My maternal grandfather avoided service in Korea the same way, albeit with the added protection of being in the Air Force. So, Air Force clerk during Korea. Spent some time in Newfoundland IIRC. War is hell.
Just as an aside, I always cringe when older vets talk about how vets these days have gone soft. Especially when their service was all of two years and never even saw them deployed to an active conflict zone. But I really hate it when their kids/grandkids/friends/well-wishers talk about how badass said older veterans are/were relative to current servicemembers.
My uncle also avoided service in Korea by serving in some godforsaken base in Alaska. He apparently had nightmares about icicles and not getting Reader’s Digest in a timely manner.
Right, as if the service of one’s father or grandfather somehow made them special.
I think in general, there is a direct correlation between the bragging and the lack of actual combat experience. Vets I know who have been in actual combat just don’t take about it.
The “conspiracy theory” was as, I have stated quite a few times- was just “scuttlebutt”- a Army rumor. I never claimed it was true. I did say my Dad heard that rumor and liked it, but just as scuttlebutt. Fuck, there has always been Army scuttlebutt from Caesars time to the present. Once in a while the rumor is even true. You can give your so called super duper never wrong never to be questioned expert opinion all you want that the rumor is wrong, and I admit it is doubtful, but the mystery continues to this day.
You hated that rumor so much you accused my Father, a disabled WW2 veteran of “stolen valor” as Father had a “campaign ribbon/medal” which is basically a participation trophy. You stated as a fact that Dad could not have escaped, it was impossible. Then I showed you a cite in this very thread that showed that the Army Air Force there did make an escape, taking quite a few planes and personnel out of the Philippines. Did you apologize? Admit that on this small detail you were wrong? No, your sick need to be the unquestioned never wrong SDMB expert on WW2 made you insult a disabled WW2 veteran.
Yes, long after the General escaped on the PT boats (and B17s for the second half), my Dad served in that HQ unit, as a senior Non-com, with likely hundreds and hundreds of other GIs, if not thousands. No, he was not part of Mac’s personal staff, not did I ever claim he was. My Dad was hardly in the Generals personal confidence, but just another senior Non-com.
So yeah, you are a fucking despicable cheap-ass coward , as your need to never be wrong (even when proven wrong) caused you to spread lies and insult a disabled WW2 veteran. And you and your ass sucking minion there, Dissonance, keep trying to state that you proved me a liar about my Dad, when in fact you were proved a liar. You two kept spreading that lie about a disabled WW2 veteran as you knew I did not like to post here in the pit, and thus you felt your lie and cowardice would not be exposed.
So will you admit you were wrong now? That yes, it was quite possible for an airman in the Army Air Force in the Philippines to get out, and thus possible for him to have the Defense of the Philippines medal. Will you apologize to a dead,disabled WW2 veteran?
You can say that rumor is bogus all you want, you can call me an asshole or whatever name you like, but even here in the Pit insulting a dead,disabled WW2 veteran is pretty low.
Note the lack of the word “personal”. Sure he was in Ma’s HQ unit, along with a bunch of other GIs. But a General has a personal staff also, much smaller.
@DrDeth, dude, just admit you got caught fudging a few facts about your dad’s service, and it won’t be a big deal anymore. You can still get out of this relatively unscathed.
The thing is, no one would give a shit, but you keep dragging this out into the light. Your need to be right despite all evidence to the contrary (and not just about your dad and his military service) is fucking pathological.
I didn’t realize that I was. But, if pressed, I’d say it’s because whatever it is he’s doing, he’s not particularly good at it. He’s bad at trolling, bad at calling others out, bad at defending himself. And it’s like watching a bird with a broken wing try to escape a couple of stray cats. You’re hoping they make it a quick mercy kill, but you know that won’t happen, and you’re transfixed as they keep playing with him.
As Gene Wilder said as Willy Wonka, “Mmm…The suspense is terrible… I hope it’ll last.”
Right? I think the focus on his dad is weird and don’t like it, and I think his Flying Squirrel Defense of Dungeons and Dragons is way funnier, but even I realize that the insult is to him, not his dad. Everyone’s calling DrDeth a prevaricator (at best).
He’s good at getting attention. Here’s a thread with 1250 replies already devoted specifically to him. If people really wanted to make a point, they could use ignore him. Just saying.
I agree. The title is historically far too wide-spread among varied professions to try to restrict it now to only one.
I was just pointing out that the topic of the OP here is not a physician, nor had he claimed to be one, as far as I knew. I’m not sure if the assertion that he claimed to be one had been made in jest or not, but he shouldn’t be pitted for something he didn’t claim.
A compelling exception is in the case of people expressing views on important medical topics and calling themselves “Doctor”, when their actual training is in something other than medicine, assuming it’s even health care-related in the first place.
There’s the phenomenon of the “open letter” on various subjects including vaccines, Covid-19 treatment etc., expressing far-out views, which is supposed to impress us with the number of signees (always a tiny percentage of the number of actual physicians). Many purport to have degrees in various related and unrelated fields, lots are dentists, chiropractors, naturopaths, homeopaths and for all we know, rug and basement doctors.
My fathet was in the Italian campaign during WWII. He was stationed in occupied Japan when the Korean conflict broke out, and was among the first units deployed there. He lost two fingers of his left hand in combat.
Scuttlebutt is a Navy term. I did not serve in the Army but if my father was a typical example the proper term was “Bullshit.”
(He never talked about his time in the service but I believe at one point he was one of the troops assigned to ensure the safety of MacArthur’s photographers and press corps. I do know he had nothing complimentary to say about MacArthur with some particularly pointed observations about the Inchon stunt.)