Keep The Young Guys Home ~ Send The Old Guys!

Old Guys Could Git-R-Done!  Think a minute…  America needs to go in a new direction when it comes sending our young to war!  After all we just elected a new president with new direction for the White House - let’s go in a new military direction and git-r-done!

The armed services are looking at things totally wrong instead of sending the young, often inexperienced 18 year old’s off to fight, maybe the services should take the old guys.  You know the ones.  You should not be able to join any service until you are at least 35.

It is a well known fact that 18 year old’s think about girls every 10 seconds.  While old guys only think about women a couple of times a day, leaving more that 28,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy…

It has also been proven that young guys haven’t lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier.   Constant thoughts like “My back hurts! I can’t sleep on this hard ground.  I’m tired and hungry.” make the old guys impatient and taking out the enemy who deserves it will make them feel better and possibly shut them up for awhile.

After all, 18 year old’s don’t even like to get up before 10 am.  Our old guys always are up early to make a trip to the bathroom.  If our old guys get captured they would not be able to spill the beans because they’d forget where they put them.  In fact, name rank and serial number would be a real brainteaser.

Old guys would find boot camp a breeze because they are already used to being screamed and yelled at plus they have become accustomed to soft, mushy food.

There would be no additional expense for training on the weapons course because the old guys have developed an appreciation for guns… they have been using them for years as an excuse just to get out of the house… away from all that screaming and yelling.

The services could even lighten up on that 20 foot wall with a rope hanging over the side.  How many many 20 foot walls have you seen in any combat photos with a rope?

As for running to get in shape - what for?  It has been shown to be very rare that anyone outruns a bullet no matter how fast they are.

Come on think about it - an 18 year old has the whole world ahead of him.  He is still learning to shave, how to talk to a girls, and he hasn’t figured out that a baseball cap has a brim to shade his eyes, not the back of his head.  These are all great reasons to keep our young men at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off to harm’s way.

Let the old guys track down those dirty rotten coward terrorist creeps.  The last thing the enemy would want to see right now is a couple of million pissed off old farts with attitudes and automatic weapons who know that their best years are already behind them and don’t give a crap.

If nothing else, then consider putting the old guys on the border patrol.  It would be secured by daybreak!

Git-R-Done Today!

Technorati Tags: armed services, change, git-r-done, new president, old guys

When in England , at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by The Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush.

He answered by saying, “Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

There was a conference in France where a number of International engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying “Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?”

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: “Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?’

You could have heard a pin drop.

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French Admiral suddenly complained that, “Whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.” He then asked, “Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?”

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, “Maybe it’s because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE…

Mr. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. “You have been to France before, monsieur?” the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. “Then you should know enough to have your passport ready” replied the customs officer.

The American said, ”The last time I was here, I didn’t have to show it.” “Impossible! Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France!”

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ”Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a single Frenchman to show a passport to.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

And as Paul Harvey likes to say, “And That Is The Rest Of The Story!”

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In February, 2007 the Washington Post broke the story about the neglect and delays at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Mind you Walter Reed is almost within walking distance to the capital and is also where a great deal of “important” government employees get their health care. It is now June, 2008 and what has happened in the past year to correct the inequities? Most say just a fresh coat of paint was applied. Time goes by - people forget. In a lot of respects this is true…the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that there has been very little progress on rectifying the shortfalls at Walter Reed.

But wait we can’t dump all over poor Walter Reed..there is plenty of blame to go around..The Department of Defense and The Veterans Administration need to be held accountable too because they cannot even agree on how to share data between themselves. There is no co-ordinated system that allows the 2 government bureaus to communicate by sharing military records. To make matters worse it is possible for a soldier to receive one rating from the DOD and a totally different rating from the VA. The current VA disability payment system was originated in 1945 and has changed very little according to the GAO to keep up with the growing world of technology. The military and VA have separate health care and also separate benefits systems…and you can trust me both are as complicated as your current years IRS instructions.

What does that mean to the average soldier needing care? It means a back log of at least 6 months, with an estimated over 400,000 pending claims. The average wait time is generally around 183 days. If your claim is approved you are on to the next paper shuffle…if your claim is not approved then you can expect a wait of at least 657 days or just about 2 years. Can you wait? It should also be noted that the DOD and the VA have been working to improve their information sharing systems by implementing a electronic medical records database. Progress has been slow though..they have only been working together since 1998. In addition to the slowness there has been many calls for better manpower to get the paperwork under control but that call has gone unheeded. You see some disability claims require the paperwork be sent to the VA from the US Army & Joint Services Records and Research Center. On average the Center has been taking one year to respond to requests from the VA. One final discouraging thought is that where you live means a difference in the payment you receive…certain states receive more like New Mexico compared to say Ohio.

This all boils down to our veterans, who have risked their lives for our freedoms being denied their right to medical and benefit care that they are entitled to. When the approval finally comes through - a sigh of relief can be heard around the world…but wait you do know there will be a slight delay while the paperwork is input. That is right..we have to make sure the paperwork is all in order..and we have all the pieces of paper.

As I have said before, it doesn’t matter which side of the war you stand on, it only matters that we take care of our own. No one is asking for a handout or a free ride..just what should rightfully be theirs in a timely fashion. As you look across the dinner table this evening at your growing son or daughter stop for a minute and think about how you would feel if it were happening to your family.

In summary I ask that you take a moment to email your Congressional Representative and ask them to work for the people. Ask them to help our soldiers returning home. If you do not know who your Representative is I would be happy to supply you with that information..just email me at info@boomersmagic.com and tell me where you live.

Thank you for reading this article and for remembering the right thing to do for all the sons and daughters who are serving and have served our country.  Maybe we can help shed light on this problem so our returning troops won’t get “tangled in red tape” - veterans fight another war!

“Building Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Families Worldwide”

Boomers Magic

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It does not matter which side of the current Iraq conflict you are on - DO NOT TAKE IT OUT ON OUR TROOPS! They are doing their duty to honor our country, our commander in chief and keeping you free to voice your opinions as you see fit, to go where you want to when you want to and to become the best you can be.

Memorial Day is personal to this writer. Not because I need a day off or because I want to have a cookout. It is because I experienced the backlash of Americans against our service personnel first hand. You see a long time ago I was graduating from high school and planning a wedding to my high school sweetheart, Charlie. We had a lot of things planned for our future. We rented an apartment, purchased furniture and both had gotten good jobs with large companies in our area. This was as good as it gets for my generation.

Vietnam changed those plans. Uncle Sam called for Charlie to serve his country. STOP! Everything ground to an abrupt halt while Charlie decided what to do…should he move to Canada as many in his age bracket were doing for amnesty…should he answer the call to serve…or should he just proceed with his plans and get married. Being raised on an Angus cattle farm gave Charlie the strong morale character that would help him later. Remember that in those days we believed everything the government said and did was right. We even believed that if we got under our desks at school and covered our head we would be protected from a nuclear event.

Charlie decided that his country needed him. He had to do the right thing and serve in the US Army instead of running to Canada or just getting married without regard to the future. He didn’t realize then that his time in the service would change the way he felt about everything. It would change his views, his personality, his feelings about the military and also how he interacted with others.

My story about Charlie is from the heart…you see he was wounded during his tour in jungles of Vietnam with the 1st Cav . He was forced to make decisions about his future while in a foreign country without support of any kind. He faced the disabilities with a resolve that made me proud. He, like many other wounded soldiers had to learn how to start over. How to do things differently because of his disabilities. But Charlie considers himself lucky. Lucky to be alive, lucky to return home, lucky to have the chance to carry on with his life. So many of his fellow soldiers were not that lucky.

Arriving home to convalesce at Walter Reed began a new chapter for Charlie. He arrived home on the day of Kent State shootings. He arrived home to people yelling that he was a baby killer. He arrived home to find that America did not support the war, did not want us in South East Asia, hated our military and experienced people spitting on his uniform.

Add to this the fact that less than 3 weeks prior to coming home he was in the jungle fighting for his life and that of his fellow soldiers. There was no de-war therapy for Charlie. There was no training on how to reacquaint yourself with the America that had changed while he was away. The service trained our troops for months to be able to fight in Vietnam but within days Charlie was retired, medically discharged and sent home. No amount of patience could change the reaction of America to our veterans. We treated them like lepers. We pushed them aside and pretended they were not part of our country.

Vietnam Veterans have long suffered this feeling of devastation, feeling cut off and removed from the rest of America. DON’T DO THIS TO OUR TROOPS! No matter how you fee about the war or any conflict we enter…support those who are giving their lives to keep you free. Support those who have answered the call. Support them when they return injured or uninjured. Thank a Veteran for doing a job that allows you to be you. Allows you to voice how you feel and gives you the rights you have.

From this humble baby boomer to all our troops - God Bless You All and Thank You for Keeping My Country Safe! I will always support what you do because I know you do it for my country.

Take a moment and send a soldier a note. You words of support for them will mean so much. It doesn’t take long to write something and to tell them you support them. Visit this website to send a note:

http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/tooursoldiers

If you would like to contact me - my email is: info@boomersmagic.com. I would like to hear your views because you have the right to express them. That right has been protected over the years by our soldiers giving their lives.

“Building Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Families Worldwide”

Boomers Magic

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