Wonderful post. Thank you, and thank you for serving your country.

Amen, Oo-rah, and thanks for saying some things active duty folks aren't generally allowed to.

Semper Fi.

I didn't know you'd served. New perspective for me.

Thank you for serving your country. And thank you for this post.

::salutes::

two uncles in the navy, a father in the army. i think the army saved his life, actually.

I think it takes a lot of courage to stand up for your convictions and refuse to serve in a war you don't believe in.

Hiding in a safe unit behind the rock skirts of someone who owes your Dad a favour is cowardly - standing up to be counted in the face of adversity (and, in past times, prison sentences or even death) is not.

Besides a duty to defend your country and its people you also have a duty to fight for justice. Sometimes they are the same, at other times they are not. There are some orders that are worth refusing - and that includes refusing before you join.

As for the refusal to serve veterans, words fail me on that. I can easily believe your statistic about the homeless; I believe the UK figures are showing a strong trend in the same direction :-(

I would agree that sometimes the decision not to serve is an honorable decision (sometimes it's self-serving. Sometimes it's racist, as in the young men my husband knew who said they were willing to fight to save Europe from the Reds, but weren't willing to fight for "gooks.") Whether it's being a pure pacifist and not being willing to be in any military, or being opposed to a particular war, I can make my peace with an honest refuser. I can make my peace with someone who went on to graduate school, say, hoping the war would be over while his student deferment was still working--as long as he wasn't bragging about how he *would* have gone, if only...

But that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about people who claimed to support that particular war, but cleverly evaded service without actually being counted as evaders. Under the laws then pertaining, except in very narrowly defined cases, the military could not activate a National Guard unit without a governor's permission. Many governors gave it; some didn't (among them, the governors of Texas and Indiana, who both protected their Air National Guard units and knowingly allowed them to become havens for the sons of their friends and supporters.) It is because of that, and also the generally poor readiness of NG units at the time, that a major reorganization occurred in the wake of the Vietnam War.

Thus in this current war, it's been possible to avoid conscription by calling up NG without consulting state governors and keeping them on active duty for years, resulting in severe hardships that go beyond the soldier and his/her immediate family. For instance, the Louisiana National Guard was sent to Iraq (or maybe Afghanistan, I forget) early in the hurricane season...so the bulk of the Louisiana National Guard and their equipment were not available when Katrina hit New Orleans. WHY was a Gulf Coast state stripped of its National Guard in the season it would most likely be needed? Louisiana had a Democrat for governor; Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida all had Republicans. I think that's significant.

But that's another rant.

Great post, From one vet to another.

Thank you both for the service and for the speech.

Amen, Hallelujah and ... Thank you. You've said what I could not.

Bravo. I have no respect for those that profit from wars and don't actually serve.

Here's a tax cut I'd be in favor of: change the rules so that no member of the service pays federal taxes at all while on active duty. And personally, though I don't think it's realistic, I'd also be in favor of having combat veterans getting to live income tax-free for the rest of their lives.

I'd do it differently. I didn't object to paying taxes when I was in...but it was much harder for soldiers in combat, especially those with dependents (so computing the tax was more difficult.) So: anyone in a combat zone, whether or not defined as a combat soldier (i.e., anyone in Iraq or Afghanistan, no matter what his/her MOS and assignment) would pay no income tax on service pay. If he/she had non-military income or a spouse had nonmilitary income, *that* income would be taxable. (You don't want people marrying into the military just to get a tax break on their outside income. And it would happen...)

Medal of Honor winners would pay no federal or state income tax for life.

While there should be no difference in the respect accorded a vet by reason of which war, gender, race, political opinion...there are differences which relate to the service itself. Everyone salutes Medal of Honor winners...generals with stars out the kazoo salute a Medal of Honor winner, no matter the rank. Unfortunately, in civilian life these days, they're invisible. We have retired generals by the score (one is a relative) and they're always popping up on television to give their opinion, but when's the last time you saw a Medal of Honor winner being interviewed? They're the ones I'd give a tax break to.

Thanks for your post. I'm really tempted to send it to my clueless but well-meaning conservative family members.

Amen. Bravo. *salutes* I couldn't join, but I have great respect for all who served.

I believe that anyone who is willing to put their body and life on the line for the good of others is worthy of the highest respect.

As someone who is, more often than not, opposed to military solutions until everything else has been tried and nothing else is possible, I also believe that one of the ways we can respect those who have made the choice to place themselves in harm's way for the common good is to never ask them to do so carelessly, thoughtlessly, needlessly, or for any reason other than the common good.

And I would agree. In a nearly-ideal world (the ideal world being free of war...) governments would use hammers only on nails and have the foresight (!) to avoid most conflicts by the application of common sense and basic fairmindedness.

Closer to reality...it's really stupid to ignore the experience of those who've actually, like, been in a war, in favor of your pipe-dreams of glory.

Thank you, fellow veteran. I served during the Cold War ('79-92), and my career was cut short by the end of the Cold War.

I was reading some statistics that mention that female veterans have a large chance of becoming homeless- especially single women who may have suffered 'military sexual trauma' or PTSD.

That really bothers me- because I have an inner fear of one day waking up, having had my job and my savings stripped from me, and becoming homeless. It's an awful thing to fear. The VA doesn't seem to really care about female vets, either- they told me flat out when I got out that I had no privileges, although I was honorably discharged. I recently found out that was wrong, and am going to see what I can do to get some compensation for service-related injuries.

It's funny though- people still act surprised when I tell them that I am a veteran. Female vets are still uncommon enough to get overlooked, apparently.

I'm going to watch "Saving Private Ryan" or maybe "The Patriot" when I get back from shopping. These films remind me of what being a veteran is all about.

Semper Fi, former Marine and fellow vet!
(from a 'wingnut' USAF vet)