It's called strength of character. It's called maturity. You either have it or you don't. No, it didn't matter to me to have 100% or 50% or any % of anyone behind me except my family. And I needed to hear from them only periodically. But my decision was not predicated on them. My father joined the army in WWII and fought in the Pacific for the same reasons. I and he figured out what we were fighting about. I've made many choices in my life. So far, all of trhe major ones at least have been good ones. I made them for my own reasons and not for anyone else. If I was thinking of anyone else I probably would not have joined the army because I knew my dad might lose his frst born.
When I reflect on it, I was probably an excetional 18 year old when I joined. I made buck sargeant and I hadn't even turned 19. If I had been affected by people's negative opinions, I probably would have gotten my unit slaughterred. What in the world was I fighting for? So that everyone would agree with me? How does nayone get along in life doing anything if they need everone's backing? Well we learn to do things on our own. When I was over there it didn't take me long to figure ought that things were not going to go well for a long time if at all. Like I said in my postbefore, they kept coming and coming no matter how many we killed. So it wasn't hard to figure out. I'm not sure what your standard is. 100% or 50% support. If there are soldiers in Iraq who need to know that they are supported that much, they probably shouldn't have joined i the first place. When I joined there were already deonstrations about the war and college sit ins, etc. So, if I needed that much syupport, I shouldn't have joined.
If, as you say, you go into battle with 100% support then you feel pretty good. But once you are there reality sinks in. Battle is different. You are surviving. believe me you are.
Now, let' sbe straight. I don't believe that our politicians are saying that American soldiers are failures. As I alluded to in my post about ROE, there are a ton of variables that are part of any mission. They affect how things turn out. On more than one occasion we retreated. It was no big deal. We made mistakes and I got reamed out real good a few times by my superiors. I didn't fall apart because of it. I also want to say that there are guys I fought with that I wouldn't give the time of day to if I ran into them. I served with some real low-lifes. So, they all weren't over there doing something out o fhte goodness ogf their heart.
Yes, it does make a diffeence if you have not been in combat. Alot of what you say represenst situations where life is not on the line. Believe me, when you have people shooting at you you had better have more substance to you than being bothered by what people say. I can tell you that.
Like most people, I haven't wnated to talk about my service. But I hear alot of stuff that makes no sense. This war is pretty much an urban war. It has alot of differences from mine. You said something about it being a bit disheartening or disappointing. That's a good word - bit. I agree with that. It should only be a bit. If it's more than that, then a soldiers in the wrong business. If it's more than that then you are a danger to those around you. I served with some who were pretty much useless for whatever reason. I could tell that and we either moved them out or worked around them. This is my last post on the war. Like I said, most of us don't like to think about it. I've said enough for this board.
