Suck It UP!

I was in the Army 1970-73 (Yes, I was a WAC).

What happened to the troops?  Where did all the whining and feel-sorry-for-me come from?  When I was in, if anybody had a problem they were told, "Suck it up, troop!"  "Tell it to the Chaplain!"  And that was to draftees.  The people in the military today are volunteers; didn't they have a clue when they went into a war zone that they were going to be shot at?

Before you yell about "Why don't you support them if you sent them" -- I DIDN't send them.  I was one of the people on the side of the road yelling, "Don't DO this!  You'll be sorry!  It's another #!#!!!! territory-and-oil war that's been built up by our government sticking its hands into other countries for the past 30 years!"  I marched with other vets who held up signs saying, "Been there, done that, don't be an idiot!"

If somebody with guns showed up in YOUR country, wouldn't you shoot at them?  Or plant bombs by the side of the road?  I think even I would, except I'm such a putz with machinery I wouldn't get the goods to the target.  I sure wouldn't put up with the latest puppet government that invader shoved down my throat.

If the troops want to get mad at somebody, they shouldn't be looking at People Like Me.  People Like Me NEVER wanted them to bomb cities or pal up with dictators or send billions of dollars and equipment and nerve gas to bad allies. 

People like me nearly tore out our hair in horror as Reagan called these allies the equivalent of our founding fathers.  We rolled our eyes as Reagan and Bush gutted the alternative energy programs and supported big oil and coal.  We knew what was coming.  We watched a country screaming toward a war cliff like it was heading for a football game -- and the idea that the other side is a bad team that can be beaten isn't just a sports metaphor. 

Ever wonder why so many of the troops have those steroid necks?  Yup -- jocks.  They get the idea that war is like sport.  They think it's supposed to be fun.  They have absolutely no concern for the women and kids who get in the way.  The only time they start helping out the civilians of an invaded country is when the news start leaking about torture and ditch shootings. 

I was in the Army -- it's not made up of little kids, or even YOUR kids.  The Army takes their brains out, twists them around, and crams them back in upside down; football and other sports already has them trained to buckle in to screaming and charging against whatever they're pointed at.  If sports wanted to do them a favor, it would kneecap a few of them so they know what bullets feel like.

And now they're whining about being sent over by ungrateful people.  No, the people who sent them are totally grateful, because they think war is like football, too; there will be goal lines and vats of Gatorade at the end.  If the troops are angry about being sent over and over again, then they can start accusing the administration that sends them back over and over and over again.

And they're going to keep getting sent because people like ME are not going to be joining the army.  We're not dumb enough to think war is a football game.   And if the troops think things are bad now, wait until somebody manages to push through the draft.  All volunteers will be called Lifers by the draftees -- those that show up -- and a new generation is going to discover what "fragging" means.

Three trillion dollars in war debts.  Homeless.  Hunger.  People like me never wanted that debt -- but guess who's going to have to take care of the homeless and hungry?  Including those multiple amputees from the meat-grinder wars.

We won't be the people telling them to "suck it up," then.