I think that service forever changes us in a way that can't happen to normal people.

We come to know things about ourselves, that we can become more than we ever expected, and that stays with us forever.

And over time when those things are no longer possible we miss them, but know what we were

And because of that we see others in a different way


I sometimes wish I was that strong again...

 

I wish I was that strong again too. But I also see a lot of young folks out there who are just so slow, lazy, or incompetent that it makes me disgusted that I could work circles around them.

 

The service not only takes your body, mind and will to places you never imagined but, it also teaches you that you are not alone. It takes teams, working in unison, to make that ship complete its mission. Or that aircraft to deliver its payload. Or, for that S.F. team to complete clandestine deployments. Events driven by people you don't even know... help make you successful. In many cases, you learn to get along... or die.

You can be that strong again. Just in different ways.

 

I agree and do believe that there should be a mandatory enlistment for at least two years and you must pass or stay until you do for graduates. Also there would be no college deferments. You serve, then go to college.

I would love to be able to do the things, both physically and mentally that I did while serving. I no longer have my sixpack due to cancer (yes round is a shape), the mind is gone (short term memory) due to stroke, and I miss working in the garage on my vehicles (broken back). The golden years are BS.

 

I also wish I was that strong again. I have multiple issues with only two officially service-connected. I reopened several claims that were previously denied, and have opened a completely new claim due to new information obtained.

Paul, they're called "The Golden Years" because it takes so much more gold to live through them, IMHO. That seems to be the case with me anyway, and I haven't reached my Golden Years yet.

Dutch, I don't consider any Veteran "ordinary" and hope to God I never become ordinary. Because of our service, we won't ever be "Normal" in the practical sense. I'm not sure there is a classification that we fit into, but "Veteran" seems to fit perfectly. As the saying goes (paraphrased), "if you've haven't served, you won't understand. If you have served, no explanation is necessary."

I will continue to be me. People can accept that or not. I'm fine either way. I'll keep doing what I can as long as I have my pain medications available. They don't help much, but they are effective once in a while.

 

Item: Paul? How come is it that I have not seen a Vet Zone application from you? If you served it's an instant approve kind of a deal.
(see the sticky thread)

A thing that comes back again and again for me is odd dreams wherein I am 'somewhere': A school, on a ship, at an installation or whatever, but badly out of uniform - it/they are some of the weirdest dreams ever, I find myself running around hoping I don't get gigged for missing uniform parts, and eventually I remember that I am retired, but it doesn't seem to matter...

There is something I have to do in those dreams, usually transferring to somewhere else, and of course there are all kinds of problems with getting my "stuff" together. It's almost like some kind of demented brain damage coming back to haunt me.

Sometimes I have a dream where I am on leave (keep in mind I am fully retired - so being on leave doesn't make any sense) and I wind up with a group of normal civilians and get stoned with them. (These are full-sensory dreams in which getting stoned feels exactly like getting stoned...) and I suddenly think: "OH (S)!!!" - like I'm ever going to have a drug screening again...

A time or two I dreamed that I woke up, but I was still in the dream, (tell me that isn't convoluted) and worried to death that I had blown the career I had already achieved...

There is a pavlovian programming that is buried in the circuits in my brain housing group that sometimes all but drives me nutz.

For 20 years I was "THAT GUY" who does not under any circumstances do questionable things, and now I find myself among normal people who do whatever they want. Sometimes I feel like a man from Mars...

 

I really do not like advertizing it. My last four years were under a cloud of disappointment due to the flight surgeon (azzhole!). I do love flying JETS though I am illegal (no license due to that azzhole), but I do have a few friends in the Navy and Air Force that will take me up and let me go. The need for speed is always with you and will never leave.

 

There is a joke about Navy guys and your dreams in there but, I ain't gonna spill it out here.