It's difficult to explain what it's like to be a vet these days. Flat-out bigotry is rare. But, veterans seem to be like this politically-correct class of society that many folks seem to pity and avoid acknowledging because of some guilt complex...which is unfortunate. A disturbing disconnect from the warrior class and society at large can mean big trouble down the road, and at the very least leads to awkward situations like this. From CJ at A Soldier's Perspective:
Since I know that you spineless bastards in the school system are reading this, be prepared for a lawsuit! You were way out of line in bringing my personal life and my struggles with PTSD into a dispute with the school on the uniform policy. UNIFORM POLICY, FOLKS!! Where do you get off contacting the military about a private citizen matter? If I worked for Wal-Mart, would you have called the management there? If I were a REAL threat to anyone at that meeting, you should have called the police, not the military.Despite the big game that CJ talks at his blog, I have met him personally and he is an extremely nice fellow. So it is a bit surprising that a dispute over his child's wardrobe at school would warrant a phone call from officials to his chain of command. A lot of veterans have PTSD, and it doesn't mean they are going to go run around the school screaming about Charlie coming over the wire like some Oliver Stone movie. But it is indicative of the growing divide in our American society.
See what the others have said:
7 comments:
I retired from the Navy in 2008 and have received similar treatment ranging from pity to covert elitist snobbery towards me and my service to country. While the snobbery is offensive to me, I sometimes find the pity just as offensive. Why is it so hard to understand that I am a VOLUNTEER, not a draftee? I had a discussion (read: argument) with one college aged fella who, for all his book smarts, couldn't understand that some people enjoy the discipline and constant routine found in military service. For me, the Navy was a chance to turn around my life; which was going absolutely nowhere, and teach myself not only to grow up but how to be responsible too. I have had both bad and good experiences in the Navy but despite all of that if I had the chance to rethink my decision to join, I would have still enlisted in the Navy. It sounds like propaganda but it is not. The reason America has the freedoms it does is because there are men and women who unselfishly give of themselves in defense of those freedoms and for our country. We aren't Rambo, John Wayne or even Clint Eastwood. We are all just a bunch of normal people doing a dirty job no one else wants to. These elitist snobs can snub their nose at me and our fellow veterans all they want. It just doesn't matter for we are not those timid souls who would never dare greatly. Our proof is in our pudding. Our reward for our labors is to be found inside us all in the pride we feel for all we have done and accomplished.
Mkoty,
Pretty much the same feelings as my own. I think it's easier in a foreign country, where there aren't so many preconceptions.
My boss is a dick. He knows nothing about the military and claims everyone is *scared of me* too. the problem is nobody is scared of me, or I wouldn't be doing all the side jobs I do for them on the weekends!
There are stupid-ass people all over the world, but the school system has more than its share. Why anyone sends there children there to be brainwashed is beyond me. But if you do put your kids in public school, know that you are now in the biggest fight of your life and your kids are likely to be the ones killed or wounded.
Anonymous ...
I've got family members and neighbors who are 'scared' of me too. It just doesn't make any sense.
I get the same thing. "Yo're scary" or "you have a hard countenance". Sorry if I'm not a pussy. I was like this before I went to combat.
Mr. Kiyum has people scared of him too, but to be fair he did tell them he was going to "fucking kill them." We were leaving a football game and found five people we didn't know tailgating in the back of our truck.
You know it's the complete opposite with him when he was working on his Master's though. The people at Duke treated him like a hero genius celebrity -- to the point that it was uncomfortable. I went to a college formal with him, and I think at some point in the evening everyone wanted a photo with him. Do you think it's because most of his fellow students were foreign, LT? But that doesn't really explain it either, because the staff and faculty fawned all over him too.
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