Whats the real Death Toll?

[CalicoJack10]

A Veteran is someone who has willingly signed a contract with the American People. This contract says that they are willing to give their lives in defense of YOUR freedom. And long after they leave the military, and have come home to their families, they realize that giving their life for your freedom is exactly what they have done.

In providing for your freedom, veterans effectively create their own prison. The cost of your Mocha Poop Swirl Late Crappacino is not $5.25 at Starbucks. It is measured by a cost that has no equal; it is measured in the cost of the lives of EVERYONE who serves this great nation. The prison that a veteran lives in is one that they will try and Break Free from alone, because they do not ask for help. It comes in the form of poverty that is so devastating that 1 in 4 veterans can't afford to eat, and 1 in 4 will attempt suicide, and even 1 in 4 will end up homeless at some point as a result of their military service. And those are just the ones that are "Lucky" enough to make it home. For the daft ones, that means that less than 25% of veterans who come home after serving will have a chance at a mediocre life if they don't end up committing suicide first.

The things you will never see are the dreams about friends and brothers that they could not save. Things like being kept from their children as a result of their "Honorable" service. The wives who can no longer deal with the pain the veterans feel so they walk away. The accusations of being a bad person because the veteran chose to defend your right to badmouth them. The weight of what they have been through that they will never share because they agreed to take on the burden of your safety. The freedoms that are taken away as a result of their service. The ridicule that is passed on by so many on the streets. The condescension by those who are better off because they chose not to defend you. The courts treating a drug dealer, or a violent felon with more dignity and respect than a veteran with no prior criminal record. The kindness and compassion for those who were committing these acts not 5 minutes before.

Veterans are those that have given their lives for your freedom, and even if you never see that they suffer in silence, they all suffer a great deal. The cost of your freedom is far more than you can imagine, and has sparked slogans like "For those who fight for it, Freedom has a price the protected never know." That is a burden they take on willingly, and would do again over and over to keep even one of you from having to suffer through what they live with every day.

So when you see someone who has defended you, remember that they did not make it home safe, they are scarred with wounds that will never heal until they have passed on, and when you reach out your hand and thank the guy wearing a Vietnam Veteran hat, you are not just thanking him for what he has done, you are thanking him for what he is still doing.

You Can Not Serve Without Giving Your Life For Your Country!

[bob16066]

Get over it dude. In the "Second War to End all Wars" we sent a couple of Million men off to War. Those that returned didn't Whine and cry about hard their lives were since they got back!

They went about their lives as best they could and didn't cry about how hard it was with the economy demobilizing from the war effort and the Women already entrenched in the factory jobs they wanted.

They put the war behind them and didn't cry about it.

What the flock is wrong with the yute of today that they expect the whole flippin world to kiss their butts because they Volunteered to Serve.

Get over it and move on.

[watchingdennis]

bob16066 I cannot believe your comments! Are you really that naive, oblivious or are you simply immature (due to being young)? I take it from your comments, referring to vets as "they" and "them", that you have never served your country in any branch of the military. As an Honorably Discharged vet myself, let me tell you that those who have seen combat, whether WW1, WW2 or any campaign since then, are messed up. A human being cannot go through that stress and return home the same as they left. When you join the military and see live action, ONLY THEN will you be qualified to express your negative opinion. Until then, QUIT TROLLING!

[Punch]

You Can Not Serve Without Giving Your Life For Your Country!

Bullshoot, and I get tired of hearing it. There are many of us who serve this country every day without going over to other people's countries and killing them. We don't have a draft in this country anymore, so everyone who has been to Iraq or Afghanistan (and now Libya) has volunteered to do so. Some of the rest of us have volunteered to serve as policemen, firemen, hospital orderlies, medics, utility workers, and other job classifications that provide a REAL and IMMEDIATE benefit to the people of this country. I will be honest with you, I can see no benefit to what our people are doing over in Iraq and Afghanistan other than to bankrupt our country and spread ill will among other nations. I do know what happens when I flip a light switch or turn on the water. I also know what happens if the garbage does NOT get picked up for a week (always due to my negligence and not that of the underpaid workers who do that disgusting task). We can pull all of our soldiers out of the foreign countries they are now in and the average citizen will not notice (unless they live near a military installation). However, if every policeman, fireman, garbageman, power plant worker, water plant worker, sewer worker, nurse, teacher and the like were to walk off their jobs tomorrow, I would say the impact would be far greater.

Yes, our veterans should be shown respect, but so should many other workers who make our lives more civilized. What I do have against the treatment of our veterans is the how our wounded and disabled are treated when they get home. From what I hear (and I don't have all the facts), they are not treated as well as some of us who get hurt or disabled in the private and public sector service jobs. That is wrong and needs to be corrected. Our veterans have made a contract with this country, and I think the country needs to uphold its end of the bargain since the veterans have shown their willingness to uphold theirs.

Again, I mean no disrespect to veterans. They should be shown respect and lots of it. I just don't believe that it should be at the expense of others who also serve this country outside of the military.

[wooddoctor]

Bob666 would wet his panties the first time he was shot at. I thank a vet whenever I can. Except for ******* like John Kerry.

[CalicoJack10]

For starters, if you haven't been there, shut your mouth.

Also, that is correct, there are a great many professions that deserve respect, but cops are not deserving of any respect at all in my opinion. It is the only profession in America where you can kill someone who is innocent and get away with it. There are some out there that are good people, but collectively, we all know that cops get a thrill out of the little bit of tenuious power they get and use it to screw innocent people.

If you seriously take this as a "poor me" thread, then you need to stop staring at your prostate and realize that it is the exact opposite. If you can't respect someone that is willing to die in defense of your freedom, then you should take your a$$ to another country and see what kind of freedoms you get.

What our military does paves the way for all of those other professions. Otherwise we would have things like 9/11 on a regular basis.

That's just what I think, and I don't care if you don't like it.

[G50AE]

Bob666 would wet his panties the first time he was shot at.

Now just how are you able to come to that conclusion? Or are you just insulting another poster because you didn't like what they said?

I thank a vet whenever I can. Except for vets that hold political ideologies that I don't agree with.

If you are going to espouse something as a matter of principle, hold to true to that principle always, not just when it suits your agenda. Situational ethics is a concept for people of Bill Clinton's ethicalness.

[G50AE]

For starters, if you haven't been there, shut your mouth.

Actually there is a concept you fail to grasp called freedom of speech. It's one of those freedoms that you claimed these veterans have defended. You show a great deal of disrespect to veterans by disrespecting the freedoms they have fought for.

[bob16066]

bob16066 I cannot believe your comments! Are you really that naive, oblivious or are you simply immature (due to being young)? I take it from your comments, referring to vets as "they" and "them", that you have never served your country in any branch of the military. As an Honorably Discharged vet myself, let me tell you that those who have seen combat, whether WW1, WW2 or any campaign since then, are messed up. A human being cannot go through that stress and return home the same as they left. When you join the military and see live action, ONLY THEN will you be qualified to express your negative opinion. Until then, QUIT TROLLING!

Listen up. I have an honorable discharge and have carried my form DD-214 in my wallet for over 30 years. I'm retired now.

I did my time and I didn't whine and cry the way I see the yute of today who think they're soooooo special because their mommy told them so.

Big whoop. You served. So did I. So did a million other guys who are over it and getting on with their lives.

I'm still not gonna kiss anyones butt because they need validation. The modern army are all volunteers and they have no one to blame but themselves if it wasn't the great adventure they had anticipated.

For every one guy who came home messed up from the Wars to End All Wars there were Thousands who got along as best they could and didn't whine and cry and say poor me I suffered so much I need validation for my effort.

I use the terms "they" and "them" to disassociate myself from a bunch of whiny ass crybabies who think I should: "Appreciate" their sacrifice because they're special and give them a participation trophy as they wave their "stress cards" in the air.

Believe me: I feel for the guys who really suffered. But when it's over ya gotta get over it and continue to contribute to society just like millions have done since the dawn of time.

[G50AE]

What our military does paves the way for all of those other professions.

On that point I would agree with you. I know a lot of people who have gotten occupational training and college education by entering the military. Whether it is the EMT who enlisted out of high school and selected "Cardiac Specialist" as his MOS and took his skills to his civilian career, or the student studying engineering at Cornell University for free due to the R.O.T.C. program, or maybe it is the lawyer you hired who in addition to having private practice is a lawyer in the army legal corps., or maybe it's the acountant who got his degree financed by the Army College Fund and G.I. Bill programs, these people have gotten a lot out of military service.

Civilian employers do not routinely discriminate against veterans, and most of them actually seek out to hire veterans. To use another case in point, I know a Vietnam vet who was hired as a night auditor at a hotel over another candidate because of his military experience. The general manager who hired him, who incidently was a flaming lesbian, stated that she knew he would have great attention to detail which is nesessary for an auditor, and thought that he would not have trouble adjusting to the odd hours. Even though at times the two of them butted heads, she never said, "I should not have hired that guy because he was a Vietnam vet."