I am a bad person. Really.

Man, Not the snipe hunt....

 

I have to say I am envious of you guys that were in the military. Honestly I was scared to be broken in boot camp. Dont know why, maybe emotional immaturity. It is a regret that can never be fixed, one item in a list you compile as you age.

I'm envious not of the weapons training or other martial skills, obviously not of the combat experience, but of the chance to measure yourself against your peers in stressful situations. The opportunities to push yourselves with expert support to guide and teach allow you to really test your limits.

So, yes just a snipe hunt but with regrets.

 

I had a lot of fun, made some life long friends, was scared shitless more times then I care to admit, almost died a few times, did more crazy shit then you could imagine, spent 9 months in the Nato Hospitals in Italy and Germany undergoing multiple surgeries and then recovering before returning to active duty with my team, and I retired after my 20 years!
I have no regrets, but I also live with the things I have done and seen, the places I have been, and the horrors I experienced! I don't wish any of that on any one, but, there are those who are called to be there, and I'm most proud to count them as my brothers!

 

No guts ,, no glory ,,

 

In my tribe is a PJ. Never knew they existed. He tells the coolest stories, halo jumps, jumping out of planes followed by crates with dirt bikes to secure an airport. When felix Baumgartner made the jump from space my friend could explain it blow by blow. He can jump of a plane, climb up or down a cliff, shoot someone and then patch them up.

Another friend, a marine was an embassy guard. He had traveled all over a world and knows important people.

A family friend and very close person friend was with the Gary owen unit. He got jacked up and is on disability. $2000/month. Not enough for a family with two kids. He was emotionally in a very dark place. His wife told me some of what happened. It was the PJ that hooked him up with a doctor specializing in PTSD and mushrooms. He is better.

It took a long time for them to warm up to another tribal member that never served but did end up as a private contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan. He drove people through the green zone in iraq and guarded an airport in Afghanistan. He made bank, all tax free

I have heard tons of stories, mostly good but sometimes when the alcohol flows I hear shit that makes me cry inside. I watch a grown man weep like a child with his legs and arms drawn in, rocking himself. It jacks me up just thinking about it.

I'm wish I could have helped but I was useless. Its was the other two that knew how to help him deal. I am envious of their ability to help

There are times at my house when the three are talking and I leave the room to them. Superficially I am welcome but the reality is I am a third wheel, an outsider. There is a comrade that I am not a part of and I wish I was.

I have mucho respect. Not a fan boy just respect.

 

Haha...... I had heard of this one before my buddies tried to pull it on me.

 

Had a pesky guy back in high school who wouldn't quit trying to impress me with his amazing (and totally non-existent) knowledge of cars and engines. He saw I was into cars, figured that was his ticket into my pants. I figured sending him on embarrassing trips to the parts store to pick up things for me, like a water pump for an air cooled VW Bug, might drive the hint home since saying "Go away" didn't seem to have any effect. It took him getting laughed out of Auto Zone for asking for a flux capacitor for a '76 Cutlass before he finally went away.

 

LOL Snipe hunting is not necessarily a military thing, More like a southern heritage thing.
Never served btw, Went to join up because at the time I was a bona-fide daft card carrier.
I was shown the door,
There are times even the military is not and will not hire you !
I ended up in the Gulf of Mexico as an essential worker, Oilfield offshore production.
OCSG. Outer Continental Shelf Government

 

Never went into the service. Did not like the idea of having someone yelling in my face and being told what to do all the time. Maybe I watched to many military movies as a kid. Did go to school for electronics and worked on ELINT and COMINT systems for 20 years. So I figured I did my part without actually serving.

 

I can see none of you have ever been JackOlope hunting

 

JackOlopes weren't native to my AO ,, but we did some snipe hunting.

 

I need a

Can of Arc starter

Board/pipe stretcher

 

Was at a wedding reception once, Daryl Lee and his wife, and I and my girl were taking a walk down the road. We got to talking about pasturing feeders in timber. The subject of hogs eating windfall tree nuts came up. I don't remember who started it but Daryl Lee and I had those city girls convinced hogs would climb the trees to get to the nuts. What ever one guy said the other would back him up.

 

A Navy classic.....
"get me thirty feet of waterline!"