Hi readers. Someone posted a sign telling us veterans thank you for your service in one of the places I go, and in the Dollar Tree they asked again if I’d like to contribute to help the dependents of US active service military. Fact is the romance and drama of thanking GIs for their service has been happening so long it’s probably okay to give it a break.
I got transferred once and hadn’t gotten paid yet, no money until payday. Red Cross loaned me the money to last until the end of the month or my pay records caught up. At loan-shark interest rates. I was getting paid $68 per month at that time.
Maybe if they paid the all volunteer military less money they would be able to take care of their dependents without begging by proxy at the cash registers of the stores in the US. Paying the bejesus out of them evidently hasn’t done the trick.
Seems to me it’s a sickness resulting from the supporting wars where you’re own kids aren’t being forced to go off to serve. The out-of-balance “let’s you and him fight” paid for with a “Thank you” and nobody in my family had anything to do with the war and I support it so long as they don’t. I’ll shower you with thankyous and give a buck down at the Dollar Tree for your kids.
All American Boy – Bobby Bare
Working for the Yankee Dollar
Hank Locklin, My Little Geisha Girl
Fraulein – Bobby Helms – 1957
Kitty Wells – I’ll Always Be Your Fraulein
COWBOY COPAS: “FILIPINO BABY”, 1945
Jean Shepard & Ferlin Husky – A Dear John Letter
Jean Shepard & Ferlin Husky – Forgive Me, John
Kenny Rogers & The First Edition – Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town
Ballad of the Green Berets – [HD] – – – SSGT Barry SADLER
Johnny Burnette…..God, Country, And My Baby
Merle Travis – Re-Enlistment Blues
Elvis Presley – G.I.Blues
I’m thinking of writing a CW song about GIs sitting around waiting rooms in VA hospitals wearing their VETERAN caps and wondering whether they made the secret lists.
Old Jules
So Far From Heaven 
You have a very good point. Thank you for serving and yet thank you for opening my eyes.
sk8ingforacure: Thanks for the point and thank you for your service doing whatever you’ve done in your life, whatever you are doing now, and whatever you do between now and when you quit doing anything. J
It’s the standard American paradox: Teach everyone to reverence and thank veterans while planning to treat them all as crazed killers waiting to explode.
Hi Ed: Problem is the reverence is on one pole and the crazed killers on the other of the same planet. A guy trained to operate a drone with an explosive warhead, or snipe people he can barely see off a ridge a mile away might actually do his job sometime during his tour of service. Maybe the term ‘crazed killer’ needs to contain some hair-trigger identifier explaining how different it is from the 8-5 duties performed as a military occupational specialty. I’m guessing some veterans have difficulty keeping that sorted out. J