Memorial Day has come and gone for 2019 and Veterans Day is not
until November 11.
Too late for one; too early for the other.
Maybe; maybe not.
I am not certain why, but the thought
of "young ladies" serving in the United States military and sometimes
dying in defense of this country has been drifting around in my mind the past
few days. So, I decided why not arbitrarily choose today -- August 20 -- to
personally say thank you to them and to wish them and their loved ones well.
The photograph shows a few of the more than 14,000 women
currently serving in the Marine Corps being administered the oath of acceptance
to their new role. Many thousands more are in the Navy, Army, Air Force and
Coast Guard. Each has her reason for being where she is, and I sincerely hope
the experiences of each will form some of the most satisfying years of their
lives.
6 comments:
it is great you are sharing this!They do a great job!
Also here in Norway woman in army is growing..
I hear Alexander talks about it..he says ohh boy there are now probably more girls in the army then men..(He did not want to go..he is against joining the army..and since there are so many new recruits that wants to go ,some of them telling it is a hell,but there are soo many great opportunities joining the army as education ..license, to drive cars, free flat ect ec
Thanx for sharing and wish you a great day
Kyss og Klem
I was dubious about women in actual combat roles once upon a time, but I now agree with the thoughts and the words of the young ladies in the third video to the effect that some women are born with a "a violent spirit in a good way" and that it is not a question of "male or female, it's really about the right person for the right job."
In simple terms of ability to get the job done and the right person for the right job, witness the Israeli military or the Russian military or the "shield maidens" among the Old Norse. While I am not experienced in the other branches of the American military, I know that in the Corps there is only one color: Marine green. It is a good place to work on eliminating discrimination in terms of race, so it makes sense that gender discrimination would fade away there, too.
I only have solid memories of one woman from my time in the Corps. She was an older gunnery sergeant who pretty much ran the outfit, with the blessings of the commanding officer. Most troopers affectionately and respectfully called her mom or mother and she loved it. She took care of us. She got me out of scrapes on a couple of occasions when pride and arrogance got the better of me. But, there was hell to pay if you got on the wrong side of her or were not a good Marine .... fortunately for me, I never got on the wrong side of her and I was a pretty good Marine. She was an authentic and fearless and highly-respected Marine in every way -- and, a great role model.
As for Alexander, my advice would be to stay out of the military unless it is something he really/really/really wants. I know individuals whose lives have been saved and those whose lives have been utterly ruined by being in the military -- both ways, both literally and figuratively. I thought about having a military career at one time, but decided it mostly was a "good place to be from" and went my merry way after it.
Glad you found your way here, Anita. Thank you. Stay out of mischief and semper fi and kyss og klem ....
Fram, this is a wonderful post! Sometimes we are so busy with our lives that we don't think about the young women who are serving in our army, who sacrifice their lives and about young women who were forgotten.
Thank you for this post, thank you for being kind and thoughtful writing about young women who deserve to be honored and remembered.
Videos are wonderful, my heart and soul were touched by them.
I am glad you liked the post and I appreciate your compliments, Kaya. I have pretty much identical feelings to your own when I am watching the videos .... especially the first one when I look at the youngest faces and try to comprehend all the moments of life and living those young ladies never will experience. I wonder sometimes what life would have been like for me had I emerged from the Corps minus a limb or for my family had I not survived at all. As many say, life goes on, with you or without you, but with each passing year a bit more guilt for being alive becomes a part of me.
I am not sure I could live in a harmonious relationship with a woman who had been in the military, especially one who had been in the Marine Corps. On the other hand, I always am thinking and saying my ideal woman would be one with whom I could implicitly trust to cover my back and who would trust me to cover her back in every way imaginable. Who better than a "semper fi baby?"
Thank you, for coming and for writing a comment, Kaya. Canada geese, hah? I still have the eyes of a hunter if not the desire. Take care and semper fi and be a good girl ....
Olá Fram! Tudo bem?
Que bom que você ainda está bem ativo no seu blog.
Feliz por encontrar esse caminho pra mim te ler. Estava com saudades de viajar pelos seus posts.
Primeiramente quero me desculpar pela minha ausência aqui no teu blog, mas você sempre vai estar nos sorrisos das estrelas.
Uma foto bem curiosa. As mulheres têm estado cada vez mais atuantes em serviços militares, coisas que bem pouco tempo atrás só podia ser pra homens. Na minha cidade, a gente vê muita policial feminina, patrulhando as ruas, e parece que são bem corajosas pra estar nesses lugares tão perigosos. Hoje as mulheres desenvolvem qualquer trabalho sem problema nenhum, aqui no Brasil existe muitas delegadas e piloto de aeronave que são mulheres.
Fram, continuação de boa semana pra você!
Eu volto pra depois pra ler a postagem anterior com mais calma.
Sorrisos e muitos... Até mais Fram.
It pleases me that your navigation skills remain intact, Smareis, and that you were able to chart a course back to me here in northern waters.
It should go without saying, but I will say it anyway: I very much miss your presence here, but I understand your life is busy and demands on your time are many .... there is no need to apologize for your absences. As you say, time can be our enemy or our friend; seem to move too rapidly or to move too slowly. We live as we live and, hopefully, learn the lessons of our time here on earth.
There probably is not an occupation that exists in which women are not engaged, but military combat roles are rather recent in the United States. There were women officers in the Marine Corps who commanded me; women editors at newspapers where I worked; and the head of the Department of Corrections in South Dakota was a woman who was both my friend and my boss.
War bothers me, and war dead among both men and women troubles me immensely, but I have little doubt war always will exist.
Once again: I wish you and your family the best of everything, especially in context of the health/medical issues your brother faces.
Thank you, for coming here / for writing here / for being Smareis ....
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