Well, son, the kindest thing I can say is you got your threads crossed somewhere. You miss the point entirely of ALL the various displays of respect engendered in the military.

You've tried to make it sound like "abuse" and "slavery." Well, this old man here spent 20 years in the Air Force, retired as a Master Sergeant. Came from a military family. My father fought in the Pacific, my older brother in Vietnam. Me, I skated...but not by choice, by luck of the draw. Seventy-six years we racked up in the military.

Gives you a better perspective than your, what...four, five years? I'd wager you had a chip on your shoulder the whole time, too. Why? Because there were others "appointed over you?" Because your opinions didn't change the course? Or...just a problem with authority in general?

The military is not a corporation. It's not a school. It's not ANYTHING other than what it is. A force, capable of tremendous violence, organized for the good of the many, at the expense of the few willing to bend to the iron rigors of serving. Yes...serving! It ain't a job! It ain't a frickin' hobby! It is a CHOICE. A choice freely made to give up your individual self, to make yourself maleable to the needs of the mission, the service, the corps.

See, thing is, you can say all this here. And I will stand with you in defense of your right to say it, right or wrong. And you are oh, so wrong!

You are not forced. You "agree." By contract, by tradition, by the age-old rituals and ceremonies that make the MILITARY what it is. A proud group of men and women who CHOSE to serve. Again with the "service." And in return you gain much.

However, it apparently didn't work for you. That's OK. When your term of service is over, you can punch out. You ain't no slave for life, no servitude till your dyin' day.

What you DO have till your dying day is the knowledge that you...well, not you specifically...SERVED your country. You obeyed the regulations and standards that are necessary to maintain a fighting force. You followed the orders of those "officers" who've trained, been taught, been BURDENED with your welfare, right up to the point they may order you to your death.

I sense a lot of anger in you about your time in the military. And, I'd imagine you have a lot of the same problems with society in general. It's good to vent, though. And you did that...pretty good job, by the way. Slanted, biased, painted with YOUR brush...but you did try to make your arguments valid.

The hell of it is, friend, is that you missed the point from the very beginning. The VERY beginning. The military is a necessity. It ain't there for you to LIKE it. It ain't there to meet YOUR needs. It ain't designed to make YOUR life easier.

It's there to keep ALL of us safe, secure, free of oppression, free of tyranny, the REAL enslavement of the masses. Doing that requires...yes, REQUIRES certain conditions be met by those serving. Not for comfort, ease or convenience, but for strength, unity, purpose and as an expression of our national will.

But, hey, just like yours, this is only my opinion.

Be talkin' to you.....Web Rydr