WHAT DOES “WEARING THE UNIFORM” MEAN?
by OPOVV, ©2014
(May 11, 2014) — Even before I lowered my hand after taking the Oath to “defend and protect” the Constitution, I knew that the freedoms I cherished in the past were but mere memories, fleeting figments of “sleeping in.” My life was no longer mine: I freely, without reservation, gave my life to Uncle Sam to, basically, do with whatever, which was exactly the case. I actually upped the ante by voluntarily stepping in harm’s way once or twice, but that’s another story; besides, you wouldn’t believe me anyway. I don’t even believe some of the things I did, so there. Sometimes I was unlucky, but on the whole of it I came out of it not much more nuts than the next guy. As I say, some memories are good and get better through time, while the bad ones eventually get twisted so much as to make a tragedy a comedy; sharp concussive noises replaced by laughter; immensely bright flashes replaced by subdued-indirect lighting; the smell of sulfur replaced with the smell of Windsong perfume.
After a while, the “San Francisco Club” in Da Nang is indistinguishable from the one in Tijuana or Napoli or Yokohama or wherever: one bar stool pretty much feels like any other. But I was also into culture, so whenever I was in a new country at a new city, I always went on one of those day tours, you know the kind: hop on a bus and spend 15 minutes at six different sights, with sights to be seen along the way, so the next day, or the next time I was passing through, I’d have a pretty good idea what I wanted to see more of. I found an interesting restaurant in Naples, Italy that way.
It seems that it was an air-raid shelter during World War II, and after the war they made it into a restaurant. The whole place was carved into the side of the mountain, so one night I went there for a meal. I ordered lasagna and a bottle of wine and, after I drank all of the wine and cleaned my plate, the waiter came over with the bill. I said, “No, por favor. Uno mas” as I waved my hand around the plate and the bottle of wine. I had to repeat the gesture a couple of times until the waiter got the message that this big Americano is ordering seconds! And I did; and I ate and drank ALL of the second order, too. Afterwards I asked for the chef to come out, and out he came, and I put my fingers to my lips and declared, “Momma mia! Magnifico!” as I threw my hands into the air. Among much laughter and rubbing my stomach, I left a healthy tip and went on my way.
Serving in the military was what I thought of as a “Rite of Passage,” just something that guys were supposed to do, not only in being a responsible citizen, but as a step towards manhood. Since I’m part American Indian, I couldn’t really be expected to go out and count coup, so I did it another way by earning a “Good Conduct” medal and an Honorable Discharge, just as thousands before me did and thousands afterwards.
When you send your kid out to play, you don’t send him out to come home dead. And when you join up for the military, everyone understands that many who took the same steps you did never made it back, but you do so, not with the feeling of invincibility, but with the knowledge that you’ll try to do your best, and that’s it.
Vietnam was a real joke. It was a killing machine on steroids, which is what happens when politicians stick their noses in places where they don’t belong. President Roosevelt told his Generals and Admirals that he wanted ’Unconditional Surrender,” and they delivered. So why is today any different than yesterday?
Face it: we’re all expendable, even if you’re not on active duty, and if anybody disagrees with me on this one, let me just say one name to get your attention: Jesus Christ. Okay, so we’re expendable, but that doesn’t mean we just jump off the cliff for nothing, even if we’re ordered to, or we’re sent to some godforsaken outpost with no safety net, no security, no backup, not even a plan in place in case something goes downhill fast.
There are no two ways around this one: Benghazi. The murder of our guys was made possible by the incompetence of people who are still collecting a government paycheck while serving the people. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? It’s just as stupid as Lois Lerner taking the 5th. Imagine, a public employee, supposedly doing work on our behalf, having to keep secret for fear of being thrown in jail for not doing the job for which she was hired.
Maybe Ambassador Stevens was set up; right now we don’t know. But this is what we do know: incompetence reared its ugly head and laid waste to four Americans. Those four guys were sacrificed for either political payback or political greed, or both. I’ll say it again, bottom line: those four Americans were sacrificed. For nothing, unless you count Obama as worth something.
Message to our troops on active duty: because you didn’t rise up when LTC Terry Lakin was railroaded in a kangaroo Court Martial, and because you just sat on your backsides since Benghazi, you’re next in line to be sacrificed. You’re not doing America any good wearing the uniform if you don’t uphold your Oath to defend and protect the Constitution.
Think of it like this: let’s say that the Muslims attack Israel and America honors her commitment to aid Israel. What are your chances of being shot in the back by one of the Muslims serving in your company, in your squad? Hey, just maybe you got “sacrificed.”
Semper Fi