The Military Leadership Has Gone Too PC

[Annie]

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005385.htm

THE CAMP PENDLETON 8
By Michelle Malkin · June 14, 2006 10:40 AM

***We've captured and posted the video of Hillary getting booed as she asks progressives to support the troops. Guess they won't be helping out the Camp Pendleton 8.***

My column this week calls attention to the Camp Pendleton 8--7 Marines and Navy corpsman being held in shackles with no charges against them as higher-ups investigate an alleged murder of an Iraqi man earlier this spring in Hamandiya. Excerpt:

Did you know there are seven young Marines and a Navy corpsman sitting in a military brig right now in leg and wrist shackles -- despite the fact that they've not been charged with any crime?

The men are in solitary confinement, locked in 8'x8' cells at San Diego's Camp Pendleton, as investigators probe an April 26 incident involving the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They are behind bars 23 hours a day; family members can only see them through inch-thick Plexiglas. Military blabbermouths have told the press that the service members are suspected of kidnapping and shooting a man in the Iraqi town of Hamdaniya. The Iraqi man's family reportedly came forward seeking payment for his death as media hysteria set in over the separate alleged atrocity in Haditha.

These men -- our men -- may be innocent. They may be guilty. Charges may or may not be filed this week. But this much is certain: The media leaks and the Murtha-fication of the case are already taking a heavy toll on the troops and their families. The headlines have already convicted them: "Iraqi's Slaying Planned By Marines, Official Says." "Marines Planned to Kill Iraqi Civilian, Then Planted Evidence."
...

The national media ignored a protest by supporters outside Camp Pendleton over the weekend. Not a peep heard yet from the American Civil Liberties Union. The website of the self-anointed crusaders for individual rights contains hundreds of articles on the rights of al Qaeda suspects and an indignant press release on the suicides of Guantanamo Bay detainees. But no mention of the Camp Pendleton Eight. For their part, human rights groups were too busy shedding tears for the Gitmo terrorist suicide squad and lionizing them as "heroes" in the words of William Goodman of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Editorial cartoonists have been preoccupied desecrating the Marine Corps logo and tarring troops as baby-killers.

A clarion voice stepped into the fray this week to push back against the global rush to judgment against our troops. Ilario Pantano, a Desert Storm vet-turned-Wall Street banker and new media entrepreneur-turned-commissioned Marine officer from Hell's Kitchen, launched his gripping book "Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy" this week, which recounts his harrowing ordeal as a Marine smeared and cleared. Last spring, he faced the death penalty for defending himself and his men in the heat of battle and killing two Iraqi insurgents. He was accused then, as Marines are being accused now, of wantonly executing Iraqis to send a message. His family and friends' defense of Pantano was met, as those of Marines are being met now, with incredulity or apathy.

There were no pleas to withhold judgment against Pantano from the New York Times then. No Oprah sit-downs now with the wives and children of accused troops.

As an agitated, condescending Ann Curry of NBC's "Today Show" tried to paint Pantano Monday as a callous thug, he replied with quiet dignity: "I don't think it's helpful to national security to have this kind of self-flagellation before the facts are actually disclosed."

Innocent until proven guilty? Justice for all? Benefit of the doubt? These are apparently foreign concepts when it comes to Americans in uniform being held on American soil. Perhaps if our troops proclaimed themselves "conscientious objectors" and converted to Islam, they might start getting some sympathy.

***

Dan Riehl takes a close look at reporting on the alleged murder and says "Press Accounts Of Second Alleged Atrocity Don't Add Up."

Sounds familiar.

***

Related:

Blackfive reports on the Hadji Girl hysteria:

I received the original video "Hodji Girl" (that was the title) back in early March from a Corpsman who thought that Corporal Joshua Belle was hilarious. I sent it around to my friends with the caveat not to post it so Belle wouldn't suffer the wrath of the humorless asshat sycophants in charge of the military or suffer the unbelievable media bias that is now occurring.

I'm certain that Joshua and the Sweater Kittenz will be fine through this...there are probably agents all over them now to get a deal.

But if this goes down badly for Joshua, I say we start a defense fund for the guy.
​

Send a letter of support through the Sweater Kittenz band site here.

***

Related: Please support Project Valour-IT. More at the Castle.

The Hadji Girl video is all over the web, it's obviously humor and also 'off time.' At Blackfive, they are pretty mad about it:

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/06/hadji_girl_is_t.html

Hadji Girl- Is the USMC now Big Brother?
Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Boy I love some good old fashioned righteous indignation. So the USMC has decided that appeasing the apologists at CAIR is more important than, oh say the freaking Bill of Rights. WTF? over. I realize that military service comes with some restrictions, but I must have missed the part where the right to satire during off duty time was revoked. Anyhow me being me I zipped off a message to the spokesweasel the USMC sent out to flog their kowtow to the Islamic lobby. I will advise.

Dear Maj. Chapin,

I am concerned by the reaction of the USMC to the clearly humorous video Hadji Girl by CPL Belle. I wonder if anyone there bothered to watch and listen to the lyrics, I don’t think so because they hardly match the lies spread in the media and by CAIR which you appear to have swallowed whole. They are available here and clearly demonstrate none of the reprehensible sentiments claimed. And yet we get this:

“Corps officials responded to the group’s concerns and contacted administrators of the Web site on which it had been anonymously posted to ask that it be removed.”

I am curious why the Marine Corps would ask that any video be removed from a private website. I am curious why the Marine Corps would spend tax dollars harassing a private group about a private individual’s exercise of freedom of speech. I am disgusted by your statement here.

“The video … is clearly inappropriate and contrary to the high standards expected of all Marines,” said Marine Maj. Gabrielle Chapin in a prepared statement. “The video is not reflective of the tremendous sacrifices and dedication demonstrated, on a daily basis, by tens of thousands of Marines who have assisted the Iraqi people in gaining their freedom.”

Are you concerned with his vocal ability, or his guitar playing skills, or his songwriting? I didn’t know the Marine Corps kept track of what troops do in their off time and much less that you graded them on it. The video is reflective of the idea enshrined in the Bill of Rights, that speech is free. I assume you can locate a copy of the document, and perhaps you might spend some time reading it rather than embarrassing the Corps and America by caving in to the jihadi apologists at CAIR.

If the freedoms military folks are fighting and dying to provide for the Iraqis and Afghanis are not available to our own troops then why should they risk their lives? This is a sorry day for the Corps and you owe CPL Belle, all Marines and the US people an explanation as to why the USMC has seen fit to revoke freedom of speech for it’s members.

I am a former US Army Special Forces Weapons Sergeant and have worked in many countries where building rapport with the local populace was vital to the success of our operations. I realize that a satire like this can, and obviously has been, misinterpreted, and that it may be used by those opposed to our efforts in Iraq, and even harm our relations with some Iraqis. Tough crap Major, deal with it, and not by forgetting that the most basic protections of freedom apply to all of us, even if they hurt the delicate feelings of all the chair-warming appeasers in DC or anyone else’s.

Cordially,

Jim Hanson

AKA the extremely chafed milblogger Uncle Jimbo from madison.com/post and Blackfive.net

 

[007]

You wanna hear something pathetic, the son of our service manager is going to enlist in the Air Force later this year. I was talking to him about it and my eight years in the Force, and the topic turned to basic training. I told him that they would scream at you and throw your shit around, and MAYBE push or tap you, but they won't HIT you. He said, "uh uh, not anymore, not at all." "If you feel stressed, you have a STRESS card hanging around your neck, and all you do is flash the *stress card* at the drill instructor and he's got to stop hollering at you". :rotflmao:

What a fucking LAUGH!!! Our military is turning out PUSSIES, and basic training has been turned into a slumber party!!!

 

[Annie]

Well it looks as if at least one ret. marine agrees with the 'too pc':

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/06/a_marine_for_li.html#more

A Marine for Life weighs in
Posted By Uncle Jimbo

The following is why we have comments. I will step aside as this gentleman makes his case in mighty fine fashion.

Comment below written by: Nolan School

A Marine for life. That’s me, I’m a pain in the ass about it. Got the metallic sticker, got lapel pins, and now…I’ve got some problems with the Marine leadership in and around the Beltway and Pentagon area. Serious Questions….I reflect on it now and questions abound.

Maybe Harry Truman was right, he never teed-off on the Marines per se, just the brass-hats that ground their regiments and divisions into pulp on Pelelieu, Iwo and Okinawa and painted it red white and blue. Do we need a Marine Corps? Good God, what a question and how it seems to come back around the ass-end of every war or in between them. Tough question, more than a question.

I am…A Marine for life. Two sons in… two young men NEVER entered any branch of the American military without a stronger warning as to what was ahead of them. You have to WANT to be a Marine. Once you are in, YOU ARE the Marine Corps.

It is one man's opinion but my feelings go like this; if we are planning on developing a politically correct Marine Corps, fold the tents. If we expect our warriors to be more PR-sensitive, who needs a Warrior Cult anyway?

In the corporate world what is now happening in the current crop of brass hats is referred to as tossing people under the bus to deflect focus on their own shortcomings.

Somebody with stars needs to look the press in the eye and inform them with a little guts that "The Marines will handle their problems and until things have been worked out to the Corps' satisfaction all the press-weasels can just go defecate into their chapeaus"....not likely in the emerging mentality of general officers.

The treatment of the as-yet-uncharged Marines at Camp Pendleton, the sadly comic persecution of a Cpl letting off steam at Al Asad or some other shit hole...too much. Loyalty and devotion is a two-way street. I do not see it in the current Marine Corps Leadership. Toss that air-wing NCO under the bus…he wasn’t at Haditha but he’ll do.

My experience watching my own sons in the Corps over the last four years has been both inspiring and deflating. There exists a gap in leadership that is mystifying to me, almost a tendency to disenfranchise the NCO's at the most critical level, Cpl & Sgt, from making it happen. I have watched my sons go to war ill-equipped...I ended up getting a discount from Sure-Fire because I sent a gross of batteries on a regular basis...and I've watched them pay out of their own pockets for the life-sustaining "non-issue" stuff that the need to live in a combat zone. I watched them do Nasiriyah, Fallujah, several tours apiece and they served with honor and have already given their professional opinion that if the dudes did the crime, they had been taught and trained better, burn them. IF THEY ARE CONVICTED. Has the brass convicted them already? Murtha said they did. Waiting on the next announcement from the Liberal Left as we speak.

At the end of the day it comes down to this; I see nobody acting like they have the tiniest set of balls in Marine leadership. Maybe a non-PC Marine General or Colonel will show up with stars and the desire to get people to back the f*** off until the facts are presented.

The Marine Corps has changed...some of it good and some of it is so bland you can't recognize it anymore in a lot of ways...but it’s still a pretty Damn Good Marine Corps…not that bunch of nuts that were taught to proudly be killers back “in the day”.

Once upon a time I received a rocker, early for a young man in an elite arm. Several of us were promoted that day and a Lt. Col made a remark that stuck with me forever. I'm sure it comes from the USMC great comments book...but I'll repeat it as best I can recall across forty years.

“Why is there a United States Marine Corps? When you think about it there no longer exists the true need for a Marine Corps. The Navy has its own special ops, the Army can adapt to amphibious work (they did so in WW II often), and the Air Force has all the planes and helicopters in the world. Ships in the Navy no longer have to have armed men keeping conscripted sailors in the rigging.

Why then?

The United States Marine Corps exists because the AMERICAN PEOPLE have decided that they want and need a United States Marine Corps. It is our job to continue to develop the finest fighting men possible in the world to continue our creed and mission and it is your job, the SNCO's and NCO's here in this room…your express duty to lead these men and make sure we exist on merit, honor, and a sense of duty that is second to none.

It is our job as officers to stand up for you, support you, and give you the guidance to accomplish the sacred trust given to Our Corps by the American people.”

So…Who is standing up for this Air-Wing Cpl venting for the amusement of his buddies on a night after another 16 hour day of working on forty year old helicopters in the sun at 115 degrees? Weasel Words from HQMC…double-speak ignoring the tone, intent and place of the alleged crime of being Non-PC in a war zone.

Somebody had better stand up for Cpl Bellile, I have read the damn lyrics and the ROE were followed to the letter. If the round passes my head, sumbitches are DEAD.

There is no violation here, just the detritus, flotsam and jetsam inherent in a FREE SOCIETY in the era of the internet and cameras that fit into you first aid kit on your war-gear. Get off this Cpl’s back right away, we’ll handle this. No more song-writing in an era when Marines are shooting people in a war zone of 360 degrees. Understood?

I prayed that my Grunt son would get the hell out of Iraq before this war went static and we started crucifying combat assault troops for not being PC in an era when warfare fades into a shooting-gallery syndrome when troops are no longer on the attack. Iraq is largely static, ask the Marines about how they've had teams of Snipers slaughtered like sheep because the leaderships has permitted daily tasks involving strong men armed to develop a standard routine and pass the initiative to the bad guys.

Sorry...got wound up.

A Marine for Life, a grunt, later an Intell type, I was in the Honor Guard at 8th & I when the first "Ex-Marine" was created. Lee Harvey Oswald shot a president and became that first Ex-Marine.

Now we have two Ex-Marines with John Murtha…Congressional pal of the Brass Hats and BS Briefings that toss the junior Marines under the media and congressional bus before they are charged...much less convicted.

If there is a plan to build a PC Marine Corps, can I please have my two Marine NCO's back? They didn’t sign up for this crap. I would not have permitted it. If you are going PC, I don't want them in it anymore.

Corporal Bellile had better be given an ass-chewing for the timing of his fifteen minutes of fame and be sent back to the barracks red-assed and wiser. His apology and regret statement was the ONLY DAMN show of Marine toughness and honesty I've seen lately, thank god for Cpls.
The Leadership of the Marine Corps had better step up to the plate and show some guts or there will be three or four "Ex-Marines" around. NO article 32's, no record book BS.

Marine Corps will weather this storm by dumping the platitudes and political correctness, by insisting on due process and by treating their young Marines with dignity and performing corrective measures up the chain of command and right back down it to the troops.

I firmly and sincerely believe that a well-placed “Kiss My ASS...sir...”is a legitimate response for a Marine of 38 years honorable service to one's country when dealing with zealous weasels who want to keep slamming the Military in general and the Marine Corps specifically right now.

Respectfully submitted...

A True Believer, Marine for Life

15 June 2006

 

[Redhots]

You wanna hear something pathetic, the son of our service manager is going to enlist in the Air Force later this year. I was talking to him about it and my eight years in the Force, and the topic turned to basic training. I told him that they would scream at you and throw your shit around, and MAYBE push or tap you, but they won't HIT you. He said, "uh uh, not anymore, not at all." "If you feel stressed, you have a STRESS card hanging around your neck, and all you do is flash the *stress card* at the drill instructor and he's got to stop hollering at you". :rotflmao:

What a fucking LAUGH!!! Our military is turning out PUSSIES, and basic training has been turned into a slumber party!!!

He'll be in for one hell of a surprise when he gets to boot camp then...

http://www.snopes.com/military/stress.htm

Claim: Recruits in basic training are issued "stress cards," which when waved at demanding drill sergeants immediately entitle recruits to gentler treatment.

Status: False.

Origins: This is one of those tales that has the smallest kernel of truth to it, but that truth is almost unrecognizable in the form the scuttlebutt has since taken.

For a few years during the 1990s, the US Navy did issue "stress cards" to new recruits, but they weren't the "Get out of jail free" coupons military lore has since turned them into. Rather, these cards listed names and phone numbers of resources the newcomers could contact "if things pile[d] up." The cards were strictly for informational purposes: they informed recruits of available support services.

Navy trainers began reporting that some of the recruits had taken to raising their cards while being disciplined, as a way of signalling for time out. It's unclear whether any of those enduring basic training really thought that was the purpose of the cards or whether this was just standard armed forces jackassing, but the Navy took no chances and got rid of the cards.

This short-lived experiment with providing recruits with clear information about whom to contact when things went bump in the night has morphed into an unflattering and unsettling illustration of today's soldier as a creampuff. Notice how the story has mutated into one where the drill instructors are portrayed as honor bound to obey the cards when they are displayed to them, an aspect that wasn't part of things during the real cards' short life. The story has also widened its net; what was a Navy hand-out has, in the world of rumor, become a card issued to Army and Marine recruits, making this an Armed Forces-wide phenomenon.

Why was such a story so happily seized upon? We always want to believe anything we've been part of was the biggest, the baddest, and the best. One of the ways we bolster that belief is by looking pityingly upon the current crop who have since taken our places. The high school teams we played on were the toughest and most feared, with today's iterations only pale imitations of the ones we were part of. Likewise, the music of our youth has it all over today's stuff, and schooling in our day was rigorous and thorough, with the hike to the schoolhouse uphill both ways through the snow.

That sentiment, that need to feel superior through disparaging comparison, is part of what underpins this legend about stress cards. In any vet's mind, the armed forces went careening downhill the moment he left. Throughout the history of human endeavor, people have looked back to note with satisfaction how things have gone to hell in a handbasket since their glory days, be they bridge players, churchgoers, parents, or soldiers. It's just human nature.

Change is also threatening, and any shift in how things are run will always bring out the doomsayers, those who will feel it their duty to point out everything is about to come apart. They will hold up any small misstep and repeat any wild tale that seemingly confirms their gloomy prognostications. Just as the influx of women into the armed forces raised misgivings often expressed in "Told you so" kinds of tales, so the "stress card" canard quickly caught on in military lore because it captured the essence of what many believe, that today's army has gone soft.

 

[OCA]

I have been saying this all along for the love of god! Even though this stress card may be bullshit the notion of the military trying to be like the peace corps while attempting to fight a war is the main reason for the debacle in Iraq........too much handing out of fucking candy and gatorade and not enough 7.62 mm to the grill. Need more of an enemy body count, much more.

 

[007]

He'll be in for one hell of a surprise when he gets to boot camp then...

http://www.snopes.com/military/stress.htm

Claim: Recruits in basic training are issued "stress cards," which when waved at demanding drill sergeants immediately entitle recruits to gentler treatment.

Status: False.

Origins: This is one of those tales that has the smallest kernel of truth to it, but that truth is almost unrecognizable in the form the scuttlebutt has since taken.

I should have known to look, but thanks all the same red.

I'll print this out and give it to him.

 

[Redhots]

I should have known to look, but thanks all the same red.

I'll print this out and give it to him.

No don't!

If he honestly believes that story all the better for when hes getting grilled by a SM and he says "Wait, wait, time out! I'm sorry, they forgot to issue me my stress card, but I still want to call a time out. Ok?"

:rotflmao:

 

[Annie]

Seem to have gotten a message out, though it's NOT about them:

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/07/04/news/top_stories/03_70_327_4_06.txt

Letter reportedly from accused servicemen expresses thanks

By: TERI FIGUEROA and ERIN SCHULTZ - Staff Writers

CAMP PENDLETON ---- On the eve of Independence Day, a person close to one of eight servicemen charged with murdering an Iraqi civilian released a letter signed by the men, asking Americans to spend today honoring troops who are fighting overseas.

It was the first written communication that appeared to be signed by the men, who are being held in the Camp Pendleton brig on charges of murdering an Iraqi civilian in April and conspiring to cover up his death. Though no formal pleas have been made, family members and attorneys for the men have proclaimed their innocence.

The men face the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges.

The one-page, handwritten letter was given to the North County Times on Monday evening. The apparent signatures of the eight men ---- a sergeant, two corporals, three lance corporals, a private first class and a Navy hospitalman third class ---- are scrawled between notebook paper lines.

The authenticity of the signatures could not be verified Monday, though two people close to the accused said their loved ones had signed the letter. At least one of the men's attorneys said he had not seen the note.

The message does not mention the men's case or discuss any details of their custody. Instead, it asks that supporters send their thoughts to troops.

"On this upcoming Fourth of July weekend, we ask that your prayers are rooted solely to the men and woman (sic) fighting in Iraq," the letter reads. "Regardless of our current disposition, we stand here safe and sound."

The men charged are: Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, 24; Hospitalman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, 20; Pfc. John Jodka III, 20, of Encinitas; Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda, 23, of Manteca; Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, 22; Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., 20; and Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington, 22. All are from Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment's Kilo Company.

Though the men are being held in individual cells, it may have been possible for family members visiting the troops to pass a note around for the men to sign, said Camp Pendleton spokesman 1st Lt. Esteban Vickers.

"They couldn't write it together," said Vickers, who had not seen the note and could not confirm the signatures late Monday evening. "But family members are allowed to meet with them, and if the family did something like that, it's probably possible."

A family member of one of the defendants said she felt the letter was "really nice and sweet."

"They're all good guys, and they have such good hearts," the woman said.

The letter expresses thanks to supporters of the men.

"There are no words to describe our solemn thanks to all of our sincere supporters," the letter reads. "To know that there are people out there praying for us is a surreal feeling in which there is no comparison."

Vickers, the base spokesman, said he hoped the note had been shown to the men's lawyers before being released.

"I wouldn't want them to do anything that would jeopardize their case," he said.

Vickers said the letter shows that even though the men are locked up, they have continued to think like Marines.

"It shows that Marines, no matter what circumstances they find themselves in, are always thinking about their brothers and sisters who are out there fighting," he said. "It's kind of awe-inspiring, considering the situation that they're in."

After being read the text of the letter during a phone call Monday night, attorney David Brahms, the lawyer for Pennington, called the letter "defining."

"This is indicative of the spirit of the young men confined and awaiting military justice action," Brahms said. "This defines a group of youngsters who think about others and are solidly, morally grounded."

Attorney Victor Kelley, who is representing Thomas, said he had no comment about the letter.

Another of the attorneys, Joseph Low, the man representing Magincalda, said the contents of the letter came as no surprise to him.

"They have made comments like that before," Low said, noting that his client and others are concerned about the troops in the war zone.

Low said he does not think the men will face a backlash for getting their hands on the letter to sign it, and noted that the eight all have daily recreation time with one another.

LETTER SIGNED BY JAILED MARINES

Dear Americans,

There are no words to describe our solemn thanks to all of our sincere supporters. To know that there are people out there praying for us is a surreal feeling in which there is no comparison. On this upcoming 4th of July weekend we ask that your prayers are rooted solely to the men and woman (sic) fighting in Iraq. Regardless of our current disposition, we stand here safe and sound. It's those men and women who are still making the ultimate sacrifice lying (sic) their lives down for the country. To those of you who have had loved ones who have made that sacrifice know that we feel your pain first hand and understand that though they may never come back, they will never be forgotten. Once again, thank you for your support, and God Bless America.

--Sgt. Hutchins, Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, HM3 Melson Bacos, LCpl. Robert Pennington, LCpl. Tyler Jackson, Pfc. John Jodka and LCpl. Jerry Shumate Jr.​

 

[Gunny]

He'll be in for one hell of a surprise when he gets to boot camp then...

http://www.snopes.com/military/stress.htm

Claim: Recruits in basic training are issued "stress cards," which when waved at demanding drill sergeants immediately entitle recruits to gentler treatment.

Status: False.

Origins: This is one of those tales that has the smallest kernel of truth to it, but that truth is almost unrecognizable in the form the scuttlebutt has since taken.

For a few years during the 1990s, the US Navy did issue "stress cards" to new recruits, but they weren't the "Get out of jail free" coupons military lore has since turned them into. Rather, these cards listed names and phone numbers of resources the newcomers could contact "if things pile[d] up." The cards were strictly for informational purposes: they informed recruits of available support services.

Navy trainers began reporting that some of the recruits had taken to raising their cards while being disciplined, as a way of signalling for time out. It's unclear whether any of those enduring basic training really thought that was the purpose of the cards or whether this was just standard armed forces jackassing, but the Navy took no chances and got rid of the cards.

This short-lived experiment with providing recruits with clear information about whom to contact when things went bump in the night has morphed into an unflattering and unsettling illustration of today's soldier as a creampuff. Notice how the story has mutated into one where the drill instructors are portrayed as honor bound to obey the cards when they are displayed to them, an aspect that wasn't part of things during the real cards' short life. The story has also widened its net; what was a Navy hand-out has, in the world of rumor, become a card issued to Army and Marine recruits, making this an Armed Forces-wide phenomenon.

Why was such a story so happily seized upon? We always want to believe anything we've been part of was the biggest, the baddest, and the best. One of the ways we bolster that belief is by looking pityingly upon the current crop who have since taken our places. The high school teams we played on were the toughest and most feared, with today's iterations only pale imitations of the ones we were part of. Likewise, the music of our youth has it all over today's stuff, and schooling in our day was rigorous and thorough, with the hike to the schoolhouse uphill both ways through the snow.

That sentiment, that need to feel superior through disparaging comparison, is part of what underpins this legend about stress cards. In any vet's mind, the armed forces went careening downhill the moment he left. Throughout the history of human endeavor, people have looked back to note with satisfaction how things have gone to hell in a handbasket since their glory days, be they bridge players, churchgoers, parents, or soldiers. It's just human nature.

Change is also threatening, and any shift in how things are run will always bring out the doomsayers, those who will feel it their duty to point out everything is about to come apart. They will hold up any small misstep and repeat any wild tale that seemingly confirms their gloomy prognostications. Just as the influx of women into the armed forces raised misgivings often expressed in "Told you so" kinds of tales, so the "stress card" canard quickly caught on in military lore because it captured the essence of what many believe, that today's army has gone soft.

Yeah, right. Let me tell you what those "informational" cards were used for .... to remind the Drill Instructor that the recruit has the phone number of the series commander on that card and is more than willing to make an allegation.

Calling them "stress cards" is probably somebody's idea of sarcasm, and I would be more than willing to bet that is where it originated.

AND, speaking solely from experience, and the Marine Corps, the rules for how Drill Instructors are allowed to handle recruits have not changed in years. Enforcement of them has, and dumbass series commanders are looking for excuses to jack up the hats.

Marine recruits usally spend an average of 2 weeks in processing, in which time, a low-stress environment is strictly enforced.

And, I HAVE seen actual stress cards with own two eyes, I just cannot recall specifically where, or who had them. They DO exist.

So, there is more than just a kernel of truth to the story.

 

[Annie]

I just read through the Snopes article again. There's a problem. My dad figures he had it much easier than the kids today. Or in Korea, Vietnam, etc. He didn't 'sign up' for WWII, he admits he hadn't a clue to where Hawaii was, much less why Pearl Harbor was important. He was pissed at the death and destruction, but admits it would have been cool with him if he could have cheered others on from a job in Chicago, to those brave enough to sign up.

As the war dragged on, he did get the importance, which made all the 'bullsh*t' worth it. Not enough mind anyone, that it ever crossed his mind to reenlist. He believes that the 'kids' today are way smarter than he was, more attuned to the world and the dangers.

But he was drafted. He spent a couple years between CA and TX, then in England for awhile, til sent to France for a day in June. Managed to get into the 3rd wave at Omaha, got to the dune then it's black. Other than fighting someone that wanted to amputate his hand, (he won), doesn't remember anything until he was back in London. Recuperating there for nearly 5 months. Then back to TX to tally the points for others to get out.

My dad and uncles, friends of theirs, quite a few that were in the Pacific, which they all agree was the worst; to a man they believe that those serving today are vastly superior in committment, knowledge, and courage than they were. I don't necessarily agree, then again, I wasn't there.