Posted on 12/05/2011 4:19:54 PM PST by smokingfrog
WALTHAM, Mass. -- A Lowell man is under arrest and accused of lying to police about being a high-ranking official in the Marines.
The man told an officer that pulled him over that he was trying to collect toys for the organization “Toys for Tots.” He was even wearing a uniform and medals he did not earn.
The officer that pulled the man over was a former Marine himself and he was not fooled by the man’s disguise.
The man was arrested on his way to Shopper’s Café in Waltham. The restaurant was holding a “Toys for Tots” event and the supposed Staff Sergeant was supposed to pick up the toys.
“Half way through the night someone got a phone call and said that they’re not coming. Apparently he was a fraud and got arrested on the way here,” said Lauren Rutledge of Shopper’s Café.
Detectives said they got suspicious of the man and all the medals of valor he wore on his uniform.
Detectives said the 41-year-old man was dishonorably discharged from the Marines but when he was arrested he was wearing a high ranking Marine’s uniform. He allegedly wore that uniform at toy stores to collect donations for Toys for Tots.
(Excerpt) Read more at 1.whdh.com ...
Johnny, I have called more than one NCO sir, not just in training either. The way I was raised, calling a man sir, does not mean the man is senior to you it simply means you respect that man.
There are old men in the timber business, men who do not own 10% of the land I do, yet every time we talk I call them sir, they have forgotten more than I will ever know concerning some things, I respect them and God willing, I learn from them.
An officer that spends 4 years on active duty can learn a lot form a man who has spent 18 and has three up and three down, if recalled.
Yeah - that was an issue for me to Jake. My dad taught me to call everyone sir or ma’am if they were older than me. There were a number of enlisted who took offense (+ some younger than they looked) and it took me a while to break the habit but eventually I just called them by their rank or just their last name and they were fine with that.
Now the real question is do you all know the response to “Why didn’t you say sir?” For us Plebes at USNA it was as follows:
“Sir, sir is a subservient word surviving from the surly days in old Serbia when certain serfs, too ignorant to remember their lord’s names, yet too serville to blaspheme them, circumvented the situation by surrogating the subservient word, sir, by which I now belatedly address a certain senior cirriped, who correctly surmised that I was syrupy enough to say sir after every word I said, sir.”
Try that one without stumbling or laughing while someone’s screaming in your face - ah memories ;)
And all these years I had wished I had gone to Annapolis, but, I could have never done that with a straight face.
No, sir. That's what officers are for. ;)
Part of it may be the natural separation of officers from enlisted, and face it. An NCO screws up, he may lose a stripe or 6, but he's not going to be personally responsible for loss of men or millions.
All I know is that it's a custom that has gone on for hundreds of years, including quips like "I'm no SIR! I work for a living" and "Don't call me sir, my parents were married" that literally, go back hundreds of years. :)
Since we have the most sucessful military in the modern world, I'm loath to mess with a system that works.
/johnny
Senior NCOs may be the memory and the boot in the ass of the military, but young officers are the drive and heart and conscience of any military.
More O-2s burn out than E-5s.
/johnny
More O-2s burn out than E-5s.
I agree. God bless you. And a merry CHRISTmas to you and yours.
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