time.
Happy Veterans Day.
Ian
I came from a totally different perspective on joining, but ended up in the same place. I joined out of a sense of patriotism and family tradition of military service. Not so much career military tradition but a serve for a few years and move on, get the GI bill and go to college. Father, Uncles, Brother, cousins... lots of Air force, Marines, Navy and Army service in my family.
Fucking recruiter didn't even lie to me about anything.. I was sold before I ever got there. 6'2 inches and 125 lbs. I had to eat 5 lbs of food the morning I took my medical just to pass the minimum weight requirement. I was also almost 20 when I joined. I had worked multiple jobs most at the same time and found that seven days a week working and barely paying the bills wasn't a future I wanted. Service and college was the plan for country and the future.
Sigh... just fuck.... Signed up knowingly for 10th Mountain Light Infantry in the late 80's, third battalion of the reconstituted 10th Mountain Division. I don't think anyone had any idea how hard the army was going to be with their new experimental light infantry concept. In three years of training they lost 50% of the unit, 25% pushed till they cracked and went crazy and 25% medical-ed out with physical injury. It was a higher loss rate than units see in actual combat.
I can say I pushed my self beyond my boundaries and all the other catchphrases they use to convince young men to sacrifice their bodies and lives on the alter of service. I have the bad knees and injured back to show for it. What they never tell you is that if you go down the road of combat arms, you have no civilian skills that easily transfer into a job. You can joke about having experience in government job involving population control, but realistically you don't have the skills most jobs want. Other than law enforcement, and someone all hyped up on adrenaline with an aggressive gung ho attitude is not who you want as an officer of the law. No offense to Ian. That doesn't describe everyone but it does a lot. I had at least three states' state troopers try to recruit me after my service ended. :) they made the mistake of showing me their version of basic training. The training was fine.. nothing special after what the military put me through.. But the videos showed a lot of the bullshit treatment, like they did in basic with screaming and hollering and just mental fucking with the recruits. :) I looked at the recruiter and just said "I volunteered once and did that, and because I volunteered and signed on the line I put up with that type of behavior knowingly. The next time someone treats me like that I am going to knock them on their ass. So do you think I'm a good fit?" lol.... They were about as unimpressed as I was.
I have given a lot of advice to young men and women over the years based on my experiences and what I wish I had known and what I would do differently if I could.
1. forget about patriotism, you will not be defending the country but implementing foreign policy for economic gain of others in someone else's country. If you go into it based on patriotism it will devastate you to do the things you will do in the name of a lie.
2. Do not go into combat arms. Go into a job that trains you in something that has a job you can step right into in the civilian world. Pilot, mechanic, IT, MP, or a thousand other jobs.
3. maybe your one of those people that thrive in the military, it can be a good career. if you treat it as a career and not a patriotic mission. Beware, just like in every other job out there, your superiors will use you for their gain and discard you when you become inconvenient. Your nation will discard you when you are no longer useful. I don't say this based on the news or other peoples stories but based on people I actually know and situations I have seen. For every good leader I served under there were three of four you couldn't trust as far as you could throw them.
now I don't even recommend it as a career path other than in one situation. If you are trying to get out of a life or situation that will drag you down to destruction, or are so poor their seems to be no hope of pulling yourself up. The military is a path to improving your life. Its a hard life but its not as bad as a lot of situations.
Everything is a balance of positive and negative.
Thanks for putting up with all the same sh** for little or no reward. I remember this day because at the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month, we ended the War to End All Wars. Yet we didn't learn one damned thing from it.