Last edited by Stan; 03-18-2012 at 03:20 PM.
If you want to blend in, take the bus
Is this actually true? If it is then I don't know what else the West can do in Afghanistan.
Public diplomacy isn't a job for the Military (or for 19 year privates).
http://www.military.com/news/article...2887570&rank=1In the wake of the recent setbacks in Afghanistan, American commanders are working overtime trying to instill sensitivity among U.S. troops toward their Afghan counterparts and their Islamic culture.
But many American servicemembers already wear their feelings on their sleeves -- sometimes literally -- choosing a powerful term to represent the way they believe they’re perceived by the Muslim world: “Infidel.”
There are infidel hats, infidel T-shirts and infidel uniform patches -- an entire genre of morale wear that emerged from the ashes of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Now that a decade has passed, the movement is booming. Type “Infidel Strong” into Google and page after page of military gear sites pop up, peddling what has become an ersatz symbol of patriotism.
It started as a humorous tactic for poking fun at intolerant Islamists ignorant of American ideals.
Clayton Montgomery, owner of a well-known online vendor called Mil-Spec Monkey and designer of some infidel patches, said his most popular item has been his “Pork-Eating Crusader” patch, which includes a translation into Arabic.
“Everybody sort of hates occupying forces anyway, so it’s kind of embracing that,” he told Military.com “If you are going to hate us anyway, we might as well pretend to be the great white devil.”
Continued Montgomery: “Originally, when we made the patch, we thought it would be this small thing, the equivalent of an ‘I’m with stupid’ T-shirt. We didn’t think we would sell many, but the demand was there,” Montgomery said, describing how his company has sold about 10,000 of the patches.
I think I have an advantage over most Americans, I grew up in a religiously divided country (Nigeria).
A bit late for sensitivity training
The American phenomenon with patches and Zippo lighters cannot be explained. I still wear my POW/MIA and 99% patches on my leather jacket. Oddly enough, few today have even the slightest clue what those two patches are all about.
This about sums up what most young Americans know about the things they buy and proudly (ignorantly) display
If you want to blend in, take the bus
KingJaja:
BLUF: Yes, it's true within the limits of my experience (focused on our "twenty-somethings" young men whom I've sent to Iraq and Astan and who have come back).
As you know I come from Middle America; in fact, from something of an isolate in Middle America itself. Locally, we have something of a military tradition, with our people having enlisted in all service branches for the last 150 years. The most visible local military unit is our National Guard Engineer-Combat Battalion; and, for my home town and environs, its Sapper Company. I've written about that in a number of posts.
The young man quoted below is from here and the Sapper Company. His dad is a Vietnam vet - U.S. Navy, in country, Danang; his older brother is a Marine with multiple tours, and another is also National Guard. The family lives nearby me (the father has been a friend for 35 years).
"Bodi" sustained multiple IED concussions in Astan. This take is from an NPR interview (made because of the documentary, Where Soldiers Come From):
All of this is one of the factors that has caused my Worldview - which you all know.SIMON: Bodi, let me turn to you for your part of the story. As we see in the film, you wind up doing some of the most dangerous work there for U.S. servicemen and women in Afghanistan, and that's you become drivers and gunners who were looking for roadside bombs. You ran into some IEDs...
BEAUDOIN: Yeah.
SIMON: ...and tell us what that's like.
BEAUDOIN: Well, getting blown up is you get so filled with adrenaline that, you know, at first you really don't you don't feel anything, you just get a that, oh, here we go mode, you know, that lifesaving mode. So it's like anticipating getting punched in the face the whole time driving out there. And I mean that's our job. All of us knew on every mission that at any time, any of us had the possibility of getting blown up. So I think we did pretty well. I mean we found, the majority of the IEDs we found. I think we only got blown up like I think it was under 10 times and we found like 60 or 70 IEDs.
You know, for me what hurt me the most are RPGs, which is a rocket propelled grenade, more than the IEDs that hurt. Those are more scary.
...(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLIDER #1: Holy (bleep)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER #2: What?
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER #1: Whoa. RPGs. Look out. Look out.
SIMON: Bodi, at one point in the film you say, you're serving in Afghanistan taught you to hate people - and you list them.
SIMON: You list quite a few groups. And I wonder what is it like to see yourself saying that now.(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
BEAUDOIN: At the time I was blown up I think around seven or eight times and I wasn't able to go out anymore with the guys, which really, really upset me. I always thought this was, you know, I don't want them to go out with[out] me. I worry, I would just worry about them. So I was so mad at the time.
I obviously don't feel that way anymore. I look back at that and I can understand why I said that. You know, I was so jaded because of how many times that I was, that I got blown up.(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM)
BEAUDOIN: I've learned to hate the people of Afghanistan and the country of Afghanistan. That's true. I hate everybody here. I hate everything about it. I hate the way they smell, the way they look, the way they talk, the way they dress, the way they think. I don't like them. I'm a racist American now because of this war and that is a true statement.
SIMON: Well, help us understand that, because it's the determination of the army doctors that you were in so many explosions there's some effect.
BEAUDOIN: Yeah. That is...
BEAUDOIN: ...kind of on me also. I never wanted to not stop going out even though I got blown up so many times, so I would kind of bend the truth. Tell them that, you know, I feel fine, I feel fine, let me keep going out. And they have what's called a TBI test which is traumatic brain injury test - and I kind of cheated and memorized it. And there's is saying that they ask you a few words and you have to repeat them. And the few words are elbow, apple, carpet, saddle, bubble. And I will always remember that saying. And I could have sat out way earlier on the explosions, but I didn't want to because I wanted to go out with my boys. I'd rather get me blown up than my buddies.(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
Regards
Mike
Last edited by jmm99; 03-18-2012 at 05:39 PM.
If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. – Mark Twain (attributed)
ganulv: Read and attempt to comprehend what is written; rather than Shoot, Ready, Aim.
Regards
Mike
If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. – Mark Twain (attributed)
Here is my dad's Zippo:
Zippo.jpg
Sent in twice by him for new internals (the last time in 1974).
So, we remember the artifacts of wars; but more so, we must remember the wars themselves and the men who fought them.
Zippo was able to guarantee repair of the Zippo's internals. The men who return from wars do not have that nicety; and, have to make their own repairs over perhaps decades - at least, two decades for my dad.
In the meantime, they do not have to be basket cases - a condition reserved for some of their far less fortunate brothers. They can have very successful professional and personal lives (without harming anyone, including their families - as with my dad). The internal demons are well concealed to all but those living with them. Those demons can break loose (for no apparent, rational reason), resulting in attempted suicide or attempted murder - and going from attempt to actual is just a trigger squeeze away.
This isn't theoretical to me. It's simply a personal, experienced set of facts. That being said, you all are entitled to whatever opinions you want to express.
Just saying
Mike
opine and pontificate all you want about religion and everything else under the Sun. But, don't quote me for subject matter which is not in the post.
Personally I think your comments belong in the junior fuzz stickery category; but, as you "rarely overthink statements related to religion made by my fellow Americans", I rarely overthink offhand statements made by you.
Regards
Mike
Mike,
I don't think we are all that different when it comes to a soldier's view herein. I believe I stated so. With every male member of my family having served and a few with broken Zippos too, I certainly get where you are coming from.
I've witnessed that event three times and even had the pleasure of packing one kid in a box for home. Not a good experience - not one I intend to endure again. Probably why I am having a hard time merely agreeing with what my gut tells me is wrong.
kissanhännänveto ?
Regards, Stan
If you want to blend in, take the bus
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