Today is Veterans Day

[Breetai]

Here in Australia November 11 is remembrance day. We hold a minutes silence at 11 am. Unfortunately nobody seems to give a shit about it any more and many don't even realize that they supposed to shut up for one whole minute and contemplate . I take it very seriously but sadly my desire to respect those who risked or lost their lives in service to their nation isn't matched by everyone. Arseholes.

I remember it being a one minute silence here, but since I came back to Canada this year after five years, plus five years of not attending Remembrance Day ceremonies before that (university, work, etc.), it is now two minutes. I work at an elementary school as a professional university student teacher, so I was at a school ceremony this year. Of course quite a few students were quietly making faces at each other and whatnot, but what can you do other than try to set a good example and convey the meaning of 11/11 in class? At the least, students should use the day as an opportunity to be thankful for the fact that, for the most part, their parents and older siblings haven't been sent to a war that has a high soldier death rate.

It's all about soldiers/veterans, and not "war pigs", if you will, who send those soldiers to war.

[CRTGAMER]

Here's a good story of my rating, God, I would love to do one more launch right now!

Hats off to the Navy: Trapping & Flight Ops

Without the sound effects coming from the jet engines, the afterburners, the steam catapult, the arresting cable hydraulics, and the pounding in my chest, anything I put in words will pale in comparison to the experience of standing a few feet from all of this and trying to take it all in.

First of all, the flight deck is a hubbub of activity and close quarters. The deck is packed with aircraft and equipment and buzzing with a swarm of Navy personnel, each focused on their tasks—tasks which, if not done properly, could result in death, serious injury, or the loss of millions of dollars in equipment damages.

What looked like chaos was actually a well orchestrated and choreographed system of man and machine. Each sailor was wearing a distinctly colored jersey that indicated their specialties. Let me take a stab at describing it to you, knowing that I’m merely summarizing what is most likely a long list of other responsibilities:
–Blue jerseys move the planes around, chock and chain;
–Brown jerseys are the air wing plane captains;
–Green jerseys take care of the catapults, arresting cables, aircraft maintenance and other stuff I can’t remember;
–Purple jerseys (“Grapes”) are the folks who refuel the aircraft;
–Red jerseys handle the munitions, explosives, crash and fire;
–White jerseys are the inspectors, quality control, safety observers, and medical;
–Yellow jerseys are officers who direct aircraft movement, catapult and arresting operations.

ABE's creed, Keep your head on a swivel!





Lets hear those tales!

[Flake]

So there I was in Osan, Korea. I was 5 drinks behind my liberty buddy and I thought it'd be a great idea to catch up.

All at once.

So I slam 5 screw drivers in a matter of a few minutes and my friend decides to teach me how to play darts. He shows me a simple game: singles, doubles, triples. Bullseye is 20. First to 100 wins.

In no time he's ahead by at least 30 points. I'm pretty terrible. And then the vodka hits my blood stream and everything goes all 'neareaccagggh' I start to miss some of my throws, impaling the wall next to the board.

And then it happened- this pretty Korean girl walks RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME as I'm throwing. In slow motion I watch my hand extend forward, let go of the steel tipped dart and it flew into her side...

...and hit her purse. She had this gucci little leather purse. She felt the impact, looked down at the massive dart and screamed at the top of her lungs. She took off running into the street. I was so drunk that I didn't really compute what had happened so I took off after her into the night screaming 'Give me back my dart, you bitch!'

I get back in to find my friend ordering another round of drinks and what does he say to me?

"Play it as it lies. Zero points"

[CRTGAMER]

Did you ever retrieve the dart?

[Flake]

Did you ever retrieve the dart?

No but that wasn't the end of the night.

[corn619]

"YOUR OPINION IS WRONG, MINE IS RIGHT!"



So much for being adults eh?

I don't think your opinion is wrong. I just think it's the result of your age, lack of experience, and ignorance about both the world and the nature of force as a means of expressing political will. Opinions can't be wrong - they are opinions.

Oh boy here we go with the age argument. You don't know who I am or what I've done so you make a biased opinion about me because of my age. I said ""I" don't believe in glorifying murders" You can think whatever you want, but War is not something I agree with neither is taking someone's life. The modern generalization of a "War Veteran" is a soldier that goes into War and kills people for your country. That is not okay with me and I won't be giving thanks to everyone who is in the Army right now fighting people who live in deserts for 10 years over nothing of importance.

I don't care how old you are. Your original post was obviously meant to get people who may be sensitive to this upset. You are clueless and your broad opinion of the military has no thought behind it. You should have educated yourself on the subject before generalizing the entire serving military as murderers. They are given orders from higher ups and have to follow order although they might not necessarily agree with them.

Two of my good friends served in Iraq and while I may not have agreed with the Iraq war, they had my full support and I thanked them when they got back. One of them didn't make it. There are tons of jobs in the service, not just shooting people. They protect us from outside and inside threats, our borders and other countries as well. Get your clueless head out of your ass and thank a vet. The world has millions of fucked up people in it that want you dead. Without people willing to fight and defend you, all these freedoms you take for granted would be gone. Sorry to drag this up again I just started reading this thread and these comments upset me and I needed to get this off my chest. A big thank you to all veterans, you help make our country the great place it is today.

[Nullface]

Blah blah blah I joined the Army, respect me. Let it die already you egotistical retard. You will get nothing from me. I've edited my original post already; let it go.

[Flake]

Blah blah blah I joined the Army, respect me. Let it die already you egotistical retard. You will get nothing from me. I've edited my original post already; let it go.

Seriously guys. His opinion isn't going to be changed by anything we say. The irony of being a serviceman is that you are asked to defend to the death those that will say the worst about you. Let's leave him alone and instead talk about some more awesome port calls.

And more Tank pictures, please!

[Breetai]

wow...

[MrPopo]

Blah blah blah I joined the Army, respect me. Let it die already you egotistical retard. You will get nothing from me. I've edited my original post already; let it go.

Seriously guys. His opinion isn't going to be changed by anything we say. The irony of being a serviceman is that you are asked to defend to the death those that will say the worst about you. Let's leave him alone and instead talk about some more awesome port calls.

And more Tank pictures, please!

He's taken care of. More tank pictures!