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U

USP45

New member
I received this from a Ranger buddy of mine. Please indulge me for a moment and consider the following.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
All,
Every know and then a "cause" comes up that effects each of us in
many ways, not one to usually get involved this time I feel compelled. As
you may or may not know the Chief of Staff of the Army in effort to raise
morale has decided to make the Black Beret a symbol of excellence worn by
the Army Rangers since 1950, the issue headgear for the entire Army. As
friends, family and co-workers you can imagine how this would make active
and former Rangers feel. While I am sure everyone would support the Chief
of Staff of the Army's (CSA's) intent many of us probably feel that this is
not the way to execute it. The 75th Ranger Regiment has an official order
placed upon it not to comment. I would like to appeal to you all to send a
letter or postcard to either the CSA or his boss the Secretary of the Army
and let them know that the planned cure to raise morale could do much
greater harm to the 2268 Rangers that make of the finest Airborne Infantry
Regiment in the world, not to mention the potential Rangers who have not
gone there yet. Take a moment write down you thoughts and let them know.
If you know a veteran or interested party please let them know. I
personally thank you.

Gen. Eric Shinseki
Chief of Staff, Army
200 Army Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20310-0200

Honorable Louis Caldera
Secretary of the Army
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20310-0101
[/quote]


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~USP

"[Even if there would be] few tears shed if and when the Second Amendment is held to guarantee nothing more than the state National Guard, this would simply show that the Founders were right when they feared that some future generation might wish to abandon liberties that they considered essential, and so sought to protect those liberties in a Bill of Rights. We may tolerate the abridgement of property rights and the elimination of a right to bear arms; but we should not pretend that these are not reductions of rights." -- Justice Scalia 1998
 
I disagree with giving the berets to just anyone. It would be like us Air Force admin. types getting to wear the maroon berets, used by the Recovery folks to get downed pilots, every day. These folks work their @$$'s off to get the honor of wearing the maroon beret. They do things I don't think my body will ever be able to acomplish. They are the ones that are put though hell, have to be able to jump out of airplanes, into water, and swim 200 miles just to get to a downed pilot. Berets (most of them) are earned and show that "hey, I went through hell and now I get to wear my badge of honor".

USP45usp
 
I was never in the military, but this sounds like the equivalent of giving all Boy Scounts Eagle patches so they feel "special."

H*ll, why not give all citizens the same amount of money so they all feel "special" too? Oh, I forgot. Algore's working on that.

Dick
Want to send a message to Bush? Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/monk/petition.html and forward the link to every gun owner you know.
 
Why not just let everyone design their own uniform complete with headgear of choice . Lots of gold braid and the color of beret changes with mood . They could even change "First Call" to "I'll be there noonish or so ." Optional inspections . Optional P.T. . The P.X. delivers . Early out for boredom or ANY reason .
Why not ? The dam is cracking so just let it go . Change the name to " The Touchy Feely Warm And Fuzzy Feel Good Army " . "Be all that you feel like being ".

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TOM
SASS AMERICAN LEGION NRA GOA
 
Anyone who has ever heard "The Ranger's Hymn" knows how they feel about their black berets. If the CSA wants to issue all non rangers purple berets to make them feel better I have no objections.
 
You can't imagine how upset I have been over this. I first took my 5 day waiting period, now I am writing. I am also shipping my beret to General Shinsheki. He can have the damned thing. I thought it meant something. Somewhere on my quest to achieve my "maroon" beret, I lost a wife (no big loss), but I also lost my children. I missed a lot, and forfiet my health in some respects, and now the thrill is gone. I just want to scream, but I will have mine. I will spend about 4 days getting my letter right, and then it's going out to every newspaper I can think of, and then to every Congress person on the Texas Delegation, every member of the Armed services committee, and finally everyone in the Ranger Chain of command excepting Bill Clinton. I want them to know that enough is enough, and I want my letter published prior to election day, so forgive me if I don't publish it here first.

You just can't imagine. Not in a hundred years.
 
I think I'll send this copy. I have emailed it to Paul Harvey, and I will send it to the LA times, Houston Chronicle, NY Times, Washington post, and just about anywhere I can think of. I will also send it to the address you listed. I hope that it helps. The blood gurgle is a sound one never forgets and never wants to remember. When a person starts to gurgle blood it is over. How many have gurgled blood because they wore the beret?

Dear Sir,
This may be one of many negative responses you receive on your black beret decision, but I hope that mine has as much impact as the rest. I never donned the black beret. I never earned it. Instead, I wore the maroon beret of a Paratrooper. I am proud of that beret, and have kept it to either be buried with it, or to be handed down to my son who may one day be one of those “devils in baggy pants.” That beret didn’t cost much. I think it cost me $7.00 at the PX, but the right to wear it cost me much more. It cost me nightmares that I still have as a result of the world’s armpits that I saw. It cost me a wife. It cost me 2 little girls that I barely know today and will probably never know had I accepted an easier job with the Army. It cost me a disability pension from the job that I dreamt of since I was five years old. That old beret cost me much, much more, but the costs are incalculable. I cherish that beret, but now that anybody can wear it, it doesn’t quite mean what it used to.
I am heartbroken over your ability to just denigrate those whose most proud memory was to place the black beret on their heads. The quiet times each man spent thinking “wow! I finally made it. I am a Ranger.” I just couldn’t stand to sacrifice more than what I did for my beret, but there are men who went on. Men who challenged themselves to achieve that which I cannot possibly imagine. They sacrificed more than I’ll ever know. There are 18 black berets without a head to rest on because of blood spilled in Mogadishu Somalia. There are more black berets in Panama, and more yet on the airstrip in Grenada. How many black berets are littered upon the beaches of Normandy, or the swamps of South Carolina?
This decision to give anyone and everyone a beret without the price we paid is nothing more than a stunt to increase enlistments in an Army where enlistments are sadly lagging due to poor leadership. When I was an aspiring NCO I memorized the 4 C’s. Maybe you could do the same:
Courage- symbolized by those who gave all for a taste of freedom we would soon give away for the price of a $7.00 beret.
Candor- Candor that the current leadership lacks to come out and tell the American people that the Army isn’t well, that fabled organization is sick, and the cure isn’t to be found in a hat.
Competence- the lost competence of all those thousands of young NCO’s, Captains, and Lieutenants who are leaving from disgust of a bloated career beaureaucracy seeking to fix numbers instead of fix problems.
Commitment- The lack of which will cause thousands of young men to gurgle blood on the next battlefield while you are collecting your defense contractor CEO paycheck.

I sure do remember those 4 C’s. I thought I might remind you of them too.

Sincerely,
Kevin Myers

Harper, TX 78631
 
Gentlemen & ladies, I think we have a winner...

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"..but never ever Fear. Fear is for the enemy. Fear and Bullets."
10mm: It's not the size of the Dawg in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!
 
Think about it.. A politically Correct Military. What WILL they dream of next?
Give everybody the CIB. After all those people just happened to be in the Infantry?

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You have to be there when it's all over. Otherwise you can't say "I told you so."

Better days to be,

Ed
 
Mr. Myers, I have never served in the military, yet your letter brought tears to my eyes, sitting at my desk. The same tears I get when seeing a military funeral, a missing man formation, or a movie like "The Patriot". You are right. I can't imagine. Not in a hundred years. But know this - you are not alone in your disgust. It does not take the blood, sweat, tears, and life force that you and others have given to see the idiocy of this decision. If I can see it from a climate-controlled office, I can't imagine how it looks from a charred battlefield.

This general's desk ought to be covered with 82nd, 101st, Recon, SeaBee patches, maroon, green, and black berets, sub Dolphins, SEAL "Budweisers", ...etc. turned in by disgusted current & former Special Unit warriors.

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Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
1 Peter 2:16.
 
Looks like a short term solution to a much deeper problem. This may giva a warm fuzzy to those given the berets for a short time.
The symbol of excelence it represents will be corrupted and shortly will become just part of the uniform.
To many short term "Band-Aid" fixes.
We need a leader in the White House that our military can feel proud of serving under. We need to PAY these people a decent wage for doing things to keep the bad elements of the world at bay that we never will be able to imagine.
We the citizens need to elect some people who will take care of our military personel in meaningful ways.

Last but most certanly not least, Thank You to those reading this post who are active military and/or veterans. :)
 
Perhaps they should be reminded that this is by no means a new concept. A significant number of Congressional Medals of Honor were issued as re-enlistment bonuses at one time, back around the Indian Wars as I recall, so I can see where they found the precedent. I imagine they view passing out berets as a cheap morale booster, when paying troops the decent wage they deserve would be better and fairer all around.
 
Give em all a beret of their color choice with any flash they desire. Give them the uniform of their choice with all of the badges that they want. THEN , under good leadership and support let them EARNtheir BOOTS! Touchy feely aint gonna work when you haven't had more than 3 hours sleep in two weeks and the sleeping that you were so proud to get was done in a hole of water, not much to eat, and dead comrades that you don't even have time to think about.
The world will not work in the give it all to me mode. Each individual must be responsable for their own actions and EARN the respect of others or we as a Nation will continue to digress. I continue to digress as well, sorry.

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"The harshest tyranny is that which is under the protection of legality and the banner of justice." Montesquieu
 
You all have expressed it more eloquently than I can, but I agree.

It really seems that the government-school self-esteem movement jumped up a couple generations, somehow.

[sarcasm]Achievement doesn't matter, as long as we all feel good about it. [/sarcasm]

I'm nauseated.

--Denise
 
Saw a cartoon in our local daily, done by a local amatuer cartoonist.

Picture a General handing a grunt a breret, and the grunt saying (IIRC).

"Thanks sir, but it would help my morale more if you kept the beret and got me off of food stamps..."

I'll see if I can find/post it.
 
Why don't we let everyone decorate their berets to their own taste, too ?

Like the Guardian Angels in NYC. Beads, bottons, patches, whatever.
 
My hat is off to BULLSHOT and MrMisanthrope for pointing out what should be the obvious (not to us, the gubmint) - morale is low in the military because as a reward for serving your country, you qualify for welfare and foodstamps!!

I served three years active and now am in the Indiana Nat'l Guard. I never did anything remotely resembling the training required to wear any beret - why is giving me one that I didn't deserve going to make me feel better?

How I missed this story is beyond me, but I'll be sending in my 0.02.


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Kim

NRA Millenium Life Member
 
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