Boots on the ground?. Can we all please start saying troops on the ground?

[pwb]

Did Frank Lutz think of that to take away the human concept of war. In Vietnam boots on the ground were put there with a rifle to honor our dead from a fire fight. Another time boots were on the ground was when a man was blown away by a close mortar or rocket explosion. Their boots were blown off their bodies fully laced.
Maybe it is just me and my fellow combat veterans who have really sad memories of Boots on the ground.
Boots on the ground is so impersonal. Even our Generals say it, but they never were really close to actual combat.
It may just be a combat veteran thing so please excuse me if you do not understand where I am coming from. Parents of military personnel probably aren't to fond of their children referred to as boots.
Saying boots on the ground is pretty much set in stone now especially with the media and politicians. It would take miracle to make people stop saying it. If you can help please try to change the tone and make war more human. Thanks

[morningfog]

1. To be fair, Obama's wiggle is "combat troops on the ground."

It's a wiggle because there are 1,600 troops on the ground in Iraq right now. And dozens of pilots are engaging in air combat daily. Of course the ground troops are assisting the pilots in targeting, but under the Obama doctrine such compatymentalizing does not equal combat troops on the ground.

Of course the next step will be troops embedded with and assisting the Iraqi ground troops and the fantasy distinction will erode even more.

[pinboy3niner]

2. Remember keeping one dogtag around your neck and putting one in your bootlaces?

So they might still be able to identify you if they found your dismembered leg...

[Feral Child]

4. Yes, I do.

It wasn't exactly a morale booster, was it?

[HereSince1628]

5. Remember name and ssn sewn into your belt, boots, sweatband, your name on the ass

end of your camo pants?

They had all my easily separated parts and my torso labelled so Humpty Dumpty could single bag and tag my pieces.

[Feral Child]

6. Jeez, that reminded me

Remember the detailed instruction to drive the dogtag around a corpse's neck between his front teeth so it wouldn't get lost?

Gruesome.

[pinboy3niner]

9. There was a myth that dogtags were notched for that purpose

But the notches actually were there because of the process for stamping the dogtag blanks at that time.

This discussion is likely to stir up some old stuff for a lot of us. I know it does for me...

[Feral Child]

10. I had heard that story,

and the proper explanation. I'd forgotten that canard.

I don't often mention Nam, try not to think of it most days.

Some memories are best left undisturbed. Hope I haven't made you uncomfortable, my brother.

[Feral Child]

3. Jingoistic nonsense.

But it sounds so damn manly...

[justiceischeap]

7. I get where you're coming from but I have to ask

Do you consider mercenaries troops?

[TorchTheWitch]

8. the term originated from the military

meaning military personnel engaged in a conflict in some capacity where they able to know what is happening in the thick of things. As an example: The Pentagon may think we have enough troops in Iraq, but that's not what I'm hearing from the boots on the ground.

It probably became part of the average Joe lingo after journalist, Karl Zinsmeister, entitled his book "Boots on the Ground: A month with the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq". Politicians probably picked it up from members of the military in discussions and/or media picked it up from same or from politicians using it.

In any case, like many other words and phrases that originate within the military this is just another one.