Bowe Bergdahl

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

Think about all this, and read some HL Mencken quotes on democracy, and you'll start wondering if China and Singapore aren't onto a better idea...



HL Mencken

Would that this Charm City man was still with us.

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Oerets

We have still not heard the rest of this story. Just tonight I heard he tried to escape at least twice.


Like I pointed out before, everyday criminals are released who reoffend some just because of overcrowding others in some kind of deal to get to another criminal. Here the released did do 13 years of hard time and until we give out life sentences for the crimes O wait they never were convicted IIRC! So I say either have trials and sentences or move on and let them go.

http://www.latimes.com/world/afghani...ry.html#page=1

Barney

Also there was all that trash about 6 soldiers dying looking for him. So then they said it was only 2, then it came our that those two were inside their base when they were killed,

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by barbara

You have to make a difference when and where you can.

I try to make a difference one person at a time. Doesn't change the world, but it might change that person's world.

��

Or even as Mark Twian wrote "I just try to be an honest man, that way there is one less rascal in this world."

All I can do is seek truth, the Good Lord gave me an overabundance of what Poirot calls 'those leetle grey cells' so I hope that I am not being presumptuous in assuming He expected me to use them. My avocation was as a teacher, and according to those who used me in that capacity I am good at it. So I try to educate people where and how I can, unfortunately as they say you can lead a horse to water ...

Never gie up, never, never.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Also there was all that trash about 6 soldiers dying looking for him. So then they said it was only 2, then it came our that those two were inside their base when they were killed,

Really? Wow, I hadn't heard that as I've been doing the 12 hour days for the last few days. So, now that the fog is clearing we're getting a different picture.

Dave

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

My comments on the station in Afghanistan comes from a few things I've read and heard about conditions at many Afghan stations from personnel who spend time at those stations. I didn't make up a rag on a stick in the desert...that came from a guy I met who finally had enough of this shit on his fourth deployment and started talking about what it was really like after his discharge last year. There's only so much certain humans can take. Stop-loss and mismanagement and Bergdahl's apt description of the ass-sucking that gets you somewhere in the United States military system overwhelms some people psychologically. It's so easy to call them despicable, deserters and traitors. I for one refuse to get on that bus.

Then again, when it comes to the members of our "professional volunteer military" who aren't doing so well in that system, I suppose we could just go back to what Dr. Hunter S. Thompson used to say..."Listen asshole, you bought the ticket, you take the ride."

You just described why I chose NOT to stay in for retirement, leaving after my four year obligation. I bought the ticket, took the ride and got off at the first stop. But, I honored the agreement I made when I got aboard, I did my duty. Unlike Bergdahl and individuals like him. I can understand not having much love for the military lifestyle, but can't manage any respect for people who just walk away from responsibility.

However, I did leave the Navy because I didn't like being surrounded by bootlicking, brainwashed people, only to discover the civilian world isn't much different in those regards.

Dave

[JJIII]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

You just described why I chose NOT to stay in for retirement, leaving after my four year obligation. I bought the ticket, took the ride and got off at the first stop. But, I honored the agreement I made when I got aboard, I did my duty. Unlike Bergdahl and individuals like him. I can understand not having much love for the military lifestyle, but can't manage any respect for people who just walk away from responsibility.

However, I did leave the Navy because I didn't like being surrounded by bootlicking, brainwashed people, only to discover the civilian world isn't much different in those regards.

Dave

I remember when I was in the Army having a conversation with my older sister. I was telling her that I couldn't wait to get out for some of the same reasons as Dave. I also said that as a civilian I could walk away from any "boss" that I didn't like, unlike the Military services. She just chuckled and asked, "How do you think that is going to work out in the long run?"

Leave it to your big sister to slap you in the face with reality!

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by JJIII

I remember when I was in the Army having a conversation with my older sister. I was telling her that I couldn't wait to get out for some of the same reasons as Dave. I also said that as a civilian I could walk away from any "boss" that I didn't like, unlike the Military services. She just chuckled and asked, "How do you think that is going to work out in the long run?"

Leave it to your big sister to slap you in the face with reality!

That's life in a "right-to-work" world.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Would that this Charm City man was still with us.

You still have John Waters, heard him touting his book on NPR this morning.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

You just described why I chose NOT to stay in for retirement, leaving after my four year obligation. I bought the ticket, took the ride and got off at the first stop. But, I honored the agreement I made when I got aboard, I did my duty. Unlike Bergdahl and individuals like him. I can understand not having much love for the military lifestyle, but can't manage any respect for people who just walk away from responsibility.

However, I did leave the Navy because I didn't like being surrounded by bootlicking, brainwashed people, only to discover the civilian world isn't much different in those regards.

Dave

As JJ has already stated. There's one big difference between the civilian and military worlds, Dave. In the civilian world, when you realize the branch you're in is full of ass-sucking opportunists and inhuman vampires sucking the blood outta you...you can get your dead ass up, put on your hat, and walk off your post without the threat of being hung...literally by the military or figuratively in the media by some cocksucker with an ideological axe to grind.

In the military world they can do whatever TF they want with you because the contract you signed is as good as trump in spades for the military. They can extend your stay for as long as they like...all they have to do is decide that any fucked up police action or other involvement they dive into is a "war" and makes you theirs for the next couple of decades, or however long they decide to drag out the "war". And it's..."sorry motherfucker, you're stop-lossed." They can redeploy you as many times as they like, even when the psych team tells them that you are not in psychological condition to be able to tolerate another deployment. The suicide numbers prove it.

There's a limit to what the human mind can take Dave. Some human minds can take it more than others...but that doesn't mean the owner of the mind that can't is "irresponsible." I don't know how many people you've sat down with who will openly communicate the ravages of their PTSD (military, civilian, single incident, or complex persistent trauma exposures)...but I've sat down with dozens. It's not something that they have control over...and even after they've been away from the stressors for years, even with the best treatment available on earth, it's not always something that they can get under control.

Ever been in a situation where you:
1. just simply needed to get the fuck outta there and didn't really know why? I have.
2. just felt like your head was gonna crack wide open and you weren't sure why? I have.
3. wake up out of a dead sleep and not know that you weren't in the middle of a firefight or the aftermath of an IED detonation, or that you weren't in the middle of being gang raped in a back alley? I haven't...but many have.

That's PTSD: 1. uncontrollable avoidance. 2. uncontrollable hyperarousal. 3. uncontrollable re-experiencing. I've had the first two, but never close to the intensity experienced by somebody with PTSD. I've never had the third and I thank the goddamn universe for it.

It's fucking hell. And I'm judging nobody.

And as far as I'm concerned...anybody who would take what could be this, and without hesitation use it publicly for ideological or political purposes, can eat shit and die.

[BlueStreak]

True that, Ike. I have had traumatic experiences and been to counseling for chronic depression and anger management on three separate occasions, the first of which was involuntary. (I beat the class bully to the floor with a ball peen hammer in high school. He left school that day on a gurney. Broke three of the bastards ribs.) I also had to give up a career in aviation after developing a nasty fear of heights. So, yes, I have had the powerful and irrational feeling of having to get the fuck out of a situation in the face of no real danger. (Prior, I didn't know one could "acquire" phobias. I thought people were born with them.)

And, I have an older brother who still suffers from PTSD acquired in Vietnam.

Anyhow, you have given me food for thought. Thanks.

But, I still don't see Bergdahl as any sort of "hero".

Dave