Fruit Salad

[renrich]

Let me begin by saying that I have nothing but respect for the people in our armed forces. I served briefly back in the late fifties, early sixties and have many close relatives that served in WW2. The following is not a criticism of any individual but everytime I see one of our generals or admirals on TV in Washington and they have their dress uniform on, they have what is, to me, a ludicrous amount of "fruit salad" all over the left side of their uniform coat. To begin with, none of these guys could have seen enough combat to have received medals or commendations to make up all that stuff. If it was me, I would be embarrased to wear all that stuff, knowing that a good portion of it was awarded only for longevity or because the officer had a high rank. IMO, it makes our top officers look like players in some comic opera play about a military of some fictional country. Does anyone know whether there is a regulation that requires them to wear all the trivial ribbons and medals which they have accumulated? The Confederate Army during the States War issued no medals because everyone was considered to be valorous. Maybe a little of that attitude might be of good use. Anyone else annoyed by this?



Another comment as I see that the Federal government has issued a directive that veterans no longer claiming to suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome have to detail the incident in combat which they believe brought on the syndrome, in order to get treatment at a VA hospital. The explanation given was that women who never saw any combat were being excluded from treatment for that malady. That bothers me a little. Anyone else?

[Glider]

I have to admit that when I saw General Petraeus pass out under the Senate questioning, I did wonder if it was the weight of all his ribbons.

[BombTaxi]

It bothers me that any serviceperson, regardless of gender, is being denied treatment when they need it. A woman may not carry a rifle in an infantry platoon, but women may be exposed to the effects of insurgent attacks 'behind the lines'. The military should be facing up to the ongoing costs of war, not trying to duck out of them. That is a lesson we have learned the hard way here in the UK.