KØHB wrote:
wrote
The
Army found that out during the Battle of the Bulge...where every
soldier, regardless of MOS, were suddenly IN "battle." Ever
since the U.S. Army has made it a point to continue basic battle
training long after soldiers have finished basic training.

And your point is?

All sorts of people in all sorts of jobs face danger every day, Len.

The electric wires don't put themselves up, and when a storm knocks
out the power, the crews don't get to wait for a sunny day to fix them.


Jim,

Lens point is that every serviceman and servicewoman in uniform serves with the
understanding that their very life is pledged, at the very real risk of armed
conflict, to serve their fellow man, commonly for material rewards less than
that enjoyed by an Assistant Shift Manager at your local Burger King.

Yet Burger King managers, newspaper sellers, grocery clerks, etc,
get killed every day doing their jobs, often defending those places
against an armed foe.

In the past (and probably in the future) Len and I have found all sorts of
reasons to disagree, but on this issue I come down four-square on his side.
Comparing that pledge which Len, Brian, and several other here took, to the
risks "suffered" by an electric company linemen or a construction worker is mean
spirited and unbecoming. I don't much care whether you served in uniformor not
(the majority of todays adults chose not to), but I will not quietly tolerate
your insulting characterization of military service as somehow on the same order
of risk and "nobleness" as a worker who sets up replacement power poles. And
please don't add to the insult with your chant about "served in other ways".

Sorry, Hans...we have to disagree here.

Follow OSHA safety stats there are jobs far more dangerous and less
"rewarding", both in pecuniary renumeratioon and job satisfaction, than
serving in the Armed Forces.

Just apologize to all of us, including Len, who served at risk of our very lives
so you could enjoy the freedom to imply that our service was on the same order
as a bridge painter.

Jim owes no one an apology here, Hans...Not when you consider one
of those who DID serve USED the deaths of men who DID die in battle
well before he was even out of High School to "polish his brass" in
this very same forum.

The fact of the matter is that many men DO face danger far more
routinely than the average service man, short of toe-to-toe armed
conflict, will face.

I note that Lennie takes great pains to try and "expose" the
"myths and mythos" of Amateur Radio and places himslef above "mere
mortals" for his enlightenment of it.

Funny coming from a guy who wanted us to know how courageously he
"fought"...errrrr..."served" under the threat of the Soviet Bear
Tu-95 (not in service when he was), or how others dare not tell HIM
what it was like being under incomming artillery fire. (not unless the
"Cannon Cockers" on the practice range accidentilly aimed the wrong
way...)

The fact of the matter is that cops, firemen, powerline workers,
slaughterhouse workers, and a laundry list of others face more imminent
danger than we did in the Armed Forces on an average day.

Yes, that oath to "uphold and defend" the Constitution takes on a
more direct implication of imminent mortal danger, but the truth of the
matter is a serviceman is more likely to get killed in a training
acident or get hit by a drunk driver than to be a KIA.

The bottom line is that while we depend on the Armed Forces to
keep our borders safe and the "bad guys" at bay, all those other
"served in other ways" people are no less integral to creating and
maintaining our way of life.

73

Steve, K4YZ

PS: At this point "I Served Under the Bear" Anderson and "ANOTHER
Court Martial?" Gilliland can come out swinging, but who cares?