General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I do not worship the ground our military walks on [View all]catnhatnh
(8,976 posts)...even in Vietnam the "tooth to tail" logistics trail was nearly 10 to 1. So even of the 2.5 million who served in country only about 250 thousand were what the civilians picture as "combat troops". I get embarrassed when people find out I served and thank me. I worked 9-5 and we had beer machines in the barracks...
On the other hand a family member IS a combat vet and a survivor of LZ X-Ray with the 101st and he is owed some respect for that. But even he finds military worship disturbing. Your must remember that extolling all veterans include us clerks and jerks and the fortunate sons like George W. who hid in the guard...
As pointed out by others, I also respect more those drafted into the war who performed honorably in spite of coercion. I cannot respect the military brass who supported multiple wars based on phony intelligence. The only two examples of truly honorable commanders I can think of offhand are Butler and Hackworth with an honorable mention for Hal Moore.
In short most vets gain my sympathy but do not earn my blanket endorsement. It's time to reduce our forces to a defense posture and not an empire enabler.