zagnut

I apologize for being rough. I don't mean it presonnaly by any means. Please fogive me.

Well, no shiat Growler. Thats what I meant. My big question is; "What do you think if the medal inflation"> Zag

I guess it's a little bit of both....

The prisoner abuse is terrible, and breaks the code of the Geneva Convention as well as the Law of Land Warfare. The 'terrorists' answered back with eye for an eye with Nick Berg's head, but going back to the prisoners, the soldiers claimed they never received and Geneva Convetion or LLW training; which is a crock because any Soldier, Sailor, Airman, and Marine gets that training in Basic. I got it twice, once when I was in the Army and later in the Marine Corps. So, as a vet, I find that excuse hard to belive. Later they say that they were ordered to do it by higher authorities. At first, it was direct superiors, then higher up the chain of command. A couple weeks ago, I saw CNN when SecDef Rumsfield was in the hotseat and the council was grilling him on 'how deep this really goes'. His answer "Much deeper". I don't hink that we'll ever really know until someone writes a book on it. I mean it took Dick Clark to get fired then he wrote his book; largely unbiased, just mostly facts. If the U.S. is going to fry the little guys that carried out their 'orders', then they need to fry those who issued them in the first place. Yet, this morning I found that Spc. Jeremy Sivits plead guilty to what he did, and the others a close to the same verdict. Wait a second, weren't people investigating who issued the order in the first place?? When all this came out, EVERYONE has been playing the blame game all the way to the SecDef. Either this does not make sense, or no one has found out the truth. Permission to pass the buck sir!

I read about the Marine officer Brian Chontosh on the USMC website. Big press release with a pic of him with his Navy Cross pinned on from the Commendant of the Marine Corps. I also learned that the driver and gunner in the same Humvee were each awarded the Silver Star. I think that it's outstanding that our fighting men are being recognized by the higherups for their bravery, whether in groups or as individuals. Yet, there is a bit of medal inflation and has been in the past that shouldn't go overlooked. (This has nothing to do with Brian Chontosh or the other Marines.) For example, cooks that get the Bronze Star for hauling hot chow to the guys on the lines, or recently, (totally true) the U.S. Army awarded a number of Bronze Star medals to civilian contractors for meeting their quotas; most of which have been rescinded. Recognition is one thing, but I wish that awards used for bravery in battle wouldn't be transformed into more of a 'pat on the back' so to speak. What do you guys think?

Wow, the memories came flooding back...

Col. Robert Morgan, commander of the famed Memphis Belle B-17 bomber that flew combat missions over Europe during World War II, died late Saturday of complications from a fall, his wife said. He was 85. It's a crying ass shame that the majority of our vets are passing at such a fast rate. I was lucky to have met Col. Morgan, and he was a very sweet man. We only got to talk for a couple minutes, and it wasn't about WW2 or air combat, but more like, "How have you been?", "Where are you from?". It made me feel good as a person. I didn't feel like I was speaking to an untouchable human that only exists in the history books. In the last 10 or so years, the vets that I've had the honor to speak to about their experience or just BS'ing have all been the exact same way. Beautiful people who have been thru alot, only to give up a new life for their children after the war. I think I'd be a little more selfish <_< . If anyone has an opportunity to talk with a veteran, please do so. Even if it just BS. They are some of the best people around to talk to. As for Col. Morgan, I'm sorry to his family for their loss and will remember them in my prayers. If anyone wants to read the story here's the link: http://go.fark.com/cgi/fark/go.pl?IDLink=9...ation-headlines

Right on Pilot, I feel the exact same way that you do. When kids were reading about Larry Bird and Mike Tyson, I was reading about Chuck Yeager and Francis Gabreski.

That looks beautiful! I'll surely be dissappointed if they don't a U.S. campaign this time round...

glad to hear that

My prayers go out to his family.

You guys will hate me for this, but I couldn't resist- http://www.ebaumsworld.com/bushshootout.html

...Lost another one to Biohaz!

Happens to me from time to time, but not recently.

Excellent! Thankyou sir! btw... CHAFF!!!

That was great! Anyone know if there's a version of that on the web with a little better quality tho? I want to send that to my Dad.

S!

I saw a modern day compendium on the RAF planes in the last 20 years or so on DC Wings. The Buc was right up there with the Tornado, yet I never really knew much about it.

That sounds good. I think I'd watch it. A few months ago, I rented this movie "Marines!", or something like that and was highly dissapointed. I still love Hearbreak Ridge and FMJ though. Everyone needs a Gunny like GySgt Highway. OOORAH

Wow, the last time I bought a BBoys CD was in 1993. I still listen to it tho!

Good for you bud, congrats!

WOW

(DOH!)

Gator, my bad...

Godspeed to you Firehawkordy. I know you will do you duty. Thankyou for your service. SEMPER FI!