How Many Of You Veterans Were Commissioned Officers?

Thinking this over, I apologize Trade.
I don’t know what you went through in the military or anyone else for that matter. All I know is that there are a lot of men and women who join and thank goodness that they do or there would be nobody protecting us. Its something I doubt I could do and I have admirable respect for all men & women that do.
 

Etymology of casualty per Wiktionary:
7 definition and usage
first appearance, middle French-an unfortunate event-I would think being killed qualifies.
The military certainly needs a term toooooo inform general population a 'bunch of killed guys.'

The term casualty is sometimes used to mean “a killed person”; in more careful use this is referred to as a fatality, and casualty instead means “killed or injured”.
 
Sgt Brown E-8, 6'5', 320 lbs (yea, 40-50 pounds of gut, but still an imposing figure) voice like a mega-phone, spooky, laid groundwork
of fear. Known as 15 Brown (propensity to recommend Article 15, for all offenses!)
Knew E-6 who served as secretary to Bn Commander stated, 'Brown is the best politician in battalion, has, old man (Lt. Col) eating out of his hand. He was also known as First Pig, War Hog.. On Alerts he had fits of screaming, shouting 'War boys, war that's where were going.
Yes it was all a projected image, but very effective.
When he had his screaming fit, we waited for him to fall to ground in a seizure, foam at mouth...

Had great platoon sgt for 12-13, months, he rotated out, replaced by a crazed sgt that made entire platoon's life miserable.
Of note, some of the e-5 and e-6's were decent guys, however when the crazed sgt came aboard they all fell into line immediately,
became as crazed as he was, all projected behavior to make platoon sgt happy
"Reup, we'll give you another stripe," Mercy, where do I sign...
 
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"...Thats the way the military works and it works. People who can’t handle it shouldn’t be in the military.’

Oh, you mean like the draft dodgers who fled to Canada?

Canadian immigration statistics show that 20,000 to 30,000 draft-eligible American men came to Canada as immigrants during the Vietnam era. The BBC stated that "as many as 60,000 young American men dodged the draft."
 
Oh, you mean like the draft dodgers who fled to Canada?

Canadian immigration statistics show that 20,000 to 30,000 draft-eligible American men came to Canada as immigrants during the Vietnam era. The BBC stated that "as many as 60,000 young American men dodged the draft."

To be honest Olivia, I don’t really know much about the military or wars that went on. My husband on the other hand could respond better to this question.

I did however know of a man who was a security guard at the apartment I lived at and he openly admitted to being a draft dodger from the US. My husband didn’t like him for this very reason alone. He stance is that’s its your duty to serve your country and only cowards ran. At the time I hated everything that had to do with the war but I’ve since grown up.

Correction : my husband says that he wasn’t a draft dodger. Apparently he was a deserter who joined the military and didn’t like where he was being sent so fled which my man claims is far worse.

60,000 is a lot of dodgers. I’m not sure what to say except I’m glad I wasn’t recruited. I’d hate war. 😩
 
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Jerry, great story and I got a solid chuckle out of it.

All of the E-7's and 8's at my first duty station were really great, solid performers, and strong techs. The two that I worked closely with were brilliant. One went on to become a College Professor and the other became a Bush Pilot/Gold Prospector in Alaska. Over my career, I was stationed with both of them twice. They set a high bar and taught me what a good Chief Petty Officer should be.

My immediate boss at my second duty station was simply pathetic. Poor leadership, no technical skills and he hated my guts from day one. I made E-6 there anyway. For his second career he groomed poodles.

All of the senior enlisted at my third (non-school) duty station were reasonably good. Our E-9 was a wonderful older guy who had been in WWII and came back on active duty for the Korean War. He was also independently wealthy and very generous. Periodically he would come down to my shop and suggest that we have another party, and he would like more lobster like we had at the last one. Out would come the wallet and lots of moldy $20 bills were pressed into my hand. What sailor wouldn't love him? He was a personal friend of Senator Barry Goldwater. Our Officers paid very close attention to anything he had to say. I made E-7 there and really enjoyed that grade.

At my fourth duty station I had the pleasure of working for the same Master Chief (E-9) from my first duty station. This guy made E-9 in 14 years. I got picked up for Warrant Officer at this duty station a few months later and was transferred out.

Over the next 21 years as I advanced to Commander (O-5), I had a lot of senior enlisted guys/gals work for me. Some of them were people that I had once been junior to, and several worked for me at repeated duty stations. Having poor senior enlisted folks is just as bad as having poor commissioned officers. It is generally easier to get rid of the officer than the senior enlisted guy. I wound up blocking a number of promotions after learning what jerks they were. I also forced two of them to retire, one for harassing junior women and the other for being an all around turd.

I sat on the CPO (E-7) selection board in Washington DC one year and was blown away by the quality and accomplishments of many of the E-6's whose records we were reviewing. Some of them could have gone directly to CWO if I had been able to make that happen. My section (me and two E-9's) looked at over 2500 records across 9 specialties. We wished that we could have promoted more of them, but we had a quota. I was there for six weeks from 6AM until 9PM six days a week until we finished.

When we finished a specialty, I had to brief the Rear Admiral on the records of the last three people we selected and the top three of the ones we rejected. The candidates had the option to send us additional documentation that might be missing from their official records or that might sway our decision. We got hundreds of pounds of this stuff every day. One goofy sailor sent me a picture of himself when he was a baby.

We saw records of people who had no business being promoted and I like to think that we weeded them out.

When we were finished, I pulled my own enlisted record and asked the two Master Chiefs if I would be selected under the new criteria. They informed me that I probably would have been, but "you would not have been one of the front runners."
And that ends this long tale.
 
My view, as a lowly Radarman 3rd Class, was that commissioned officers came in the same mix as enlisted men. Some good, some so-so, and a few that were jerks. IMHO the career officers were a step up from the reserves and more uniform in their attitude towards enlisted men.
Your assessment has a lot of merit..
You may have been a fairly junior member in the CIC (Combat Information Center), but never, never lowly. As a Radarman you were right at the tip of your skipper's combat spear. While he may or may not have ever mentioned it to you personally, trust me when I say that he understood how strongly dependent he was on you. So Junior yes, but Lowly never.
 
Major. 20 years USAF: Active, Reserve & Air Nat'l Guard. The Guard was the most fun! 😁
The 193rd Special Ops Wing is located here in Harrisburg, PA. I have toured the site a few times. My first time there was to arrest a Sgt. for rape. He was eventually cleared and was able to return to duty.
 
I am also against wars, unless the U.S. is under attack and then even at my age, I would do whatever I was able to help with the effort.

When Carter pardoned the draft dodgers that fled the country, I found it to be very upsetting. That just was not fair to those of us that served. My best friend at the time was drafted, but failed his physical. He was reclassified as 1-Y, I think. He knew that he would be recalled for another physical, so he tried to enlist with other branches, but was denied because he had failed the draft physical. I told him that he should not feel bad, but he did all the time until his death last year.

Guys that were married with children or guys that failed their physical I have no qualms with. We lost some 58,000 men in Vietnam. Maybe they should have ran. I often wonder if any of the runners felt guilty? I also wonder if any of them ever admitted to being a runner to Canada?
 
Guys that were married with children or guys that failed their physical I have no qualms with. We lost some 58,000 men in Vietnam. Maybe they should have ran. I often wonder if any of the runners felt guilty? I also wonder if any of them ever admitted to being a runner to Canada?

Who knows. Finding out what ever happened to the 60,000 who fled to Canada would be interesting to know. It’s a horrible betrayal to their own country, but I still don’t think you people needed to lose 60,000 more by shooting them as punishment.
 
Who knows. Finding out what ever happened to the 60,000 who fled to Canada would be interesting to know. It’s a horrible betrayal to their own country, but I still don’t think you people needed to lose 60,000 more by shooting them as punishment.

Relax Keesha. I wouldn't have had them all shot. I'm OK with any black guys that dodged the draft. I think Mohammed Ali said it best when he said "No Viet Cong ever called me ******". In my opinion black guys don't owe this country anything except a good hard kick in the nuts as payback for all the crap they have had to deal with. It's all those cowardly entitled middle class white hippie kids that I would have had shot.
 
Who knows. Finding out what ever happened to the 60,000 who fled to Canada would be interesting to know. It’s a horrible betrayal to their own country, but I still don’t think you people needed to lose 60,000 more by shooting them as punishment.

What do you mean "you people?" I didn't send them into war. Besides, they weren't shot as punishment. They were killed fighting in a war that our government thought we needed to help the underdogs with against an oppressive Government. The 58,000+ that were killed fought believing that they were helping a small country overcome a communist dictatorship and to remain free. That didn't work out and with China and Russia aiding the oppressors, there was probably no way we were going to win that war without complete devastation of both countries (N. & S. Vietnam), which would have resulted in the loss of; God only knows how many lives.

Someone once asked why the U.S. just didn't fight that war from the air and it would have been over quickly. Maybe yes, maybe no, but when you drop bombs, you can't choose who is going to die and who isn't. Even so, when fighting with ground troops, there is still going to be collateral damage with loss of life to civilians. Dropping a nuclear bomb would have had long-lasting affects for the U.S., both politically and economically.

The U.S. probably shouldn't have ever gotten involved in it from the start, but we were just trying to do the right thing. Our government had the auspicious idea that once the North saw our might, they would cave and leave the South alone, but we were wrong. With allies like China and Russia wanting to kick our ass for years, it was only practical for them to jump in and help their neighbor and friend.
 
“ Thats f””king crazy. That’s just a person with a huge chip on their shoulder cause he had to work beneath someone else and didn’t like it but guess what.....Thats the way the military works and it works. People who can’t handle it shouldn’t be in the military.’

Well Keeha you can tell your hubby that if he feels like disrespecting a Vietnam Veteran he can get his ass down here to Mobile, Alabama and do it to my face like a man.

And as for that "Chip" on my shoulder...........

 
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What do you mean "you people?" I didn't send them into war. Besides, they weren't shot as punishment. They were killed fighting in a war that our government thought we needed to help the underdogs with against an oppressive Government. The 58,000+ that were killed fought believing that they were helping a small country overcome a communist dictatorship and to remain free. That didn't work out and with China and Russia aiding the oppressors, there was probably no way we were going to win that war without complete devastation of both countries (N. & S. Vietnam), which would have resulted in the loss of; God only knows how many lives.

Someone once asked why the U.S. just didn't fight that war from the air and it would have been over quickly. Maybe yes, maybe no, but when you drop bombs, you can't choose who is going to die and who isn't. Even so, when fighting with ground troops, there is still going to be collateral damage with loss of life to civilians. Dropping a nuclear bomb would have had long-lasting affects for the U.S., both politically and economically.

The U.S. probably shouldn't have ever gotten involved in it from the start, but we were just trying to do the right thing. Our government had the auspicious idea that once the North saw our might, they would cave and leave the South alone, but we were wrong. With allies like China and Russia wanting to kick our ass for years, it was only practical for them to jump in and help their neighbor and friend.
Wait a minute. Nothing I said was meant as criticism in the least. Like I’ve mentioned throughout this entire thread, I don’t know much of anything about the war, nor have I ever claimed to.

I was basically agreeing with you.

The only thing I strongly disagreed with was trade’s comment about shooting all 60,000 people who fled to Canada and that all officers were AH’s.

That’s it.
All this other stuff you added goes way over my head and I don’t even understand why you added it or why trade felt the need to add what he did.

I never once criticized anyone in this entire thread except for trades comments.

The only thing I did was write word for word what my husband said which I don’t even know enough about to either agree with or not.

Anyway if members are going to start getting hostile here, I’m out.
 
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Well Keeha you can tell your hubby that if he feels like disrespecting a Vietnam Veteran he can get his ass down here to Mobile, Alabama and do it to my face like a man.

And as for that "Chip" on my shoulder...........


You tell him yourself.
Well Keeha you can tell your hubby that if he feels like disrespecting a Vietnam Veteran he can get his ass down here to Mobile, Alabama and do it to my face like a man.

And as for that "Chip" on my shoulder...........

You can tell him yourself trade while you’re shooting the 60,000 people you’re upset with.

I don’t personally really care.
 
Wait a minute. Nothing I said was meant as criticism in the least. Like I’ve mentioned throughout this entire thread, I don’t know much of anything about the war, nor have I ever claimed to.

I was basically agreeing with you.

The only thing I strongly disagreed with was trade’s comment about shooting all 60,000 people who fled to Canada and that all officers were AH’s.

That’s it.
All this other stuff you added goes way over my head and I don’t even understand why you added it or why trade felt the need to add what he did.

I never once criticized anyone in this entire thread except for trades comments.

The only thing I did was write word for word what my husband said which I don’t even know enough about to either agree with or not.

Anyway if members are going to start getting hostile here, I’m out.

Wasn't being hostile, just wanted a clarification of what you were referring to.
 
That war continues to divide people. As evidenced in the comments above.

That's because nothing has changed. We're still doing the same crap. We have now been in Afghanistan for 18 years. And what have we accomplished?

https://fox17.com/news/local/pentag...84JUm7brtvZ5HeICRcOwJp2lDjBI9PPgYGON01XhTgYj0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Pentagon officials have identified the U.S. service member killed in action in Afghanistan this week as a Tennessee man.

Green Beret SFC Jeremy W. Griffin, 40, of Greenbrier was killed on Monday by "small arms fire when his unit was engaged in combat operations in Wardek Province," according to a news release from the Department of Defense.

Griffin was born in Panama and was listed as being from Greenbrier, Tennessee. In addition to his prior deployment to Afghanistan in 2009, Griffin served in Iraq in 2006 and served an overseas rotation in Korea last year. He was on his fourth combat deployment, officials said.

Sgt. 1st Class Griffin was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart. They are among nearly two dozen medals and awards Griffin had earned through his military career.

Monday's death was the 17th U.S. combat death in Afghanistan this year, according to the Pentagon's count. There also have been three non-combat deaths this year. More than 2,400 Americans have died in the nearly 18-year war.

Approximately 20,000 American and allied troops remain in Afghanistan. Between 14,000 and 13,000 U.S. troops are currently in the country.

 
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That's because nothing has changed. We're still doing the same crap. We have now been in Afghanistan for 18 years. And what have we accomplished?

Very little.
This had been another unwinnable war costly in US lives, limbs, and mental stability. Plus plenty of tax dollars and reputation on our side. Horrific civilian casualties, countless destruction to homes, buildings and infrastructure, and the subsequent rise of even more widespread hatred for Westerners in the region.
Then there was the Iraq "weapons of mass destruction" debacle.
 


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