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Outside A Recruiting Office The Other Day

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hedgey

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I was waiting in the car for my kid to run into the store - it was in a plaza that also houses a local recruiting office. I was gazing at the cheery posters on the windows, thinking about the lies my recruiter told me when I saw a pretty young woman and an older woman get out of a car and head for the door. I'm guessing it was mother & daughter.

It took every single bit of self control (and not a little anxiety about talking to people) to keep from calling out to them, stopping them from going inside that place. I wanted so, so, badly to tell that mother to stop, to tell her what her girl was considering and what she would likely experience. I wanted at least to warn her that MST is so very common, and that she has to at the very least make sure that every even is recorded, that she needs to keep detailed records to someday defend herself from the agencies that would.. well, you can imagine what I wanted to tell her.

In retrospect, I figure I would have come across as a raving nutcase, especially since I couldn't quote exact figures. But is there some way to warn these kids? I fantasize about going to our local school on career day and plunking myself down next to the recruiter's table with a few handouts of my own... Fantasize because I can barely make it to the market & back without a panic attack, but what a dream.

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I think many of us have had those same thoughts Hedge. I have a recruiters office just three blocks east and I see young guys and gals walking in all the time. I am glad for them but I also want to shout out, "make sure you get any health issues documented." "You will thank me if you do"

Like you said though hedge, we would come across as crazies. :huh:

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Its tough but I think you were smart to restrain yourself. I still think that for many the Military is still a good experience.

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I agree, Overall my experience was a good one. And we have to figure the majority of vets that get out or retire aren't disabled.

I still think that for many the Military is still a good experience.
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  • HadIt.com Elder

I don't know, anymore, what to think about our military.

I hate to say that, I really do. But, when you hear about our young heroes that are on their 3rd or 4th deployment..............I tell ya, we are going to be reaping what we are sowing...........we have NO IDEA of the number of young men and women who are going to be filing claims, in the not-to-distant future, just for PTSD, not to mention all the physical disabilities............and, we have a nation that really does not realize that we ARE FIGHTING A WAR (of course, we are being led by a bunch of schmucks that couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper grocery sack, but, I digress......).

My fear, MY GREAT FEAR, is that we will see the time when this great nation turns it's back on the wounded warriors that it has created.

The cost of "caring for those who have borne the burden, and their widows and children".........will become too much. And, they are being asked to fight a "war" that is un-winnable. We have NO IDEA how to win this fight that we find ourselves in, nor do we have the guts to see it to it's inevitable conclusion.

We are no longer fighting the good fight, the fight to right the wrongs that have been placed upon us since the morning of 9/11. Can any of you tell me what the "battle plan" is? Or how we plan on deciding whether we "won", or "lost", or are we just going to lose a few more thousand of our children and then leave the materiale that we have hauled over there, and just "come home"?

Someone, Someone of our country's leaders, just anyone, PLEASE TELL ME.

Because, until that time, I will do everything in my power to see that NOT ONE MORE of my family comes home "broken" or worse!

I'm so sorry, for I once was a Patriot................................and now, now I'm just tired, and old, and have nothing BUT my kids and their kids.

My country is not mine, anymore.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

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It won't be long before ROBOTS replace ground troops. The military industrial complex rules the world. ~Wings

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Thanks for the replies. I'm glad I controlled myself, I already look crazy enough just clumping along with my cane & ortho shoe. If I start ranting or offering warnings to young folks, well, all doubt about my mental health will be removed from their minds.

My kid has a close friend who's going into the Air Force academy. We're so happy for him, it's been his dream for a long time and we know he'll make the most of it. We've never said a word of discouragement to him, aside from the suggestion that he make sure his medical records are accurate and that he keeps copies of everything. His dad is a vet, so he'd already heard all about it :huh:

I know that the military is not an evil entity, and that it won't ruin the lives of all the good people in it. It was great for my younger brother who retired at 22 years and still works for the navy. It wasn't so great for my older brother who died of cancer just before the VA admitted to the truth about Agent Orange, and had a retention officer who could out-lie a snake oil peddler.

I just wish to heaven that the recruiters would tell the WHOLE story, not just the happy talk about great benefits and seeing the world.

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