# Snakespirit . . . dude, what the fuck? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 25, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767 "2004-07-25T05:14:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/41 "2004-07-27T14:10:34Z")
> [@Snakespirit](#): > > Not that it’s anyone’s business, but may 9, 1968, Kontum provence on the road to Polei Kleng. We missed a land mine. > Shit, you don’t even miss it. > Don’t mean nothin’. Yeah, right. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/42 "2004-07-27T14:23:33Z")
> [@](#): > > **DrDeth** said: > Ziiiiinnng!!! Winah, winah, winah!! While being called an ‘asshole’ and a ‘coward’ do qualify as insults, I don’t get why being dickless is supposedly bad. I’m _supposed_ to be dickless. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/43 "2004-07-27T14:27:47Z")
Well, not necessarily _all_ the time. Unless you’d prefer. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/44 "2004-07-27T14:41:17Z")
Leave it to The Man From Nipples to put things in proper context. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/45 "2004-07-27T15:10:47Z")
> [@Desmostylus](#): > > Yeah, right. :rolleyes: I concur. My bullshit alarm’s pegging out. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/46 "2004-07-27T15:20:43Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > I concur. My bullshit alarm’s pegging out. Maybe, but how’s he going to prove it? Post photos? :eek: Not much alternative but to take his word for it. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/47 "2004-07-27T15:32:18Z")
> [@Early Out](#): > > Maybe, but how’s he going to prove it? Post photos? :eek: > > Not much alternative but to take his word for it. Many people on this board have claimed to have served in the military, and used that experience to back up assertions. They’ve been more than willing to provide proof of their tour of duty. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/48 "2004-07-27T15:32:25Z")
> [@](#): > > may 9, 1968, Kontum provence on the road to Polei Kleng. Those are some fairly specific details and some fairly obscure place names. To be honest, I thought that **Snakespirit** ’s post seemed a little “young” to me and I thought he was a kid. This is some pretty obscure detail for a kid to pull out of his ass, though. If it’s not legit then it represents a rather elaborate (and very strange) attempt at deception. A kid would say something like Hanoi or Saigon because that’s all they’ve ever heard of. They wouldn’t know anything about specific roads and provinces. I’m going to choose to err on the side of human decency here. If I’m getting whooshed by a kid, then fine, I’m getting whooshed by a kid, I’d rather get whooshed than be (even unintentionally) insensitive to a wounded vet, though…especially when the wound is something so emotionally devestating to a male. I know Snake said he doesn’t miss it, but it had to have been difficult nonetheless, at least in the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/49 "2004-07-27T15:42:05Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > To be honest, I thought that **Snakespirit** ’s post seemed a little “young” to me and I thought he was a kid. Not to me at all. He has talked about outlaw bikers with knowledge and overall has seemed like an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/50 "2004-07-27T15:58:24Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Not to me at all. He has talked about outlaw bikers with knowledge and overall has seemed like an adult. I didn’t mean i thought he was a child, I meant “kid” like a college kid. It would be far from the first time that I formed a completely erroneous impression of a poster, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/51 "2004-07-27T16:10:54Z")
> [@BytopianDream](#): > > Where’s Your Sanity, Dude? “Oh, that’sa crazy, there ain’t no Sanity Dude…” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/52 "2004-07-27T16:44:59Z")
This reeks of bullshit. Stinks to high heaven. As much as I share friend **Dio’s** reluctance to speak ill of the wounded, this stinks. And if what I suspect is true, it is nauseating. How might such a wound occur? Certainly not by rifle bullet, a rifle bullet entering from the front would plow though a whole lot of vital stuff, as well as severing the arterys that are intended to supply huge amounts of blood when the, ah, situation requires. A trajectory from side would have to traverse the thigh. Not impossible. Not likely. Such an injury by way of shrapnel is just about as problematic, if not more so. In the first instance, the unfortunate victim would die of blood loss even if the wound occured twenty paces from the operating room of an aid station. Surviving such an injury would be well nigh miraculous. Flatly stated, I don’t believe it. I won’t speculate on what sort of distorted needs would motivate such behavior, but it would not be the first time I’d heard of someone claiming combat experience or combat wounds without any foundation in truth. I don’t believe you. **Snakespirit**. I think you are attempting to gain by bathos what you cannot gain by argument. I think you’re full of shit. If I’m wrong, I’m dreadfully wrong, and not for the first time. And why in the world would any man reveal such a thing to a board full of strangers just to gain an edge in some piddly argument? I’m not asking for proof, I doubt such proof is even possible. But the simple fact is, I don’t believe you. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/53 "2004-07-27T16:58:03Z")
> [@](#): > > **elucidator** said: > Well, not necessarily all the time. Well yeah, I do like to borrow one from the male when the mood strikes. But never, ever, would I consider a firearm a suitable stand in. That’s just dangerous, and all those acidic juices are _not good for the steel_. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/54 "2004-07-27T17:08:13Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > This reeks of bullshit. Stinks to high heaven. As much as I share friend **Dio’s** reluctance to speak ill of the wounded, this stinks. And if what I suspect is true, it is nauseating. > > How might such a wound occur? Certainly not by rifle bullet, a rifle bullet entering from the front would plow though a whole lot of vital stuff, as well as severing the arterys that are intended to supply huge amounts of blood when the, ah, situation requires. A trajectory from side would have to traverse the thigh. Not impossible. Not likely. Such an injury by way of shrapnel is just about as problematic, if not more so. > > In the first instance, the unfortunate victim would die of blood loss even if the wound occured twenty paces from the operating room of an aid station. Surviving such an injury would be well nigh miraculous. > > Flatly stated, I don’t believe it. I won’t speculate on what sort of distorted needs would motivate such behavior, but it would not be the first time I’d heard of someone claiming combat experience or combat wounds without any foundation in truth. > > I don’t believe you. **Snakespirit**. I think you are attempting to gain by bathos what you cannot gain by argument. I think you’re full of shit. > > If I’m wrong, I’m dreadfully wrong, and not for the first time. And why in the world would any man reveal such a thing to a board full of strangers just to gain an edge in some piddly argument? > > I’m not asking for proof, I doubt such proof is even possible. But the simple fact is, I don’t believe you. He said it was from a landmine. It’s my understanding that some mines in Nam were specifically jiggered in such a way so as to cause castration. Doesn’t mean he isn’t lying, but it’s not impossible either. There _are_ castrated veterans out there. It’s also possible that “losing it” could be somewhat figurative. perhaps it was simpy maimed or severely damaged. You’re also assuming that Snake implied a _localized_ injury which may not be the case. perhaps he suffered extensive injury to his entire lower body. This is all just specualtion on my part, of course, but I think there’s a window of plausibility, especially considering the relative obscurity of the place names he mentioned. As to **Snake’s** motivations for telling us about it…I have no idea. Maybe after 30+ years a guy stops caring. My attitude is not one of uncritical credulity, but rather a stance that _just in case it’s not bullshit_, I’ll quit making dick jokes when talking to the guy. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/55 "2004-07-27T17:31:08Z")
I respect your temperate and reasonable approach, **Dio** , but I think you’re being subjected to psychic jiu-jitsu. The kind of mine you speak of are pretty well known, even to the very rearest of Rear Echelon Motherfuckers, like myself. But the mine (typically called the “Bouncing Betty”) was designed more to cause injury than death. The ghastly strategic thinking being that if one man is injured, many others are taken out of action by the need to care for him. Wounds to the abdomen are the more specific intent, since they are horrendously difficult to treat (blood loss, peritonitis, etc.) The “BB” was designed with that in mind, the psychic terror imposed by possible injury to ones “credentials” is a bonus. As for place names and such… don’t mean much. Such a place exists, I checked, and so what. If I can look it up, anybody can. One Tim O’Brien book would be sufficient. Anybody can sling lingo around, I can as well, and I was never closer than San Francisco. Now, if I’m wrong, I’m dreadfully wrong, and I’ll own up to it. Trouble is, there is very little likelihood it can be resolved, so I probably would have been smarter just to ignore it, since there is more intuition than causality here. But that’s what I think. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/56 "2004-07-27T17:38:55Z")
The first thing that came to mind about the castrated veterans was the movie _Born on the Fourth of July_, which I haven’t seen in years, but I seem to remember Ron Kovic having been paralyzed and referring to himself as having been ‘castrated’. I don’t know the exact injuries that **Snakespirit** had, but I would just outright say he’s lying. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/57 "2004-07-27T18:21:57Z")
I agree with **Diogenes**. (Wow! That makes _two_ times! There _must_ be a blue moon floating about. 😃 ) Snakespirit only brought it up in regard to someone who called him dickless. He didn’t volunteer it gratuitously. And as **Diogenes** said, he was pretty specific about relatively obscure details that the average person who hadn’t been there wouldn’t have known about. I believe him. And another reason I believe him is that _elucidator_ doesn’t. 😃 And **Snakespirit** , I know you said it’s no big deal, but I’m very sorry to hear about your injury. What a strong, courageous and stoic guy you are. (Hmm…that explains the conservativism, doesn’t it? 😉 ) Apologies for all the smilies. They just seemed appropriate. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/58 "2004-07-27T18:50:51Z")
Give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Jesus, a person owns up to something like that and you guys are calling bullshit right out of the gates. At least have a little class like **Dio** and play it safe for the time being. Should the guy send you a Polaroid? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/59 "2004-07-27T19:18:43Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Jesus, a person owns up to something like that and you guys are calling bullshit right out of the gates. At least have a little class like **Dio** and play it safe for the time being. Should the guy send you a Polaroid? :rolleyes: That’s too easy to fake. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767/60 "2004-07-27T20:16:09Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] **Snakespirit** either lies to himself or he is lacking in one-on-one integrity. He seems to show a basic misunderstanding about what is “private” at SDMB and what is actually viewable by 47,000+ members. He suggests that he doesn’t have a problem with his ego, but he is highly defensive and aggressive. The good thing is that there is a lot of room for growth and I think that he will take advantage of it. He has the heart for it. He will learn to center himself, stop attempting to control others, spend time in introspection and respond from a more balanced and educated emotional intelligence. He will change more than he’s ever dreamed. And that, I think, is what the fuck is going on. [QUOTE] Hmm. You know, **Zoe** , I think you’re right in your assessment of the current sitch, and I hope you’re correct in you prediction. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakespirit-dude-what-the-fuck/256767.md?page=4)