Military Roll Call! Veterans, GTFIH!

[Strychnine]

@Strychnine
So, you are all in for the new legislation calling for $14 trillion in reparations for black Americans, in an effort to see the federal government atone for the practice of slavery and hundreds of years of racist policies that followed?
. What about American Indians? Will they be getting any reparations for their troubles?
. What about the Japanese Americans during WWII? Any reparations there?
. What about the Chinese who built the railroads of this country? Will they be getting reparations for the way they were treated?

Most black Americans don't really care for these stupid legislations, military bases changing their names, or Confederate monuments being brought down. Columbia University and other ivy league schools are now having graduation ceremonies based on race. Classes based on race. Library sections based on race. Is that where we are heading? Seems like segregation is now making a comeback. It is the direction many blacks (African Americans) want this country to go. We also had black slave holders prior to the American Civil War. Black slaves in America came from Africa. Who in Africa do you think was capturing those slaves? That is right, other blacks. So, how are reparations going to resolve this issue? This is all a very sad chapter in American history. Confederates were Americans first and foremost.

None of the black soldiers I served with had an issue with the name Ft. Benning, or Ft. Bragg. They were proud to be associated with both military installations. It is a proud tradition in the U.S. Army (was - no more). You would not know because you are U.S. Air Force.

From the Bing A.I. chat..

Native Americans...

"There have been some efforts to provide reparations to Native Americans. For example, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a federal law that requires federal agencies and museums that receive federal funds to return certain Native American cultural items to their lineal descendants or culturally affiliated tribes or organizations1.

However, reparations can vary for Native Americans and can range from having sovereignty to just being heard2. Some Native Americans believe that reparations should be primarily in the form of land and not money3. There is no one-size-fits-all policy of reparations for Indian tribes in the U.S. as there are 574 federally recognized tribes and they are all unique and individual2."

The interred Japanese of WWII

"Yes, Japanese Americans who had been wrongly interned by the United States government during World War II were granted reparations through the Civil Liberties Act of 19881. The act was sponsored by California Democratic congressman and former internee Norman Mineta, Wyoming Republican senator Alan K. 1. The legislation offered a formal apology and paid out $20,000 in compensation to each surviving victim2."

The Chinese railroad workers (keyword worker means they received MUCH lower wages and were not forced labor)

"I couldn’t find any information about reparations being given specifically to Chinese railroad workers. Chinese laborers made up a significant portion of the workforce that built railroads in the United States in the 1800s. They worked for wages but were not paid the same wages as white workers and worked longer hours1. There were about 20,000 such workers from 1863 to 1869 during the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad, the western part of the Transcontinental Railroad2."

As for the names of the bases, I believe (and the U.S. Government does also) that the names of traitors to the U.S.A. should never be placed above the heroes and values of the United States of America. How anyone else feels? I can't speak on that, but the U.S. Government and I happen to be in agreement on this issue.

You want your name celebrated? Don't be a traitor to the U.S.A.

 

[Sunnyvale TP]

So.. awkwardly changing subject...

Just picked up.a BiPAP today, any of you other old fucks dealing with sleep apnea?

Negative, but I work with CPAP and BiPAP machines in the hospital.

 

[Sunnyvale TP]

When it first hit me, I was stationed on Okinawa and I'd be nodding off in staff meetings, so I started chewing gum and popping it loudly to stay awake. I would be getting a solid 8 hours of sleep, but when I sat down in the meetings, it'd hit. I'd be getting a haircut and I'd wake up to the female barbers giggling because I would be snoring.
I thought nothing of it as me just being tired.

Fast forward to me being retired and my cousin would visit, and I'd be asleep as they were talking, and they'd nudge me awake. We'd go to church and they'd nudge me awake because I'd be out cold during the sermon.
I thought I was just getting old and tired...

I had to get surgery and it went well. In the recovery room the nurse came in and said, "I have to talk to you." I'm thinking "Ohhhh mannnn, here it comes... I've got X amount of time left..." They said, "Have you been checked for Sleep apnea? You were gasping for air while we were doing the surgery."

I took their advice and went to a sleep lab. Sure enough, I had it... BAD. I forget how many times they recorded my breathing stopping while asleep but it was a LOT. I got my machine through the VA, and it's been a total 180. No more nodding off in church, conversations, watching a movie, etc.

Before it was like moving around in a fog, but now?

I could go grizzly hunting with a switch.

Sorry for the long post, but I'll be singing the praises of cpap/bipap from the rooftops.

I made a thread about it some years back and a person in there said "I don't use it because the Canadian government can track your usage." I told them "It's so your doc can get the info and adjust the therapy when you go into see them when you have follow-up appointments."

They said "Nope, I don't wanna be tracked." I literally shook my head and told them I'd pray they wouldn't go to sleep behind the wheel someday."

Because that $hit is REAL.

I bet about 50% of my patients have some form of OSA. It's common and untreated in lots of people.

 

[Dan O]

Memorial Day Weekend Murph with other Acitve Duty, Vets and family and friends in Virginia Beach. 52 Mins , 6 mins slower than what I'm used to but I'll take it considering I'm a bit beat up this year .

Nice man! I’ve always felt anything under an hour was a job well done.

I actually didn’t do it for the first time until this year. I was in crossfit for a decade, even owned a gym, and they only ever pissed me off with that fake hoorah bullshit. So I didn’t out of good ol fuck you.

I’m pretty out of shape nowadays. 61:30. Straight thru, strict pull ups, no vest. Haven’t been doing much conditioning in recent months, felt those miles big time.

 

[Dan O]

Speaking of health hazards in barracks….

They were removing some kind of insulation from ours in Oki. They had a vapor barrier midway through the building but we literally lived there through the process. The Japanese workers all wore full suits the whole time. We were told it was totally safe, no chance of asbestos or anything….. I’ve always just assumed it put something in us.

Also, the fuckin marines just could not stop raping people while we were there. Every other weekend it was liberty lockdown.

 

[My Spot]

Speaking of health hazards in barracks….

They were removing some kind of insulation from ours in Oki. They had a vapor barrier midway through the building but we literally lived there through the process. The Japanese workers all wore full suits the whole time. We were told it was totally safe, no chance of asbestos or anything….. I’ve always just assumed it put something in us.

Also, the fuckin marines just could not stop raping people while we were there. Every other weekend it was liberty lockdown.

A/C went out every summer at Lejeune (obviously this causes mold). 1stSgt tells us to suck it up because it's good training for Iraq. People (me included) get window A/C units and are then threatened with NJP. Leadership bitches about retention. The circle of life.

 

[Dan O]

A/C went out every summer at Lejeune (obviously this causes mold). 1stSgt tells us to suck it up because it's good training for Iraq. People (me included) get window A/C units and are then threatened with NJP. Leadership bitches about retention. The circle of life.

That’s fucking standard issue right there.

 

[San Marino]

You want your name celebrated? Don't be a traitor to the U.S.A.

Confederate officers were not traitors to the United States. Were American colonists' traitors to the British crown? They had a difference of opinion from the North (Union) and fought to defend that opinion. Frankly, I don't see it as a slave issue, but as a Federal vs State issue. This at a time when slavery was popular in other parts of the world.

"There have been some efforts to provide reparations to Native Americans.

Not really, they are still secondhand citizens.

As for the names of the bases, I believe (and the U.S. Government does also) that the names of traitors to the U.S.A. should never be placed above the heroes and values of the United States of America. How anyone else feels? I can't speak on that, but the U.S. Government and I happen to be in agreement on this issue.

So, why were the names given to those bases to start with? Why were Confederate monuments erected? Why now, after some 150 years, are things changing? Everything seemed fine 10 years ago.

 

[Strychnine]

Confederate officers were not traitors to the United States. Were American colonists' traitors to the British crown? They had a difference of opinion from the North (Union) and fought to defend that opinion. Frankly, I don't see it as a slave issue, but as a Federal vs State issue. This at a time when slavery was popular in other parts of the world.

Not really, they are still secondhand citizens.

So, why were the names given to those bases to start with? Why were Confederate monuments erected? Why now, after some 150 years, are things changing? Everything seemed fine 10 years ago.

Confederates fought to defeat and overcome the USA. I call that traitorous, but we can agree to disagree.

True, but your question was about reparations being made, not social status.

Those names were given to those bases because...

". The bases were originally named as part of a movement to glorify the Confederacy and advance the Lost Cause myth that the Civil War was fought over “states’ rights” and not slavery 2. As a way to appease racist white political leaders and locals who didn’t want a more integrated military nearby, the Army named bases after Confederate “heroes” who were popular among these leaders and locals 3."

Things are changing because society is moving forward.

That's a good thing.

 

[San Marino]

Confederates fought to defeat and overcome the USA. I call that traitorous,

Up to that point, states had a constitutional right to secede from the Union. They wanted to form their own country. The Confederacy was not trying to take over the Union or the North. The Union, on the other hand, was trying to keep states from seceding. A truly amazing time in US history. Great leaders, great battles, and the most loss of life of any US war up to date. Brother fighting brother. 50,000 casualties in one (1) battle. That was the result at the end of the Vietnam war. 1 battle (1863) = 1 war (1975). 620,000 dead in just 4 years of war.

 

[Strychnine]

Up to that point, states had a constitutional right to secede from the Union. They wanted to form their own country. The Confederacy was not trying to take over the Union or the North. The Union, on the other hand, was trying to keep states from seceding. A truly amazing time in US history. Great leaders, great battles, and the most loss of life of any US war up to date. Brother fighting brother. 50,000 casualties in one (1) battle. That was the result at the end of the Vietnam war. 1 battle (1863) = 1 war (1975). 620,000 dead in just 4 years of war.

Truly horrific.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Up to that point, states had a constitutional right to secede from the Union. They wanted to form their own country. The Confederacy was not trying to take over the Union or the North. The Union, on the other hand, was trying to keep states from seceding.

The constitution wasn’t clear on succession before, during or right after the civil war. It wasn’t until the Supreme Court in 1869 ruled that it was against the constitution.
For this issue it’s pretty linear to me:
Abe was elected President
Southern states shit their pants
They came at the King
They missed
Losers shouldn’t get anything even if it’s some names to US Army bases.

As far as the American Revolution is concerned we didn’t have a constitution back when we went to war. We had the Declaration of Independence which was a declaration of war, so there really was no law on succession.

 

[the ambush]

 

[crabmeat]

Speaking of health hazards in barracks….

They were removing some kind of insulation from ours in Oki. They had a vapor barrier midway through the building but we literally lived there through the process. The Japanese workers all wore full suits the whole time. We were told it was totally safe, no chance of asbestos or anything….. I’ve always just assumed it put something in us.

Also, the fuckin marines just could not stop raping people while we were there. Every other weekend it was liberty lockdown.

That happened when I was at Ft. Sill during ABC. Contractors were wearing space suits and tearing out insulation in the barracks.

 

[Darkballs]

Were American colonists' traitors to the British crown?

Yes. They admitted as much in the Declaration of Independence. Then they went on to explain why they didn't give a fuck and were going to form their own nation anyway.

 

[San Marino]

Yes. They admitted as much in the Declaration of Independence. Then they went on to explain why they didn't give a fuck and were going to form their own nation anyway.

Exactly. That is what the South and the Confederacy did. It is okay for one group to do it but not the other?

 

[Darkballs]

Exactly. That is what the South and the Confederacy did. It is okay for one group to do it but not the other?

No one I know would be stupid enough to ask that question without context. They would instead ask: Were the REASONS for the two sides turning traitor the same? And the answer to that would be a resounding "No."

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Exactly. That is what the South and the Confederacy did. It is okay for one group to do it but not the other?

If you win then it’s alright to do. If you lost then it wasn’t alright to do.

 

[Dan O]

If you win then it’s alright to do. If you lost then it wasn’t alright to do.

“It says right here in this history book that the good guys have won every time. Gee, what are the odds?” -late great Norm MacDonald

 

[San Marino]

No one I know would be stupid enough to ask that question without context. They would instead ask: Were the REASONS for the two sides turning traitor the same? And the answer to that would be a resounding "No."

Context? The reasons were not the same? How were they not the same? Both sides protesting were not happy about something. They were both willing to go to war over it. Your rights stops where my begin. Was the federal government involving itself in state rights? Why would the North not let the South secede from the Union? George Washington was a slave holder. Is he a traitor to the US? Should he be removed from the $1 bills and Mount Rushmore? Should anything named after George Washington be renamed?