It is not a new situation for the military. Here is Thomas Nast's take on the Indian Wars.
Posted on 01/19/2014 11:00:24 PM PST by Impala64ssa
I saw Lone Survivor today. I wept. I’m a female, I can do that sort of thing in public.
Here’s why I wept.
In the first few minutes of the film, watching the Navy SEALS train, I turned to my friends and said what a travesty it would be if the physical requirements were ever adjusted downwards to accommodate women – or anyone who could not meet them for that matter, regardless of gender or orientation. These men, these warriors, are elite for a reason. They are capable of doing things very few can. That’s the way we want and need them to be.
I wept for the mothers, wives, sisters, fathers, brothers and friends of the beautiful, strong and healthy warriors who gave everything to defend the freedoms of this nation, and of others they would never know.
I wept for the people of Afghanistan who are not supporters of the Taliban. Those who can only dream of a different life. Who even in the best of times must eke out their existence in the harshest of conditions. Who will never know the comfort and liberty we do. For the women who will never have the choices I have, and the freedom to chart their own course. Perhaps it is an accident of birth. In some respects, I felt that about Marcus Luttrell himself. It was an accident of fate that he survived and others did not. Such is life, and only God knows the plan for each of us.
But most of all, I wept in anger. I am overcome with rage at the elected politicians who have never served their country in uniform, never seen battle and yet make decisions that affect the life and death of their fellow citizens.
I am so angry that our rules of engagement, made in courtrooms by people whose personal agenda has nothing to do with victory, restrict the ability of our military to do the thing we send them into battle to do: fight.
I am disgusted that budgets for military equipment and training get shaved away and shaved away so much that lives are lost because we cannot adequately equip the men and women we send into the most terrifying situations.
I have no words to be spoken in polite company to express my frustration that this administration seems more focused on the sexual orientation of our warriors than their fighting readiness or following up on the promises made to them in their retirement.
I am however thankful this film was made, and somewhat surprised Hollywood allowed it. Pardon my candor, but I hope every candy-ass liberal can take a few minutes away from the exertions of Kanye West and Lady Gaga, look beyond themselves and their concern for polar bears and baby harp seals, and understand what real sacrifice, real pain, real effort and real honor truly is.
“If we ever go to war, it should be with overwhelming force until the objective is achieved.”
In my opinion, this is where George Bush made his biggest mistake. He should have turned Afghanistan and/or Iraq into a parking lot from the git-go. Hundreds of American lives would have been saved and the rest of the world would definitely view the United States with “shock and awe.”
She turned to her friends and said....
Damnit woman—stop talking during the movie. You are not in your living room.
Honorable Men look upon heroes with admiration, trying to be at least a little bit like them. Honorable Men hold up heroes as exemplars to be followed and imitated.
Dishonorable “men” look upon heroes with fear and loathing, knowing that they can never be like them at all. Dishonorable “men” try to tear down heroes in a fit of jealousy and shame.
First things first, I want to express to you my personal thanks for your service to our country. It is because of you, and those like you who have a higher sense of purpose that the rest of us are able to enjoy the freedoms we do have, however diminishing they are thanks to the occupant of the White House. You deserve our thanks, our respect, and our admiration.
Second, I find it appalling how our Veterans are treated in this country. The sacrifices that they (you) and their families have made are far beyond any measure than those of us who have not served will ever know. All Veterans deserve far, FAR better than they are getting -- we owe them. They signed up with the understanding that this country would take care of them and their families to "compensate" for their sacrifices and we've fallen woefully short.
The new "sacrifices" (for lack of a better term to call it as I drink my first cup of coffee) that are being forced upon them without their consent should anger us all, especially as we see the expansion of federal government and "giveaways" like Obamaphones, SNAP and other forms of Government giveaways being abused to the point of costing us all billions and billions of dollars.
At the end of the day, I believe our Veterans deserve far more than they're given. After all, who do we owe: the government cheese-eaters or those who served, fought and sacrificed for this country?
The answer while painfully obvious to you and I somehow doesn't seem to "resonate" with those in political power in Washington DC - Democrat and Republican alike.
Washington DC is a disgrace.
I have mild dyslexia. I had to read that sentence three times. I will not repeat what I thought it said the first two as I almost hit the abuse link. Glad I read it a third time (and got it.)
The fact is, Kanye West and "lady" Gaga (whatever IT is..) aren't fit to be doormats for our Nation's best and brightest to wipe their boots on.
LIKE.
It is not a new situation for the military. Here is Thomas Nast's take on the Indian Wars.
Absolutely loved the movie. Took my sons, both 16 and 12.
The one thing that bothered me about the MOVIE (as opposed to the story) was the way they ended it. From the time Marcus emerged from the waterfall, the entire story was fiction. Knowing what I know of Luttrell, and knowing people that know Marcus first hand, we were all surprised the movie was made the way it was, given his major involvement with the film.
bttt
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