Iraq veteran throws his medals and quits the Marines.

[mike8170]

Leg!

BTW, I love the poster, because I do miss it. I wasn't diagnosed with PTSD until I pretty much had a breakdown 6 mos after I left the service, which I think was my support network. If doing what this Marine did makes him feel better, more power to him. I just decided to use some of the Va benefits I earned to go to college, which helps keep my mind occupied (along with my eyes).

 

[steveh_131]

It wasn't mocking. There's not a service member I've ever met who wouldn't "get" that poster.

I understand what you're saying.

However, I also hope you can read back and understand the spirit of the discussion when it was posted. Maybe I'm wrong, but from my perspective it was clearly intended to mock the veteran who is the subject of this thread. There was nothing else mentioned that it would have been relevant to.

ETA: It came shortly after this post:

HE VOLUNTEERED!~
What did he expect from the Corps? To go to prom with the enemy?
If ya can't mentally hack it, join the peace corps!
Hard men are called to do hard ****!

HTFU or STFU!

Semper Fi!

So I don't know how else to take it except as further mocking.

 

[adam]

Love it!

I miss being overseas at least 5 times a week. Life was just easier I guess, only had to worry about dying instead of bills, work, significant other, etc...

I listened to the video (on another tab shopping for AR parts) and he sounded like a total idiot when he talked about his confirmed kills. The biggest cowards deliberately kill innocent civilians. I understand that it's not always clear in a firefight but a dude on his bike? Seriously? No amount of stress would drive a good service-member to do that, and if someone is close his buddies need to recognize that and move it up the chain.

His tattoo is stupid as well.

 

[Juggernaut]

I can assure you Mr.131 that the poster was not directed at the [STRIKE]Marine[/STRIKE] in the video...

 

[steveh_131]

So this

If ya can't mentally hack it, join the peace corps!

wasn't either? Or just the poster?

 

[Juggernaut]

So this



wasn't either? Or just the poster?

I would heed that warning to anyone under arms professionally.

ya don't see people with the worst cases of PTSD renounce their branch of service.. ya know why? they knew what they were getting into..

Odds are, if you serve in the USMC during a TIME OF CONFLICT, you will be in harms way if you are deployable.. no matter if you are a cook or a corpsman..

Maybe his recruiter, Drill instructor or squad leader forgot to pass that tidbit of info along to the kid in the video..

ETA: Lastly, Mr.131... Why don't you stop the microanalyses my post looking for some unseen flaw and just be accountable for your own words. Typical troll... if ya throw enough turds, maybe one might stick!

 

[flatlander]

Combat will **** you up.

Too many emotional problems and not enough counseling.

Not everyone is emotionally equipped to handle the rigors of seeing their friends blown to bits and being required to kill people.

Exactly. If we send them we should be ready to care for them. People handle stress differently. Some drink themselves into a hole in the ground.
There ARE choices. If you know somebody who is suffering, get them some help.

Bob

 

[jeremy]

That is one of the most ignorant posters I have ever seen.

You first say this of the poster....

Oh, wait. I think I get it. Your friend was medicated because he 'got home and realized he would never be that awesome again'. It all makes sense now.

Then you say this about the poster...

Just my .02 on this post of yours. Be glad you did not say this to some of us to in Reality...

I understand what you're saying.

However, I also hope you can read back and understand the spirit of the discussion when it was posted. Maybe I'm wrong, but from my perspective it was clearly intended to mock the veteran who is the subject of this thread. There was nothing else mentioned that it would have been relevant to.

Then you recant yourself on the Poster with this.

I am confused on your position...

 

[1911 DeadHead]

I wish I understood the poster. I wasn't there. The only thing I get from it is "I've been given the power to kill without, therefore I am awesome, and now that I am back home, that power is gone." Either way it's sounds like some pretty hardcore shiz if you look at it good or bad.

 

[Whitsettd8]

First and foremost I don't condone or support this guy. I have no military experience so cannot comment on its affects. But I did get one thing out of this video. The marine basically states he killed 2 men in cold blood. These are supposed to be the civilians were helping. If any foreign force shot my neighbor my brother or any other innocent god help me I would do everything in my power to get them out of my country. We will never win the war on terror because we create as many terrorist as we destroy. This isn't occupied France there not pleading for our help. Bring our troops home and fight the real terrorist on wall street and in government.

 

[Garb]

LTC Grossman should stick with writing Fiction.

I've seen a few people voice this sentiment, but I can never figure out if it's sarcastic or not... Care to elaborate?

 

[Dave Doehrman]

Not everyone was drafted. Surely you are aware of this.



That is one of the most ignorant posters I have ever seen.

Sorry, but that is one of the truest posters you will ever find. Until you engage in close quarters combat, call in artillery within 50 meters of your position or have F4 Phantom jets dropping napalm and bombs all around you, you wouldn't understand what the poster says. I was 20 years old in Vietnam and I was a king. We made life and death decisions, controlled bombers and artillery batteries and got higher from the combat experience than any drugs can provide.

The PTSD sets in when you get home and are called a baby killer, rapist or druggie, just for serving your country.

 

[adam]

I wish I understood the poster. I wasn't there. The only thing I get from it is "I've been given the power to kill without, therefore I am awesome, and now that I am back home, that power is gone." Either way it's sounds like some pretty hardcore shiz if you look at it good or bad.

You can't (well, shouldn't) go on an all night foot patrol through downtown wherever, or roll around in tanks, humvees, MRAPs, while strapped with enough firepower to bring down a few city blocks. It's just cool, and very hard to explain.

Not so much a power thing, just more of an experience to me. I work from home now, not nearly as cool as what I did when I was deployed.

The marine basically states he killed 2 men in cold blood. These are supposed to be the civilians were helping. If any foreign force shot my neighbor my brother or any other innocent god help me I would do everything in my power to get them out of my country. We will never win the war on terror because we create as many terrorist as we destroy.

IMO he had some issues long before getting there. For him, it probably was a huge power trip. That dumb tattoo is a clear indication that he and others weren't prepared for their mission in a way they should have been.

Current EOF policies really handcuff our Soldiers from defending themselves but it is in place to avoid what you laid out. They are trying to be as non-invasive as possible while still completing our mission goals.

 

[steveh_131]

You first say this of the poster....

Then you say this about the poster...

Just my .02 on this post of yours. Be glad you did not say this to some of us to in Reality...

What is so confusing about this? I found the poster offensive, so I placed its caption into a context that would allow him to understand why it might be offensive to someone who has been affected by PTSD and doesn't think it is a joking matter.

Apparently it's an inside joke that I just don't get, which is fine. Kind of weird to post it randomly on a gun forum if you don't mean for it to apply to the topic at hand, but ok.

Only the most dense would think for a moment that I was actually intending to mock a service member with PTSD when my purpose from the start was to demand respect for them.

Then you recant yourself on the Poster with this.

I am confused on your position...

Dross explained to me the point of the poster to those who are a member of 'the club', which I absorbed and acknowledged.

None of this is really that complex.

 

[hornadylnl]

What is so confusing about this? I found the poster offensive, so I placed its caption into a context that would allow him to understand why it might be offensive to someone who has been affected by PTSD and doesn't think it is a joking matter.

Apparently it's an inside joke that I just don't get, which is fine. Kind of weird to post it randomly on a gun forum if you don't mean for it to apply to the topic at hand, but ok.

Only the most dense would think for a moment that I was actually intending to mock a service member with PTSD when my purpose from the start was to demand respect for them.



Dross explained to me the point of the poster to those who are a member of 'the club', which I absorbed and acknowledged.

None of this is really that complex.

It's the same principle as two members of the same ethnic group can call each other (insert slur) but those outside of that ethnic group can't.

 

[steveh_131]

It's the same principle as two members of the same ethnic group can call each other (insert slur) but those outside of that ethnic group can't.

Yeah, that's clear now. It's almost comical. He put up the poster, I used its own caption in a sentence to demonstrate why I found it offensive, and the only reaction I get from a few of these guys is 'WHY DON'T YOU SAY THAT TO MY FACE WEENIE'

I'm glad most veterans I've met don't act at all like these people.

 

[LPMan59]

It's the same principle as two members of the same ethnic group can call each other (insert slur) but those outside of that ethnic group can't.

so then it's an exercise in self-perpetuating stupidity?

 

[ATOMonkey]

I won't say "a lot," but definitely some combat vets find it hard to re-join civilian life, because it's all so trite and boring and FRUSTRATING to them. When people ***** about their parking spot like it's the end of the world, to a guy who was ducking mortars 2 months ago, it doesn't go over real well.

Can't say I disagree.

 

[hornadylnl]

I won't say "a lot," but definitely some combat vets find it hard to re-join civilian life, because it's all so trite and boring and FRUSTRATING to them. When people ***** about their parking spot like it's the end of the world, to a guy who was ducking mortars 2 months ago, it doesn't go over real well.

Can't say I disagree.

It's amazing how many non combat vets can't hack it in the civilian world. There's nobody to dictate every aspect of their lives on the civilian side. I was surprised to see how many prior service guys there were when I was in. They did their first enlistment and got out becasue they hated it. Once in the civilian world, they decided they liked the ordered life better and came back in. These were the most gung ho military guys I was around.

I thought I must be living Shawshank Redemption when I was getting out. I must of heard from my NCOIC a thousand times that I coudn't make it in the civilian world. What was going to happen if my wife got in an accident and we didn't have Uncle Sugar's insurance, blah, blah, blah. There's nothing I miss about the military other than getting to see some of the places I did.

 

[Juggernaut]

Yeah, that's clear now. It's almost comical. He put up the poster, I used its own caption in a sentence to demonstrate why I found it offensive, and the only reaction I get from a few of these guys is 'WHY DON'T YOU SAY THAT TO MY FACE WEENIE'

I'm glad most veterans I've met don't act at all like these people.

You would not have gotten that reaction if you did not change the context making it insulting to my fallen brother, no?? your aim was to intentionally **** me off... guess what?

ETA:

Oh, wait. I think I get it. Your friend was medicated because he 'got home and realized he would never be that awesome again'. It all makes sense now.

you play *, you get *!

Again, you can not take accountability for your own words...
Funny how your position changes from post to post...