God bless our young soldiers

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Schmika @ Oct 14 2006, 02:49 PM) [snapback]332801[/snapback]</div>

It's sad and ironic how war will weed out the brave and honorable and allow the weak and cowardly become president and vp.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Oct 16 2006, 11:45 AM) [snapback]333419[/snapback]</div>

I’ll second that!!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tbstout2 @ Oct 16 2006, 09:42 AM) [snapback]333453[/snapback]</div>

Tripple score

 

I'm fearful that 'God' and religion may actually part of the problem, not part of the solution.

 

Let's get them home ASAP.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ Oct 16 2006, 02:42 PM) [snapback]333560[/snapback]</div>

Especially after my son got back and said they don't want them there - 2 soldiers in his battalion were killed.
Unfortunately the way the system works, I'm sure his reserve unit and him will go back - just not sure when.

 

Who doesn't want them there? You mean the Iraqis?

 

"We received a welcome, but it was not a *friendly* welcome."

 

so sad.

someone like that... i just have to wonder what great things he could have done at home if he had lived to come back.

have to wonder who is grieving for him tonight. my heart goes out to his family and friends.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Oct 16 2006, 08:45 AM) [snapback]333419[/snapback]</div>

The “sad†part I agree with . . . . IF it is referring to the soldier himself. Petty Officer Monsoor was a hero . . . and maybe a future Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.

He was not “weeded out.†He joined the Navy in March 2001, yet volunteered for the SEALS twice after the attacks of 9-11. (Yes, joining the SEALS is on a strictly volunteer basis.) He washed out of his first SEALS class, but two years later became a SEAL when he passed BUDS training in March 2005. Petty Officer Monsoor was not cannon fodder as burritos would want you to believe. He knew full well that his choice of joining the SEALS would put him in the most precarious of “in harm's way†positions . . . AND TO HIS CREDIT HE DID IT WILLINGLY! Nobody forced him to go.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/c...1&cset=true

As for the "ironic" part: NO IRONY HERE . . . unless you are maybe forgetting that the “weak and cowardly†jab is more appropriately focused upon Bill Clinton - who never wore a military uniform and avoided service in the Vietnam War - than it does our current president who, at the very least, DID join the military and was subject to deployment.

Notice that none of the rabid anti-war liberals as much as uttered one word of praise or thanks for Petty Officer Monsoor's sacrifice.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Oct 16 2006, 05:41 PM) [snapback]333759[/snapback]</div>

Oh, riiiiight! I guess we all just forgot that it's Clinton's fault we're in Iraq.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ Oct 16 2006, 05:43 PM) [snapback]333716[/snapback]</div>

Yes, the Iraqis. It's also interesting that most of the work they did (Engineering corp) like rewiring Iraqi buidings had to be redone over and over again because the locals would rip it all out. But enough about him. He made. There were, and continue to be, many others that don't.

 

Really? I hadn't heard that the Iraqis were undoing the positives that we were doing over there. That is sad.

 

Sure hope cogress can see it in their hearts to award this person a Medal of Honor. In my heart, he allready has one. God bless his soul!!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Oct 16 2006, 06:41 PM) [snapback]333759[/snapback]</div>

:lol:

Well, Texas is so very close to VietNam. Yup.

At least Bill Clinton knew he was trying to get out of the war. Bush just pretended to be in the service. He hid out most of the time he was enlisted. And wasn't he MIA a few times?

I have more respect for someone who knows they don't want to serve in some unwarranted war then hiding while enlisted.

Oh, and before you go figuring I'm some liberal, who never served, I did, in the NAVY. Volunteered. And would have died for my country, if needed. It's something I took very seriously, my oath of service.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TJandGENESIS @ Oct 16 2006, 11:22 PM) [snapback]333847[/snapback]</div>

During his stint, Bush learned to fly fighter aircraft. During Clinton's stint, he learned to get high . . . or did he learn? . . . :blink:
"When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it. I didn't inhale and never tried it again." –Bill Clinton

He didn't like it???? . . . and he didn't inhale????? What's to not like? What happened? Did the smoke get in his eyes . . . a time or two? <_<

Texas IS far away from Viet Nam. But, apparently, Arkansas is even further away.

As a former Navy sailor, I'm kind of surprised you can't discern the character of Bush's service better than a regular civilian. Certain aspects should not be ambiguous to a former member of the US military.

1) He wasn't “enlisted†as you say. He was a Commissioned Officer. (trivial point)
2) Qualifying as a US military fighter pilot takes some very serious commitment – not a sometimes, part-time, whenever I wish to show up, Weekend Warrior commitment, but a serious commitment involving years of training, study, and tests.
3) Reservist's Commitment: I don't know if you were ever in a reserve component, or worked with Reservists, but their commitment requirements are not like that of regular service members. Regular members can't say, “I think I won't show up this weekend.†Reservists CAN . . . and then do a make-up day if allowed or needed. Reservists run on a “Points†system, and need 50 points per year to satisfy their obligation. Regular soldiers need to be there, period!
4) He received an Honorable Discharge.

As a qualified fighter pilot, I have no doubts that Bush's reserve service went well above the minimum requirements one would expect of a person trying to avoid a war by “hiding out†in a reserve unit. I'm surprised you would have doubts . . . unless, or course, it's your anti-Bush liberal side thinking.

http://www.hillnews.com/york/090904.aspx

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Oct 16 2006, 06:41 PM) [snapback]333759[/snapback]</div>

The Iraq war has killed so may of our soldiers, and other American citizens, and it is morally unjust that the administration that sent them there is led by individuals that have never served in the military. Bush did NOT serve in the military nor was he in any danger of being deployed. He was part of the elite that hid behind their father’s league of “Good ‘Ol Boysâ€.
Bill Clinton, too, made an effort to be bypassed from the draft but at least he used HIS own brains and academic prowess to put himself in a situation where he wouldn’t have to go to war. I’d do my best to avoid a draft if I felt that the war was a war of self-serving politics and not a war of defense. Just like this Iraq war!
Did you know that Paul Wolfowitz had offered a plan up to the Clinton Administration that was motivated by a desire to demonstrate U.S. military might to move our economic interests forward? My guess is that once Bush came in to power they dusted off the “plan†and made it ready to implement if a situation occurred. Well, one did and they took advantage of it for the sake of imperialism.
Lastly, you saw only what you wanted to see in the previous responses. I was affirming that YES it is very sad and that YES the prez and his VP didn’t serve. In no way does it overlook the sacrifice of Petty Officer Monsoor – or all the other US soldiers that have died or been maimed that have been put in harms way by a person with the smallest IQ in presidential history. Or the only president that has been convicted of a DUI… I could go on, but it makes me sad.

 

It greatly saddens my heart when I hear of another young service member paying the ultimate price. I am always humbled by their sacrafice for their country and the for the people of this Nation. I know people that have gone and come home from Iraq and Afganistan (sp?). Most are always saying they will go back if need be. I have 26+ years in the Hawaii Air National Guard and don't see myself getting out anytime soon. If called, I will go and serve my country also. I have been activated since 9/11 and don't see any end to my activation any time soon.
I am not a Dem or Rep or Lib, I'm an American. I hated it when the USS Cole was attacked and Mr. Clinton did nothing except have oral sex with Monica and then look me in th eyes and lie about it. I didn't vote for him but I did vote for Mr. Bush. No politician is perfect and they all have their agendas, but at least Mr. Bush did something after 9/11. Iraq may not have been a smart thing, but what if Saddam and Iran got together and decided to help eachother go after the US. We must remember that, no matter what we think, those in power in these countries don't like and have never liked the US. These people have hated us from way back.
Whatever your feelings for our current President or any other President, please don't forget the brave men and women of our Armed Forces. Volunteers, each and everyone of them and they are doing this for everyone else that calls America their home.

 

You know what I love about the internets? Is that people always assume. Like, take me, for instance. Unless I come right out and say it, most folks don't know I am a preacher. And a Registered Republican. So, once I do that, most people then think I am some sort of Bible belting All Behind The Bush side kind of guy. Which makes me point out, eventually, that I voted for him once, not twice. Voted for Kerry the second time. I realized that I had made a mistake. Oh, and then I have to point out that I am a Teddy Roosevelt/Abe Lincoln kind of Republican.

Finally, when it comes necessary, I point out how I was in the NAVY, so you know, I have served.

To sum up. I am a liberal Republican, former NAVY man, who is a preacher who believes in the Freedom Of Speech, Freedom Of Religion, and won't care if you are gay, straight, war lover, peacenik, or whatever.

Now, to rebuke your post.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Oct 17 2006, 03:23 PM) [snapback]334066[/snapback]</div>

Who cares if he smoked pot? I smoked pot back in the day. Don't now, but then again, I'm older. A bit wiser. And yeah, I enjoyed it. Inhaled.
We all have done things in our youth. Some things worse then others.

And, whille Bush may have learned to fly jets, he never was going to fight in the war. His dad would have never let it happen. He joined up, barely served. I seriously doubt he ever got his hands dirty.

I think there is more strength of character when you admit that you don't like something, like the war, and don't participate. Takes guts to stand up for what you believe in... HOWEVER, it takes guts to serve in the armed forces. More so then a lot of anti war people realize. And I volunteered. I had a choice. Not many during the draft days had a choice. They were brave to serve, but man, if you ask those who were drafted, a LOT of them would have wished to get out of the service, if they had a way to.

Yes, I can discern better then the average Joe what it's like to serve. And that is why, I know that Bush did not serve in the same way I did. When I was cleaning toilets, pulling KP, standing guard, I somehow don't think that Bush did the same, or at least for as long. When I was in a sub, when I was on a tub, I was keenly aware of at any time I could be called into a war zone. I may have served during the Cold War, but often we were minutes away from a Hot War. I know that if Bush had to go fight in VN, he would have found a way out of it. I, on the other hand, would have to do what I was ordered to do.

Please. He learned what he had to do. And then he got out. IF, as you say, he had a 'serious commitment', why didn't he become a career fighter pilot?

I don't have doubts. What I have, is a tired of the same ole', same ole'.

Clinton did not serve. So the right wing trashes him. Kerry, however, did serve. So the right wing trashes him.

Huh?

And then Bush, Bush does the bare minimum of what he has to do, gets out, and never once fought. How he can send young people to fight in a war that he would never fight in, is just disgusting.

Bush is a example of what is so very wrong with the Republican party, and that is why I am in that party. To help return it to the days when being a Republican meant caring for your country, and if needed, to fight for it.

But Iraq? Not a place that we should be in, not a war we should be fighting, with too may people dying.

If that makes me a liberal, so be it. I would rather we save our fighting armed forces for something more important.

Have a great day.