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Trial Counselor = Infantry Soldier, I don't think so!

Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by North Carolina Tentmaker, Oct 2, 2008.

  1. North Carolina Tentmaker

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    I was reading Mike Allen's headlines on Politico this morning:

    http://dyn.politico.com/printplaybook.cfm?uuid=BD9DB9E0-18FE-70B2-A810E6C8C18F37F6

    Two of his headlines just rubbed me wrong today. From the link:
    I have nothing against the Delaware Attorney General and I am glad Beau Biden is doing his duty and serving his country, but how is a trial counselor in a signal brigade equal to an infantryman? To put these two soldiers together and equate their service just really irritates me.

    I know I posted about this before, but it still bugs me.

    And I hate it that I can't edit the thread title to fix Trail to Trial. Just not my day I guess.
     
  2. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    Iraq is still a dangerous plaqce for all military personnel.

    As for how dangerous to different military occupations...

    On a scale of 1 to 10, a "trial counselor" would be a 1. An infantryman would be a 10.

    The dangers are not even close to equal.
     
  3. go2church

    go2church Active Member
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    Service is service as far as I'm concerned. It is honorable regardless of the job they give you.
     
  4. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    I haven't seen anyone here argue differently.

    I do remember how liberals tried to characterize Bush's service in the Air National Guard as "draft dodging" while praising the service of the treasonous Kerry.

    I'm glad you agree that both should have been praised equally for their actual service.:thumbs:
     
  5. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    How about the men of AFRTS - the Americian Radio and Television Service.

    Check out this link

    Her is one paragraph:

    AFRTS in Vietnam
    " In Vietnam AFRTS, however, had a number of war related casualties. When an Air Force jet fighter crashed into the AFVN station in Udorn, Thailand nine AFRS people were killed. Moreover, the station staff at Denang had been captured and spent time as North Vietnamese prisoners.
     
  6. JustChristian

    JustChristian New Member

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    So you putting down all those soldiers who had desk jobs in Viet Nam behind the lines as not really having served their country?
     
  7. Bro. Curtis

    Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>
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    Carpro, you actually served in Vietnam, didn't you ? If I am wrong, forgive me. But if I am right, then I probably feel just like you do.
     
  8. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    The way your mind works, to loosely use the term, is sometimes frighteningly...

    well...

    mindless.:tonofbricks:
     
  9. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    Yes.

    There is no job in any war zone that is any more dangerous than that of a combat infantryman.

    That in no way belittles the contribution of other military occupations.

    It's simply a statement of fact.
     
  10. Bro. Curtis

    Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>
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    We had to sail out of the Persian Gulf to refuel, as it was kind of a tense time in the early '80s, so the tankers would wait in the friendly waters of the Indian Ocean, and we would sail back. We took all the risks, being on the front line, and the tankers could turn around and have hundreds of miles of a head start in gettin' outta there.


    But they got the same ribbons & medals we did. I'm not against it, just that's the way it is, in the service.

    And if you think our job was scary, the USMC in Lebanon had our shells going right over their heads, while we enjoyed a ten mile buffer of water, and we got the same medals they did. I feel humbled, and kind of undeserving, but that's the way it is.
     
  11. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    Yes, and a Purple Heart is the same for a scratch as it is for mortal wounds. That's just the way it works.

    However the Army has it's Combat Infantry Badge and the Marines (at least when I served) had the Combat Action Ribbon. To get either, one actually has to be in combat.

    A sailor or airman might not recognize either one, but any Marine knows what a CAR looks like and how you get one. The same for the Army and it's CIB.

    They know who does the dirty work.
     
  12. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    Both of these men are heroes, in my mind.
     
  13. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    "Heroes" is a stretch, but they are both to be commended for their willingness to serve.
     
  14. North Carolina Tentmaker

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    They are both honorable men and both are to be commended for their service. What galls me is that the media wants to take their service and say it is equal, its not.
     
  15. go2church

    go2church Active Member
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    What a bunch of partisan hacks! Maybe you got to be an infantry man because you were not smart enough to sit behind a desk.


    How does it feel to have have your service belittled...service is service period. It all deserves our respect and sincere appreciation and yes they are all hero's. Fighter pilots don't fly without fuel, soldiers don't march without food and water.

    Some are an eye, some are an ear...sound familiar?
     
  16. Dragoon68

    Dragoon68 Active Member

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    That's a very cheap shot and not at all truthful!
     
  17. Dragoon68

    Dragoon68 Active Member

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    Men and women of all services, all branches, and all specialists serve honorably by doing the jobs - all jobs - as they are given them. It's a team and success depends upon all the team.

    The infantry is the job with the highest probability of direct contact with the enemy and of being killed or wounded. The job is to find, fix, and kill or capture the enemy. It's only logical that brings with it a higher risk than others more disconnected from such contact. Infantry deserves every bit of the special recognition and respect it gets.

    Many other jobs - all of them actually with some more than others - can also put you in the exact same spot albiet not with same probability. Combat is combat whether you are in the infantry or not. Great thinigs have been accomplished by those fighting as infantry when needed. All warriors should be infantry in heart and ready for that fight.

    Heroes are the men and women do something extraordinary - often resulting in being killed or wounded - beyond the norm. Doing your job - including that of an infantryman - doesn't automatically make you a hero. It does merit respect. Heroes come from all kinds of specialties - because most of them didn't expect to be doing what they did.

    Read the citiations for the medal of honor, the distinguished service cross, and even lessor awards to put it all in perspective.
     
  18. Don

    Don Well-Known Member
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    I don't think anyone here is belittling anyone else's job.

    I had the opportunity to discuss with an Army major his job, while he was stationed at Camp Victory, Baghdad International Airport, Iraq. His primary duty was as a Blackhawk pilot; however, his job on Camp Victory was to oversee the "beds and beans." In his words, he never expected to find himself in a position where his main responsibility was to ensure a proper count of how many people were eating in the dining facility.

    YET, the one thing he didn't mention, was the primary difference between the infantryman on Camp Victory and the 8-12 support personnel who didn't go outside the wire. You see, an infantryman has a unique advantage over the support personnel: by going outside the wire, they actually get to engage and capture, or if necessary, kill, the enemy. The 8-12 support personnel for each infantryman are at a disadvantage: when the mortars and rockets come flying in, they each have the same chance of being killed as the infantryman ... but they have no opportunity to shoot back. They have to sit and wait for death to find them, feeling impotent because of how much they want to fight back, but have no target.

    There was an Air Force major who was killed back in April. He was on a treadmill at the time. Ten days before he was supposed to go home, he had gone to the gym. Mortar came in, hit the roof, and he was killed. Back during the early days of IRAQI FREEDOM, there was a mortar strike on a dining facility; a couple dozen servicemen and women were killed or injured. Not all of them were ones who went outside the wire.

    We Air Force guys like to joke about how we're the smartest service because we're the only service that sends its officers to the front lines; but we have the same complaints about how the pilots view themselves as more important than anyone else in our service, when the truth is: Without that E-3 maintenance guy making sure the plane can fly, or the E-2 security guy making sure the enemy isn't sabotaging the plane, the pilot ain't going nowhere.

    Each of you who had/have a support role, remember that you're not "impotent," and unable to shoot back; you're the ones aiming and firing the few who do get to go outside the wire. It's a team effort.
     
  19. Bro. Curtis

    Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>
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    What a stupid thing to say.

    In the Navy, if yer real smart, like I am, they put you up in a radar controlled gun mount. Or they have you repairing the missile launchers.
     
    #19 Bro. Curtis, Oct 2, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2008
  20. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    I'm smart, too.:thumbs:

    However the Marines needed grunts...

    so I became a real smart infantryman. :BangHead:
     
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