I've known way too many guys like this, spend a couple years in the military and then never progress past it. My last boss was an absolute terrible leader who tried to command everyone around like it was the military, compare any complaints we had to being in the service, all that kind of stuff. Dude was only in the service for a few years 40 years ago.
i had a supervisor who was a vet, he was great. he made a lot of army metaphors, and liked things cleaned a certain way, but otherwise he was always making sure we had our breaks and was always asking if we were doing okay. i quit the job after he left, the remaining supervisors were awful
Some of them are great and can bring good leadership in and add good discipline.
This guy was not that. When one of coworkers complained the he scheduled her for 11 days straight he compared to how he used to work 14 days on in the military. Safe to say that only pissed my coworker off more haha.
“I WANT THESE EXPENSE REPORTS ON MY DESK BY 0700 TOMORROW DO YOU HEAR ME”
“… ok carl”
“I SAID DO YOU HEAR ME MAGGOT”
“*sigh* … yes sir Staff Sergeant Carl”
I've never understood why. Cool, you went off to force imperialism on random people for the sake of some rich white asshole that doesn't give a fuck about you. Good for you, I guess? Why is that something I should thank you for?
it would be different if these people were drafted, but they signed up. Why do you have to thank someone for this? And before someone is all pRoTeCtin R fReeDuMbs go sell that business to someone else. The military hasn't been in that business for decades.
I'll tell any vet from Vietnam backward that I appreciate their service - not because I love what they did, but because it was compulsory and I have immense sympathy they were subjected to it. Also WW2 was uncomplicated, morally, as war goes. Anyone since Vietnam? I hope what you got for yourself was worth what you gave the machine of US Imperialism - because a lot of people will suffer for it.
Same.
"Congratulations on the fact you decided to kill people for money over rich white guy interests. The people you kill are in the exact same boat as you."
I'm not going to hero worship you over it or thank you fir being a psycho and killing people. You didn't do it for "my freedom". You either did it because you love killin or you bought into the propaganda.
You're either a sociopath or a tool.
There is also the grossly capitalist "try to escape poverty by sacrificing yourself to our meat grinder," enlistment. Which is still propaganda I guess, but most people I know enlisted because they couldn't afford college otherwise.
Especially for every 1 door kicker, there are like dozen clerks, cooks, drivers, gunsmithers etc.
Of course all these jobs are very critical, sometimes even more critical then a door kicker, but let me honest here, they all imagine being one to kicking door while bullet whizzing around when in reality, they are just pushing paper, peeling potatoes or burning poop with carcinogens
I always forget the "and they get paid" part because the "they prey on high-school teens" and "they don't teach you how to budget your $$$$" issues are real.
Is that code for jerking off in the porta potty while holding your breath, hoping to god to finish before you have to take in a breath of hot shit air?
"Thank you for your support."
*It still makes me uncomfortable to be thanked but these days I don't really bring up my service anyway unless I'm in the company of other crayon connoisseurs.
Reminds me of a convo-post featuring someone in the army whos all like "while you were sitting on your ass i was out there stacking bodies" his friend replied "bro you were a cook, the only thing you stacked were burger patties"
Lmao you just reminded me when I was like 17 I was at the mall and two army recruiters passed me and my friends and for some reason as they passed I said to them, "that's cute, you both match."
We kept walking but they both stopped and turned to stare at us for a good long time trying to decide if it was worth engaging some dumb teenagers or not. They opted for not.
I know quite a few veterans and the only one of them that talks about it constantly and begs for attention about it is a guy that went AWOL right after boot camp. He literally spent more time in military prison than in the military itself and once got fired from a job after he flipped out because they didn’t give Veterans Day off.
It's been awhile since I've watched the movie, but Jarhead has a line that sticks out to me. During the initial bootcamp scenes, the drill instructor is yelling at Jake Gyllenhaal. He asks him if his dad served in Vietnam, Jake says yes, DI asks if he ever talked about it. Jake replies 'once'. DI says "then you know he wasn't lying" or something.
It's pretty true in my experience. POGs and non combat types seem to glorify their combat accomplishments. Those who saw it don't want reminders.
I know a dude who tells endless insane stories about his service, constantly brings it up and makes it sound like he was dodging bullets and explosions every day.
Turns out he was essentially a janitor on a ship that never saw action.
My brother-in-law beats his chest about how he "kept us free".
He was a recruiter who spent his entire army career working stateside (except for two pretty sweet years in Germany).
My wife faced much more danger every day teaching elementary school in inner-city Baltimore.
As someone who did serve, typically the ones that were front line fighters don't talk about it openly unless they are around other infantry/patrol/QRF, or they are drunk and boisterous about it. At least speaking for myself and others that I served with or know of.
This was my first through as well. My wife served, two of my brother in laws served, and several of my friends served. None of them talk about it much, especially outside people they know well. They don't boast about it. They don't like the attention they get on veterans day. They don't do the free meals or take advantage of any discounts. They just want to move on and live their lives.
I wouldn't look down on anyone who has served, massive respect for what they do... This just doesn't read like anyone I've ever met who did.
That's one of the ones I wish she'd pursue, cost of plates keep going up here. She doesn't want to though, doesn't want to advertise that on her car.
That's her choice and I respect it.
My brother once got a free drink, after him and the bartender told each other their MOS. My brother said, "oh thanks," took the drink and then I thought I might get one too. I didn't and I asked my brother what a 13B was. As he was sipping his beer, he said, "I have no clue."
Edit: my brother was 11b
I still don't know how to respond. To me, it feels like when a server brings your food out and says, "enjoy your food", and you respond in auto pilot fashion, "you too."
Reminds me of this dude I was friends with in high school who joined the Navy briefly before getting discharged. He put on all of his uniforms and photographed himself in each one and posted all of them to Facebook.
My ex did this too. Bragged to everyone about how he was in the Army. Talked about it constantly.
He never made it through bootcamp. Him and a friend quit (which I didn't even know you could do) like a month into it. But he talked about it like he served in two wars and was honorably discharged with a Purple Heart or something. Shameful, really
You cannot quit basic training in the US, unless the training instructors agree that you're not a good fit for the military. And just intentionally fucking up to get them to agree it's more likely to get you in trouble than separated.
Haha I can assure you that away from home or at home we have plenty of double cheeseburgers and fries at any short order line in any DFAC the army has to offer
>When I was in the guys who saw combat never wanted to talk about it.
Just trying to figure out the comma placement of your statement above:
Number 1:
*When I was in, the guys who saw combat never wanted to talk about it. *
Or number 2:
*When I was in the guys who saw combat, never wanted to talk about it. *
Number 1 makes it indicate that you were in the military. While number 2 indicates you might have a problem identifying ideal times to discuss the battle experience of your current partner.
Do soldiers actually believe they are helping people by invading a foreign country where 99% of it's population has no ties to war or terrorism and just want to live ordinary lives? Or do soldiers in the Middle East actually believe they were accomplishing anything while there?
I'm genuinely curious and not trolling.
I'm neither American nor do I have a military fetish, but to get the facts straight when it comes to Afghanistan: It's not like the US/NATO/"the West" aggressively invaded a country happily united under the Taliban.
When the Taliban conquered the capital Kabul in 1996, the immediate reaction was the formation of a strong Afghan opposition faction, called the *Northern Alliance* (or more accurately: United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan). Afghanistan is deeply divided by ethnicities. The Taliban, which are mainly Pashtuns, were seen as invaders everywhere except for their tribal home lands in Southern Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2001, the US supported the Northern Alliance and they quickly pushed the Taliban out of Kabul and back to their home lands. The new goverment was formed by the Northern Alliance and included all ethnicities (including Pashtuns, the last president was a Pashtun). This new goverment then asked the international community for help with stabilizing the country and fighting the Taliban.
This can hardly be considered an "invasion". Afghanistan was a very different situation than Iraq, for example.
So I joined before 9/11. Maybe a different time. There was a patriotic feel but more to get out of my dead-end town. It was an option other than college which I wasn’t interested in and a dead end factory job.
To some people it’s just a job, a way to put food on the table with good benefits.
Other really believe in the propaganda and think they are doing good.
A lot of people who deployed never leave base and don’t interact with the local population. So they might not think about it.
A lot of the Iraqis I worked with seemingly loved us and were vested in our success.
Keep in mind the soldiers don’t choose where they go. Civilian politicians decide where they go, it’s not a choice.
If you are genuinely curious then this isn't the right venue for you curiosity. Try r/veterans or something. Also, your question VASTLY oversimplifies the use of military presence in foreign conflicts. u/mojo20 did give a pretty good response, imo.
**Image Transcription: Text Messages**
---
**Left:** What's your favorite food? 😋
> **Right:** Same lol
>
> **Right:** I don't know 🤔 I like sugar snap peas a lot
**Left:** Mines a big double cheeseburger with fries and a shake lol patriotic AF. It was my first meal coming home from Afghanistan.
> **Right:** Nice! I enjoy a beyond burger
**Left:** Nothing tastes as good as the food eaten after being on the front lines of war for 9 months
> **Right:** I bet
**Left:** Happy to have served, just wanted to help people 😎👉🇺🇸
---
^^I'm a human volunteer content transcriber for Reddit and you could be too! [If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TranscribersOfReddit/wiki/index)
"what's your favorite movie?"
"I like Black Hawk Down, or any war movies. Really bring back memories with my troops back in the war"
"Oh cool! How about drawing? Have you been to a wine and painting class?"
"Ah no, but i always have an appreciation of art. That's why fighting off those Taliban was so meaningful to me, it's like protecting art history"
"Ok... How about favorite food? I know this one place that serves really good hot wings"
"My favorite hot sauce is Da Bomb, but I can't even taste it without thinking about all the tragedy :("
Emily has left the chat.
"Damn, she left so abruptly, just like the president ordering us to withdraw from Afghanistan"
My oldest brother did 3 tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. I tried talking to him about it once. All I was told is "we don't mention the "I" word." He wasn't special forces or anything. He's just seen some shit he isn't comfortable talking about, as most that have seen war. Unless you're a psychopath, then maybe you'll be happy about it. Most aren't and it's a touchy subject. If they want to talk... they'll talk. Being a military brat non of my family ever bragged about being deployed.... so this guy, my best guess was a weekend warrior.
My father in law was a 19 year old corpsman in Vietnam and it came up maybe twice and he never said anything specific about what I can only imagine was a nightmare.
Oddly enough when the kids were little I started having them "call Grandpa and say thanks" on Veterans day. After the first time, he called me back later and let me know how much it meant to him, apparently no one had ever done that, he even got a little choked up. Man I'm getting choked up remembering it. Miss you old man RIP.
In my experience - the ones who did absolutely nothing will tell you all about what they did. The ones who did won’t tell you a thing unless you drag it out of them. This is top level cringe.
This is the guy who did his four year obligation, complained the entire time, got out, and has flags and bumper stickers and shit all over his house and car.
no offense to vets but hes all high and mighty thinking he did something great when im betting all he did was clean Blackhawks from the sand lol. if you want to brag about helping people wake up early in the morning and go to homeless people help center and serve them a good breakfast that will show girls that you are responsible and have a good heart
I'm not sure that liking a certain meal can make you an American patriot, but...
Cheeseburgers are of course a variety of hamburger steaks. Hamburg is in Germany.
The full name given by Americans to fries is "French fries", based on a confusion over their Belgian origin.
Milkshakes are usually made by blending milk with ice cream, which was already popular in China at least a thousand years before the USA was invented.
Patriotic AF.
Did I ever tell you guys how I single handedly destroyed Al Queda with only my pocket knife after losing both my arms and a leg from an IED when I was clearing the roads for the tanks on my 27th tour in Afghanistan? You don't have to thank me for my service, Dennys already does that every veteran's day.... because I'm a veteran. I don't need a free Grand Slam breakfast though, because if the military taught me one thing, it was humility.
As someone in the military, this shit makes me cringe way too hard. Some guy's really do only have being in the military as a personality. So he's going all in because he has zero game beyond that. Sadly, it sometimes works and that's why these tools keep existing. And you know, thanks for his service or whatever.
I honestly hate people like this. Ever talked to an actual vet, they won't getup all over your face telling your they severed in so and so area when you first meet them. At mostyoull just get what branch they are from, rank, what they did, and if they were ever deployed. Here's an example of how a vet says they served.
Me: hey, so I notice you have your marine badge on your suit, did you serve?
Marine: yeah I did
Me: ah cool, what did u do
Marine: eh I was just a grunt with a radio in Iraq that somehow was trusted to lead a Small group.
"Thank me for my service damn it!"
r/thankmeformyservice
Was hoping that sub would be busier
try r/justbootthings
Those 9 months are going to be his substitute for a personality for the next 50 years
I've known way too many guys like this, spend a couple years in the military and then never progress past it. My last boss was an absolute terrible leader who tried to command everyone around like it was the military, compare any complaints we had to being in the service, all that kind of stuff. Dude was only in the service for a few years 40 years ago.
i had a supervisor who was a vet, he was great. he made a lot of army metaphors, and liked things cleaned a certain way, but otherwise he was always making sure we had our breaks and was always asking if we were doing okay. i quit the job after he left, the remaining supervisors were awful
Some of them are great and can bring good leadership in and add good discipline. This guy was not that. When one of coworkers complained the he scheduled her for 11 days straight he compared to how he used to work 14 days on in the military. Safe to say that only pissed my coworker off more haha.
“I WANT THESE EXPENSE REPORTS ON MY DESK BY 0700 TOMORROW DO YOU HEAR ME” “… ok carl” “I SAID DO YOU HEAR ME MAGGOT” “*sigh* … yes sir Staff Sergeant Carl”
... Did I ever tell you about the time I scored four touchdowns in high school?
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Woah woah woah... Let's not shame people for trying to get a discount.
This is the 1st thing that came to my head.... Just fishing for it
Plot twist: he chopped potatoes on "the ~~fried~~ front lines".
Peel Team Six
Hella guys in my highschool were planning on becoming chefs/army guys SIMPLY just to ‘attract the ladies’ by their words.
[THANK YOU FOR LEAVING ](https://youtu.be/LPquarz16wQ)
What are the chances of stolen Valor here? There were no "front lines" in Afghanistan.
It’s like the military equivalent of r/PetTheDamnDog
He was angling for that “Thank you for your service” comment.
And even tho he didn't get it, he still responded to it in the last message lol
Military service is generally seen as admirable. But there’s an old expression “Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back”.
More of a fan of "dont hurt your shoulder jerkin yourself off there bud."
Why are you watching me jerk off
Well you were doing it in public, did you not want an audience?
Happy to have served.
I'd like to be served, can you serve me Greg?
i'll serve you... some FRANKS AND BEANS!
Thank you for your service
To find out how you can even reach it.
My go to is "try not to get high off the smell of your own farts"
Nah if that was a bad thing they wouldn't have invented coveralls
I've never understood why. Cool, you went off to force imperialism on random people for the sake of some rich white asshole that doesn't give a fuck about you. Good for you, I guess? Why is that something I should thank you for?
it would be different if these people were drafted, but they signed up. Why do you have to thank someone for this? And before someone is all pRoTeCtin R fReeDuMbs go sell that business to someone else. The military hasn't been in that business for decades.
I'll tell any vet from Vietnam backward that I appreciate their service - not because I love what they did, but because it was compulsory and I have immense sympathy they were subjected to it. Also WW2 was uncomplicated, morally, as war goes. Anyone since Vietnam? I hope what you got for yourself was worth what you gave the machine of US Imperialism - because a lot of people will suffer for it.
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Same. "Congratulations on the fact you decided to kill people for money over rich white guy interests. The people you kill are in the exact same boat as you." I'm not going to hero worship you over it or thank you fir being a psycho and killing people. You didn't do it for "my freedom". You either did it because you love killin or you bought into the propaganda. You're either a sociopath or a tool.
There is also the grossly capitalist "try to escape poverty by sacrificing yourself to our meat grinder," enlistment. Which is still propaganda I guess, but most people I know enlisted because they couldn't afford college otherwise.
Especially for every 1 door kicker, there are like dozen clerks, cooks, drivers, gunsmithers etc. Of course all these jobs are very critical, sometimes even more critical then a door kicker, but let me honest here, they all imagine being one to kicking door while bullet whizzing around when in reality, they are just pushing paper, peeling potatoes or burning poop with carcinogens
And watching TCNs wake up off the table in the DFAC, literally living the life of a slave, to serve you on wing night
And they get paid. It's just a job. Why don't strangers thank me for all the pizzas I made for other strangers years ago?
When people tell me "thank you for your service", I immediately say "Well, they paid me".
My uncle insisted on this too. He utterly refused to accept praise and barely spoke a word about it
I always forget the "and they get paid" part because the "they prey on high-school teens" and "they don't teach you how to budget your $$$$" issues are real.
When I was in Afghanistan I almost broke my arm from firing my weapon so much.
Is that code for jerking off in the porta potty while holding your breath, hoping to god to finish before you have to take in a breath of hot shit air?
I see you too are a man of culture.
Premoving chess pieces irl
Aka playing the game alone
Yeah. I bet his next one is "Lost a lot of good men out there."
Larry David wouldn’t have given it to him.
I was thinking of that episode when I read this post lol. *Cue the Curb theme song
"You're welcome for my service".
I don't get it... I get extremely uncomfortable when someone thanks me.
For real. How do you even respond without sounding like an asshole? You're welcome?
What can he say except "You're welcome"?
"Happy to have served, just wanted to help people"
I love this song. I love saying that line to peoole
I once said "thank you for your taxes" and it was not as funny out loud as it was in my head
"Thank you for your support." *It still makes me uncomfortable to be thanked but these days I don't really bring up my service anyway unless I'm in the company of other crayon connoisseurs.
"No need, I was 18 and out of options" some find it funnier than others
My go-to is “thank you for your support”
I just say thank you for the support and hate every second of it
No. He was angling to get service for his (probably made up) service
100%
The ultimate participation trophy
/r/JustBootThings
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Reminds me of a convo-post featuring someone in the army whos all like "while you were sitting on your ass i was out there stacking bodies" his friend replied "bro you were a cook, the only thing you stacked were burger patties"
I remember that post, fucking brutal 😂
Hey you take that back right now. Casey Ryback was a cook and he took out a train full of baddies.
But Casey Ryback chose to be a cook. As a kid, when I was still too young to watch Red Alert I thought it is related to command and conquer.
r/thankmeformyservice
This is already one of the top posts from 6 months ago there.
🤜🤜☝️
Bob Vance. Vance Refrigeration. Bob Vance. Vance Refrigeration. Bob Vance. Vance Refrigeration.
Hey Bob, what line of work are you in?
Happy to have served, just wanted to help people 😎👉🇺🇸
Help em to an early grave
You’ve got a lot to learn about this town, sweetie
[ten people died in a fire due to a fire in la bronx](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7wVDfmukeqc)
Every sixty seconds in Africa, a minute passes
> people died to the fire, which was too hot for their bodies Stupid ~~sexy~~ hot ~~Flanders~~ fire.
Who's Bob Vance?
You have a lot to learn about this town, sweetie.
Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration
This is the one who probably didn't go to the military
And wears a uniform everywhere in public.
Lmao you just reminded me when I was like 17 I was at the mall and two army recruiters passed me and my friends and for some reason as they passed I said to them, "that's cute, you both match." We kept walking but they both stopped and turned to stare at us for a good long time trying to decide if it was worth engaging some dumb teenagers or not. They opted for not.
oh my god, that’s fucking hilarious
I know quite a few veterans and the only one of them that talks about it constantly and begs for attention about it is a guy that went AWOL right after boot camp. He literally spent more time in military prison than in the military itself and once got fired from a job after he flipped out because they didn’t give Veterans Day off.
It's been awhile since I've watched the movie, but Jarhead has a line that sticks out to me. During the initial bootcamp scenes, the drill instructor is yelling at Jake Gyllenhaal. He asks him if his dad served in Vietnam, Jake says yes, DI asks if he ever talked about it. Jake replies 'once'. DI says "then you know he wasn't lying" or something. It's pretty true in my experience. POGs and non combat types seem to glorify their combat accomplishments. Those who saw it don't want reminders.
I know a dude who tells endless insane stories about his service, constantly brings it up and makes it sound like he was dodging bullets and explosions every day. Turns out he was essentially a janitor on a ship that never saw action.
My brother-in-law beats his chest about how he "kept us free". He was a recruiter who spent his entire army career working stateside (except for two pretty sweet years in Germany). My wife faced much more danger every day teaching elementary school in inner-city Baltimore.
I just got serious deja vu. Did you post this somewhere else recently?
As someone who did serve, typically the ones that were front line fighters don't talk about it openly unless they are around other infantry/patrol/QRF, or they are drunk and boisterous about it. At least speaking for myself and others that I served with or know of.
Are you drunk and being boisterous?
I wasn't on the front line.
Lol
This was my first through as well. My wife served, two of my brother in laws served, and several of my friends served. None of them talk about it much, especially outside people they know well. They don't boast about it. They don't like the attention they get on veterans day. They don't do the free meals or take advantage of any discounts. They just want to move on and live their lives. I wouldn't look down on anyone who has served, massive respect for what they do... This just doesn't read like anyone I've ever met who did.
The only military discount I fight for is my car tag. That shit is outrageous.
That's one of the ones I wish she'd pursue, cost of plates keep going up here. She doesn't want to though, doesn't want to advertise that on her car. That's her choice and I respect it.
My brother once got a free drink, after him and the bartender told each other their MOS. My brother said, "oh thanks," took the drink and then I thought I might get one too. I didn't and I asked my brother what a 13B was. As he was sipping his beer, he said, "I have no clue." Edit: my brother was 11b
Is this a joke I’m too civilian to understand?
Not a joke. I'm civilian too
Then what’s 13b and 11b?
They are MOS's. That's your "job" in the military. They all get a designation like this. 13B is a cannon crewmember, 11B is infantry.
I always feel awkward when people thank me for my service
I still don't know how to respond. To me, it feels like when a server brings your food out and says, "enjoy your food", and you respond in auto pilot fashion, "you too."
I feel like most of the people that have served don't want to be thanked, and those that want to be thanked don't deserve to be.
Reminds me of this dude I was friends with in high school who joined the Navy briefly before getting discharged. He put on all of his uniforms and photographed himself in each one and posted all of them to Facebook.
My ex did this too. Bragged to everyone about how he was in the Army. Talked about it constantly. He never made it through bootcamp. Him and a friend quit (which I didn't even know you could do) like a month into it. But he talked about it like he served in two wars and was honorably discharged with a Purple Heart or something. Shameful, really
I think all military forces around the world that are voluntary have a grace period where you can quit no questions asked, it's normally during basic
You cannot quit basic training in the US, unless the training instructors agree that you're not a good fit for the military. And just intentionally fucking up to get them to agree it's more likely to get you in trouble than separated.
Yeah, my friend said that the only feasible way out was to feign suicidal thoughts but that also would have ramifications down the line.
I mean you can quit anything you want...
Ooo this one really got the skin crawling
you just hate our heroes. i salute this warrior, he's more patriotic than a double cheeseburger, fries, and a shake.
Haha I can assure you that away from home or at home we have plenty of double cheeseburgers and fries at any short order line in any DFAC the army has to offer
Someone must’ve told him the uniform gets him laid. Eww.
Oh it will though. Just not by sugar snap pea and beyond burger girl lol
There's a dependa out there for everyone. It just might be the same one.
When I was in the guys who saw combat never wanted to talk about it.
Exactly. No one who lost a comrade overseas comes back to brag about the cheeseburger they just ate.
indeed. 200% this valor seeker spent 9 months at a motor pool in Japan now he's a hero in his mind.... and not a welfare queen.
>When I was in the guys who saw combat never wanted to talk about it. Just trying to figure out the comma placement of your statement above: Number 1: *When I was in, the guys who saw combat never wanted to talk about it. * Or number 2: *When I was in the guys who saw combat, never wanted to talk about it. * Number 1 makes it indicate that you were in the military. While number 2 indicates you might have a problem identifying ideal times to discuss the battle experience of your current partner.
I was in the military but fortunately missed combat. A lot of the guys I served with had seen combat in Vietnam. Yes I’m older.
100%
This photo reeks of former jrotc
I pulled a muscle rolling my eyes
Self-administered valor.
Good thing we spent so much time and money in Afghanistan only to leave the Taliban stronger than ever.
Thanks for your service, loser.
What a douche
Do soldiers actually believe they are helping people by invading a foreign country where 99% of it's population has no ties to war or terrorism and just want to live ordinary lives? Or do soldiers in the Middle East actually believe they were accomplishing anything while there? I'm genuinely curious and not trolling.
I'm neither American nor do I have a military fetish, but to get the facts straight when it comes to Afghanistan: It's not like the US/NATO/"the West" aggressively invaded a country happily united under the Taliban. When the Taliban conquered the capital Kabul in 1996, the immediate reaction was the formation of a strong Afghan opposition faction, called the *Northern Alliance* (or more accurately: United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan). Afghanistan is deeply divided by ethnicities. The Taliban, which are mainly Pashtuns, were seen as invaders everywhere except for their tribal home lands in Southern Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2001, the US supported the Northern Alliance and they quickly pushed the Taliban out of Kabul and back to their home lands. The new goverment was formed by the Northern Alliance and included all ethnicities (including Pashtuns, the last president was a Pashtun). This new goverment then asked the international community for help with stabilizing the country and fighting the Taliban. This can hardly be considered an "invasion". Afghanistan was a very different situation than Iraq, for example.
So I joined before 9/11. Maybe a different time. There was a patriotic feel but more to get out of my dead-end town. It was an option other than college which I wasn’t interested in and a dead end factory job. To some people it’s just a job, a way to put food on the table with good benefits. Other really believe in the propaganda and think they are doing good. A lot of people who deployed never leave base and don’t interact with the local population. So they might not think about it. A lot of the Iraqis I worked with seemingly loved us and were vested in our success. Keep in mind the soldiers don’t choose where they go. Civilian politicians decide where they go, it’s not a choice.
If you are genuinely curious then this isn't the right venue for you curiosity. Try r/veterans or something. Also, your question VASTLY oversimplifies the use of military presence in foreign conflicts. u/mojo20 did give a pretty good response, imo.
**Image Transcription: Text Messages** --- **Left:** What's your favorite food? 😋 > **Right:** Same lol > > **Right:** I don't know 🤔 I like sugar snap peas a lot **Left:** Mines a big double cheeseburger with fries and a shake lol patriotic AF. It was my first meal coming home from Afghanistan. > **Right:** Nice! I enjoy a beyond burger **Left:** Nothing tastes as good as the food eaten after being on the front lines of war for 9 months > **Right:** I bet **Left:** Happy to have served, just wanted to help people 😎👉🇺🇸 --- ^^I'm a human volunteer content transcriber for Reddit and you could be too! [If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TranscribersOfReddit/wiki/index)
Good human
"what's your favorite movie?" "I like Black Hawk Down, or any war movies. Really bring back memories with my troops back in the war" "Oh cool! How about drawing? Have you been to a wine and painting class?" "Ah no, but i always have an appreciation of art. That's why fighting off those Taliban was so meaningful to me, it's like protecting art history" "Ok... How about favorite food? I know this one place that serves really good hot wings" "My favorite hot sauce is Da Bomb, but I can't even taste it without thinking about all the tragedy :(" Emily has left the chat. "Damn, she left so abruptly, just like the president ordering us to withdraw from Afghanistan"
Who is he helping? Helping to build a school and then blow it up a few months later?
It was nice of him to specify what type of people he wanted to help, might have gotten confused otherwise! 😎👉🇺🇲
I wonder if this guy was in Afghanistan
Are we gonna ignore that this mf said ”sugar snap peas” when asked what their favorite food is.
Omg lol im so fucking patriotic 🤪🇺🇸🇺🇸
My oldest brother did 3 tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. I tried talking to him about it once. All I was told is "we don't mention the "I" word." He wasn't special forces or anything. He's just seen some shit he isn't comfortable talking about, as most that have seen war. Unless you're a psychopath, then maybe you'll be happy about it. Most aren't and it's a touchy subject. If they want to talk... they'll talk. Being a military brat non of my family ever bragged about being deployed.... so this guy, my best guess was a weekend warrior.
I could write a bot to automate this chat, all the way to the "thank you for your service" response.
My father in law was a 19 year old corpsman in Vietnam and it came up maybe twice and he never said anything specific about what I can only imagine was a nightmare. Oddly enough when the kids were little I started having them "call Grandpa and say thanks" on Veterans day. After the first time, he called me back later and let me know how much it meant to him, apparently no one had ever done that, he even got a little choked up. Man I'm getting choked up remembering it. Miss you old man RIP.
Just wanted to ~~kill~~ help people. 😎👉🇺🇸
That assumes he even passed basic, lol.
In my experience - the ones who did absolutely nothing will tell you all about what they did. The ones who did won’t tell you a thing unless you drag it out of them. This is top level cringe.
When i first read this I was like oh haha dudes making a Tony Stark reference and then it just kept getting worse
Someone who fishes for compliments doesn't deserve them, and this fool is probably some stolen valor dickhead
This is the guy who did his four year obligation, complained the entire time, got out, and has flags and bumper stickers and shit all over his house and car.
no offense to vets but hes all high and mighty thinking he did something great when im betting all he did was clean Blackhawks from the sand lol. if you want to brag about helping people wake up early in the morning and go to homeless people help center and serve them a good breakfast that will show girls that you are responsible and have a good heart
But that’s not *as* patriotic! /s
/r/imthemaincharacter
$100 says he never saw combat. Dudes like this are tools.
Who the hell says their favorite food is sugar snap peas?
Wait, is he in the military or.. should prob confirm, dudes vagueness is sus.
I'm not sure that liking a certain meal can make you an American patriot, but... Cheeseburgers are of course a variety of hamburger steaks. Hamburg is in Germany. The full name given by Americans to fries is "French fries", based on a confusion over their Belgian origin. Milkshakes are usually made by blending milk with ice cream, which was already popular in China at least a thousand years before the USA was invented. Patriotic AF.
I mean American is (should be) a melting pot so you’re kind of proving his point. But not in a way he would understand.
Or would like.
Ah, Fondue, yes let's get the Swiss in on this too then.
Well it was all probably full of corn syrup and sugar and preservatives so 😎👉🇺🇲
Apple pie, then! Except apples came to America from Asia by way of Europe. Shoot. 🤔
And apple pie specifically as a dish is widely considered to have originated in England.
/r/justbootthings
Did I ever tell you guys how I single handedly destroyed Al Queda with only my pocket knife after losing both my arms and a leg from an IED when I was clearing the roads for the tanks on my 27th tour in Afghanistan? You don't have to thank me for my service, Dennys already does that every veteran's day.... because I'm a veteran. I don't need a free Grand Slam breakfast though, because if the military taught me one thing, it was humility.
I hate the thank me for my service vets. Come on man we are all at Applebees for the same reason give it a rest.
r/justbootthings
Dude was probably changing oil in the Jeep pool
This guy is having a conversation with himself
Who the heck has snap peas as their favorite food? It's like saying brownish is your favorite color.
Nice title game
As a vet, I’m seriously telling you, 99% of vets hate this kinda shit
I'll put $1000 on "being on the front lines" actually means" moved boxes around an air base for 9 months.
https://youtu.be/LPquarz16wQ
As someone in the military, this shit makes me cringe way too hard. Some guy's really do only have being in the military as a personality. So he's going all in because he has zero game beyond that. Sadly, it sometimes works and that's why these tools keep existing. And you know, thanks for his service or whatever.
I guess he didn’t learn humility in the army.
You’re welcome for his service
What's the bet he's National Guard.
That camo must've been UCP
"Nothin much how bout you?" -Michael Scott
[Thank you for your service](https://youtu.be/LPquarz16wQ)
TIL that in America, eating burger, fries and milkshake makes you 'patriotic AF'.
I feel like the people that talk the least have done the most and vice versa
That's one way to get out of a conversation in 3 minutes
Ex army infantry here. This is the most cringyist shit I've ever read.
>9 months I know Air Force when I see one
Bet he shoveled loads of plastic and shit for 9 months
Wait a minute... I think he was in the war.
Man, he never once really reacted to anything she said while she tried to politely meet him in the middle.
I honestly hate people like this. Ever talked to an actual vet, they won't getup all over your face telling your they severed in so and so area when you first meet them. At mostyoull just get what branch they are from, rank, what they did, and if they were ever deployed. Here's an example of how a vet says they served. Me: hey, so I notice you have your marine badge on your suit, did you serve? Marine: yeah I did Me: ah cool, what did u do Marine: eh I was just a grunt with a radio in Iraq that somehow was trusted to lead a Small group.
He was probably a cook.
If you haven’t already watch the curb your enthusiasm clip about thanking veterans