Thanks Dan -
My experience exactly, as well, obviously. Most of the guys on this post have been unusually patient with my little questions, and I am learning a whole lot, which in turn helps me understand a tiny bit (and explain to non-vets) what battle is like for the person in it, the person supporting the combat troops (like you and me)... and for those civilians who order us all into battle service, or who condone those orders from afar at polling places.
Your point about the "ration of s--t" we get at times is a key thing actually for me too. I believe a lot of vets simply nod their heads in professed understanding and agreement when a true combat vet speaks of his experiences in that certain way they do... I would call it the "far away look" which only they can ever know. My bet is that non-combatants (or most HQ staff) either know zero about it, or that what little they do know has come from the firing range and not from face to face killing under stress, blood and death.
Being a fogey, I sometimes get cut a little (very little) slack because I was on 123s and Goonies, which most combat troops can relate to, in an old-fashioned sense. Nothing in this world like having to fill a fuel tank laying on your belly on top of a 123 wing in minus 20 degree weather wind speed 40 mph in the middle of nowhere, eh Dan? We kept 'em flyin' and I am mighty proud of that.
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