Good Lord this is such bullshit. But hey-keep beating that anti-gun drum in every thread you participate in if it gives your jammies the jingles.
Being threatened actually is assault under the definition of the law but I think you knew that already. You are looking for battery cases. I can’t honestly say I know of any of those personally other than second-hand reports but that doesn’t mean much either. It surely happened somewhere like demonstrations in San Francisco but it wasn’t the internet age at a time where people could just videotape and upload everything on a whim for the whole world to see. Lack of photographic or videotape evidence doesn’t mean as much for claims then as it does today.
It isn’t really that important if it ever happened or not for the purposes of the question from the OP. People believe it did and probably saw some attitudes expressed that led them to believe it was a threat so that they put up an extreme defensive wall protecting service members.
I think that’s probably true. I don’t personally know anyone who hates the military, but I’m sure these people exist. As far as Vietnam, I don’t know how you could send a more powerful message of condemnation or abuse than to let veterans suffer with PTSD, fall prey to addiction and become homeless. I feel like when we talk about ‘‘supporting our troops’’ we’re really saying one thing but on a policy level, on a human level, not following through. I don’t understand why there isn’t more demand from the general public that our veterans are taken care of, for all the fuss so many people make about it.
As for police officers, EMTs and firefighters, they definitely get a lot of support, too. But they aren’t the people with the most dangerous jobs. That would be fishers, loggers, farmers, electricians and a number of other people who do their part to keep the wheels turning at great personal risk to themselves. Now I guess you could argue that the military folks deserve more honor because what they are doing is selfless and serving the country whereas these other guys are just looking for work. But I don’t see it that way. I feel like everything we do, no matter what the sacrifice, we do because we think it’s worth it, because it brings us some sense of personal satisfaction. Military people strike me as some of the happiest people I know. The army wives on my Facebook post every day about how grateful they are to God for everything they have. They are for the most part doing what they want to do because it brings their life a sense of purpose or fulfillment. And I am genuinely happy for them.
I only discussed my experience as the partner of a grad student because it’s the only entry point I have in relating to this conversation. I haven’t lived around military people in my life (though I do have a cousin in Afghanistan) so I really have no idea what the day-to-day grind is like and frankly I can’t imagine it. What I’m going through now is hard enough as it is. If my husband was gone for months? Years? Unfathomable. Not to mention it all comes in the context of a culture that bears no resemblance to my own. But I do know what it’s like to sign up for something with no real idea of what day-to-day sacrifices must be made, and to struggle a lot with that choice. I imagine a lot of parents know what that’s like too. I was not trying to draw an equivalency but to point out this universal human experience; it might vary in degree but we are not as alone as we think we are.
None of this negates the pain and sacrifice involved in military life, but it does make me wonder why these choices must be elevated above everyone else’s. I’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of superior attitudes but maybe it’s just a reflexive action because military partners feel like they are under attack. I don’t know. I think in the end, we all wish for our experiences to be validated.
You are a reasonable person olivesmarch4th. I just wanted say that. I may be dick at times you are always good and level-headed. I understood what you are saying and I have your back.
I have the magnetic ribbons on my car because I interned at the VA Medical Center on a research project evaluating support group services to spouses of veterans with PTSD and TBI. I put them on my car to show support not only for our troops but for their families. I was an ARMY brat and my husband is considering joining the Navy after he graduates from Pharmacy school. The military has always been part of my life, and I see beyond the politics of the left and the right and just see the humanity of the men and women who serve in the armed forces and the struggles their families go through with the temporary or permanent absence of their loved ones, the personal and social consequences of serving, the associated physical and metal trauma, and the reality of military service which often gets lost in the political squabble.
I meant mental not metal, LOL
Missed the edit deadline 
She really is an asset to the community.
What do you believe he meant by it?
I wrote the OP asking people who actually had the bumper sticker why they had it and what it means to them, so far all I’ve read is why people believe others have it on their car.
I’ve seen an occasional pro-coal miner bumper sticker in West Virginia.
It’s funny - there’ve been a lot of these types of threads in the past couple months. Maybe (hopefully?) the pendulum is swinging back towards a balanced center after the “Support our Troops!” frenzy of Gulf War I and II and the military-bashing of the Vietnam era.
As I said in some of those other threads, IMHO the current soldier-worship is overdone. Everyone in the military right now volunteered to be there. If you think the war is evil, don’t support the troops, because they all chose to be a part of it. They and their families make sacrifices, but they’re also pretty well compensated, with a great benefits package that many of their civilian peers could only dream of…which is why most of them joined in the first place!
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Well said. I am in pretty much the same boat WRT the military being a big part of my life and upbringing. It’s cliched but true: people that have never been through it don’t really understand it. It isn’t about this “hero worship” nonsense, it’s personal.
Let’s have a look at that. Here’s Chicago’s deaths by gun since the US went to war against Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now, let’s look at those US forces figures.
In the whole of the Iraq campaign, there were 4,480 deaths, and as of Aug. this year, they’d just crossed the 2,000 deaths mark in Afghanistan.
That makes 6,480 or thereabouts. In the same time period, Chicago - just that one city - has had around 3664 dead just as a result of guns, so, they’ve had half the deaths the forces have suffered in all their campaigns and skirmishes.
So, who’s coming out with the bullshit?
You need to factor in the relative populations as well. so gun deaths per capita in Chicago and the US army in Afghanistan, I’m guessing the US army will be worse.
A better comparison is Chicago per capita gun violence to that of cities in other industrialized countries in Europe and Asia.
The two are not equivalent. You made the claim about one being safer in a combat zone than in Chicago. While your stats, if true, support that claim on paper, it is not the same thing. Where in Chicago are the majority of these gun related killings occurring? Therein lies your answer.
You just proved yourself wrong. There were more deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan than in Chicago, in both absolute count and relative to the population, by your own numbers. Guess you can add another gun casualty - you just shot yourself in the foot.
I award you Bobt’s Awesome Post Of The Day Award for 11/22/2012.
I do the voting, it was unanimous.
Did you even read my post?
Goodness gracious, I really appreciate that. All of you.
It was just a general show of support and remembrance for my brother. He actually had two, and he wrote my brother’s name on one and his best friend (who served with him and was disowned by his family (for other things, not military service) and became like a second son to my dad) on the other. I thought it was sweet. I might have done something similar, but I didn’t own a car at the time.
Wow, that’s a coincidence! I was about to say the same exact thing!! 