Do soldiers make better Martial Artists?

[Broadsword2004]

That makes sense. I don't think you're going to get two agreeing points of view from anyone who's commentating on something that stirs up so much emotion like the Vietnam War. Every time I meet a Vietnam Vet I shake their hand and tell them thank you. I've come back from ops and had the majority of people back home not even know that we're fighting in that particular part of the world. Sometimes that was hard to take. But to be one of the lucky ones and make it back from Vietnam, then get spit on by your own people, I just don't get that. I can't even concieve how hard that must have been!

Jeremy, that's EXACTLY what happened to this Special Forces guy! He said about 5 minutes after he got off the plane from Vietnam, he got spit on (literally) by some hardcore anti-war person. He said he felt like giving the guy a good crack on the head, but of course that would've been a very bad thing to do, so he said instead he went up to the guy and asked if he could buy him a drink and talk. The guy said yes, so they talked, and he said he couldn't change the guy's opinion, but he says he think that guy came away with a better understanding of what those U.S. soldiers in Vietnam were going through, and what it was like when people like him did stuff like that (i.e. spit on them).

He also told me about a guy he knew who had a low I.Q. and thus thought it would be cool to join the Army right at the height of the Vietnam War. That guy was just your standard grunt, I guess a real Forest-Gump type. He saw some heavy heavy combat though and when he came back from Vietnam, he just went straight to his bedroom and wouldn't come out for weeks.

For years he refused to say about what happened over in Vietnam, but then eventually he came out and told this guy that he must've killed an insanely large number of people while over there. He was wounded too, which he said was when they were walking through the jungle, and all of a sudden they were in an intense firefight, and the Vietnamese were firing artillery of some type. He said he flattened out on the ground because he was terrified, but then he said he realized he was a sitting duck there because of the artillery, so he got up to move some, and right as he'd gotten up and moved a few feet, a shell landed right where he'd been laying. It blew shrapnel all up his back (a lot of it is still there today); I think then he was sent home. He won't talk about that though with anyone else.

Yeah, I don't get how people could be so mean to such soldiers either.

I remember reading one soldier who said he came back in a wheelchair, and a whole group of anti-war people were following him, yelling at him, and then they banged all on his bus as he drove away (makes you wonder, what's wrong with people! they get so wrapped up in an opinion, they forget what the opinion itself stands for).

[Broadsword2004]

Hey koto_ryu, since the subject of the Marine Corps was brought up, do you know the age limit for like Marine Force Recon, for an officer??

[47MartialMan]

I had always had the opinion that any miltary fighting method is a martial art

[koto_ryu]

Hey koto_ryu, since the subject of the Marine Corps was brought up, do you know the age limit for like Marine Force Recon, for an officer??

You can stay with Recon as long as they'll let you stay in the Corps, I met a SgtMaj who was pushing 50 and could still run the average operator into the ground.

[koto_ryu]

I remember reading one soldier who said he came back in a wheelchair, and a whole group of anti-war people were following him, yelling at him, and then they banged all on his bus as he drove away (makes you wonder, what's wrong with people! they get so wrapped up in an opinion, they forget what the opinion itself stands for).

It was like that in some instances for OIF as well. I spent a night in LA County Jail after my buddy and I got in a fight with these five college kids who were taunting us hardcore about the whole babykiller and whatnot thing they probably copped off of their favorite war movie. We ignored it for a time, eventually decided to leave, but thats when a drunker one of the five decided to toss a beer bottle at Big D. Needless to say, we gave them a beating they won't forget for some time and the cops were more sympathetic towards us than most. Shit like that happens all over, some people are just looking for a cause to mindlessly devote themselves to (in this case, protesting a war) and never look at the big picture.

[Broadsword2004]

Yeah; I read about something like in some book written by a Marine where he says college kids pestered them lots too.

Oh, by age limit, I meant what is the Marine's age limit for letting one join Force Recon? Like what is the cutoff age before they say, "Hey man, you're too old for this."

[koto_ryu]

Yeah; I read about something like in some book written by a Marine where he says college kids pestered them lots too.

Oh, by age limit, I meant what is the Marine's age limit for letting one join Force Recon? Like what is the cutoff age before they say, "Hey man, you're too old for this."

My buddy Thatcher was 38 when he went through BRC (Basic Reconnaisance Course)

[47MartialMan]

And why shouldnt the armed forces be considered as a martial art/artists, they are training for war-martial. Art is the methods and practices of martial....

[Broadsword2004]

Is there an age limit for being an operator in Force Recon (like a cut-off age I mean)?

[jubaji]

It was like that in some instances for OIF as well. I spent a night in LA County Jail after my buddy and I got in a fight with these five college kids who were taunting us hardcore about the whole babykiller and whatnot thing they probably copped off of their favorite war movie. .

They should have given you the key to the city for beatin' the stupid punks.

[koto_ryu]

Broadsword :

My buddy Thatcher was 38 when he went through BRC (Basic Reconnaisance Course)

[Broadsword2004]

Well I mean I think I remember you told me being in Force Recon doesn't mean you are a noperator necessarily. So I mean like could you be allowed into Force Recon at like 38, but say the cut-off point for being an operator is like something in the 20s?

[koto_ryu]

Well I mean I think I remember you told me being in Force Recon doesn't mean you are a noperator necessarily. So I mean like could you be allowed into Force Recon at like 38, but say the cut-off point for being an operator is like something in the 20s?

Nope, as long as you can keep up you can stay in. BRC is what all operators-to-be have to go through and pass.

[Broadsword2004]

i c

How come the cutoff age for like Navy SEALS is 27?? (or at least that is what I read)....the cutoff age being the latest you can join the SEALS I mean is 27 (I think; could be wrong).

[HtTKar]

http://www.marionstar.com/news/stories/20041211/localnews/1731211.html

Retired Army colonel, 70, sent to Afghanistan

I guess at this point, it doesn't matter how old you are.