Experiences with people in the military?

[memphis]

Similar to my rural people thread from a few weeks ago. First off, I want to say that I have a lot of respect for people who have gone down this road, so please don't mistake my inexperience for irreverence. My experiences here are also pretty limited. I have a couple of uncles who were in the navy and a third in the army many years ago, but all live in the Northeast (where all Jews belong), so I've never had much chance to know them well. And (often with good cause) vets are often reluctant to discuss their experiences, so there's an additional wall.  None of my people ever saw any combat, so no war stories anyway. I had a great grandfather who fought for the tsar in WWI and was taken prisoner by the Huns, but he assumed room temperature 30 years before I was born so not much chance for chatting on that front either. Another great-grandfather was in the US Army in WWI, but also long long dead. I have a interesting photo of his army group (don't even know the proper word; about 30 or so guys) framed above the couch. They watch tv with me.
I was raised in anti-military post-Vietnam household. Forgive the Naso style detail, but we had Platoon and Full Metal Jacket on VHS. My father was rejected by the Army after getting his draft notice, and was very thankful for that. We certainly didn't go around spitting on soldiers, but it's hard to think of anything my parents would have approved of less than joining up. It would have been on par with dropping out of high school and getting 666 tattooed on my forehead. Less out of judgment for those who did serve and more out of fear for the consequences. Both parents had high school classmates who died in Vietnam.
It seems to me that there is a great paradox in military service. It's by far the most "Communist" (for lack of a better word) institution in the country. After waiving most life choices, you're provided with a steady job, housing, healthcare, and a sense of community. It seems no exaggeration to say that one belongs to the nation for the period of service. And yet, the military, as an institution, is a very right wing force in American politics. Veterans are a pretty reliably Republican voter group. And again, forgive me if I'm being unfair, but, in many cases, they seem to idolize the experience while shunning suggestions for other outlets of nationalism. Feel free to discuss, discredit, and add your own experiences.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I had a very unpleasant childhood at the hands of a hardcore Marine father.

But I respect those who serve like nobody's business.  I'm happy to be in a position to do some good things for them in one of my lines of work at no cost as a way of saying thanks.

[Torie]

My cousin married a marine a second lieutenant careerist - from Alabama. He was a very hard wired and rigid individual. He acted out the part of being a marine off duty as well as on. He would put on his white gloves, and slide his gloved hand over the kitchen counter. If it showed any discoloration, he would show my cousin the discolored glove and look displeased. At a social gathering at my parent's house, he was quite tense and uncomfortable with the whole milieu (including my long hair and opinion about pot, and well, lack of military bearing).

After about 5 years, they got divorced. They had one son. He turned out reasonably normal, after a rough patch in his teenage and young adult years. The marine eventually rose to Captain before being mustered out when he failed to secure a promotion within the requisite time frame to Major. He did not have a very supple mind.

Other than that, the only military I have known were draftees, who did their time, and got out (having tested into doing intelligence work). They were a whole other kettle of fish of course.  

[DC Al Fine]

I have an uncle who served as an engineering officer. Nice enough guy, but runs an extremely strict household. He works in the private sector now.

[opebo]

In my father's generation they all spent a couple of years in the military, but only one uncle had the misfortune to actually fight in a war - Korea.

He used to tell me gently of the horrors he saw and caused, as we sat on the open tail gate of a pickup in the bucolic fields of father's farms...  I've told those stories on the forum before somewhere.

But I've never met any 'real military men', other than perhaps briefly some old retired ones in Pattaya.

[Indy Texas 🇺🇦🇵🇸]

My grandparents were born in the '30s - too young for WWII and Korea, too old for Vietnam. None of my uncles or aunts served. The only person I know personally who is in the military is a guy I went to high school with - but he went to college first and was commissioned as an officer in the Marines afterwards. Another guy I know is in medical school right now but has his commission and will be becoming a flight surgeon when he's through. I don't know any jarheads/grunts/enlisted men; growing up well-to-do in a large city doesn't put one on that route to military service.

My family tends to be a pretty dove-ish bunch. But I don't know if it's lack of military service or the fact that my family has had memberships in a lot of "peace churches" over the generations - Community of Christ, Quakers, etc.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

My Grandpa served in WW2, but never talked about it. He went ashore at Normandy a few hours after the first landings, and while he avoided the slaughter, I have been told that he walked upon a beach with bodies taking up every inch and stacked three high. It must have been hell. Anyway, he survived the war and stole a spoon, which he gave to my late grandma.

My Great-Great Uncle was also in WW2. He was captured in the Phillipines and was a survivor of the Batan Death March. According to my Grandma, he was never the same again, and his own son, my grandma's cousin, was later killed in Vietnam. Another cousin went missing in the Australian outback.

My Great-Aunt married a very nice dentist who went to Vietnam and was at Kai San. He is very laid back and does not seemed "scared" at all.

[MaxQue]

I have an uncle who served as an engineering officer. Nice enough guy, but runs an extremely strict household. He works in the private sector now.

Exact same thing here (except than I don't know how strict is the household, since he lived in Nova Scotia and now Ontario, which is quite far from where I live).

[Mopsus]

I have two uncles who serve(d) in the military, one in Afghanistan, the other in Iraq and Kosovo. In addition, I have a great grandfather who was stationed in France in the 1950's, from which he has a couple of amusing anecdotes. I also had a great grandfather and great-great uncle who served in World War II, although I never got the chance to know either of them. But if we're counting family members who died before we were born, I have a distant ancestor who received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Civil War.

[Gustaf]

My dad went to officer school and was an officer in the reserve (became a major). Of course, Sweden hasn't been to war since 1814 so he never saw any combat.

My grandfather and my granduncles served as volunteers in the Finnish Winter War. But I never talked to my grandfather about it and I don't think he saw much intense combat or anything.

A friend of mine served as a peacekeeper in Kosovo but I don't think he saw any combat either.

I have some Israeli friends who have done military stuff (duh) but I never talked to them about such things.