Ian Anderson
Lifetime Supporter
New American Flag?
- Thread starter IanAnderson
- Start date
Thats not good. I hope they don't realise where that flag came from.
Last edited:
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
No Tony, having an "SS" emblem as part of your squad insignia is not a good idea, no matter where you are or what you are doing.
I just hope they are a bunch of young guys who didn't understand the import of the symbol. If they did and did it anyway, they are am embarassment to our Armed Forces who stand for everything the SS did not not, and who fought the SS to make the world safe for all of us.
I just hope they are a bunch of young guys who didn't understand the import of the symbol. If they did and did it anyway, they are am embarassment to our Armed Forces who stand for everything the SS did not not, and who fought the SS to make the world safe for all of us.
Pat
Supporter
Well, I suspect Jeff is correct. This is probably more a reflection of historical ignorance than any glorification of Nazis. According to the Boston Globe when administered the official US citizenship test to 1,000 Americans earlier this year, Newsweek discovered that 33 percent of respondents didn’t know when the Declaration of Independence was adopted, 65 percent couldn’t say what happened at the Constitutional Convention, and 80 percent had no idea who was president during World War I. In a survey of 14,000 college students in 2006, more than half couldn’t identify the century when the first American colony was founded at Jamestown, the reason NATO was organized, or which document says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’’ And when asked which of four countries — the Soviet Union, Japan, China, and Vietnam — was North Korea’s ally in fighting US troops during the Korean War, nearly 80 percent of 12th-graders selected the wrong answer.
Numerous other surveys and studies confirm the gloomy truth: Americans don’t know much about history. In defense of the teaching profession, apparently world history had to be bumped from the curriculm to accomodate mandated coursework in condom usage, transgender studies and cross cultural sensitivity awareness.
Numerous other surveys and studies confirm the gloomy truth: Americans don’t know much about history. In defense of the teaching profession, apparently world history had to be bumped from the curriculm to accomodate mandated coursework in condom usage, transgender studies and cross cultural sensitivity awareness.
If this is real than this is not going to end well for these guys. First it is a SEPARATE flag and I bet dollars to donuts that these guys are NOT flying that any longer. Listen military men are not the brightest of people in general BUT this is just wrong on all accounts. I,m not calling ALL military men stupid just not well informed in anything outside of the task at hand. This is absolutely a disgrace and their superior I am sure is getting his A$$ handed to him for it. Again this just goes to reinforce EVERY stereotype of the military man / woman.
Sadly, it appears that it is not photoshopped.
Commandant orders probe into use of Nazi symbols by Marines - latimes.com
See and I was sure that I had caught a mistake. the soldier to the far right in the top row was the issue. In the pic the flag top right corner ends mid way through the stock of his gun. There seems to be some sort of support for the flag in that corner (notice the folds in that area) but that would mean that it went straight through the stock of the gun to be there or the soldier was holding his gun at more of an angle that the pic suggests (optical illusion). either way it just seems off. If you blow up th epic you will see what I mean that and I was trying to give the jar heads a little more credit than they seemed to deserve. If this is the case then they have just prove why the marines are thought of as the DUMBEST group of non thinking monkey men in the U.S. armed forces. Man I hate when stereotypes find a way to prove themselves right.
Having said that I do not believe that theses guys were antisemites I just (again if this is pr oven 100% true) think that are morons that KNEW what the SS was know for and wanted to strike fear into their enemies using this symbol (type of psychological warfare). Problem is that unless they were dropping this pic into the active zone than none of this would apply and again the stereotype proves itself again!!!!
Having said that I do not believe that theses guys were antisemites I just (again if this is pr oven 100% true) think that are morons that KNEW what the SS was know for and wanted to strike fear into their enemies using this symbol (type of psychological warfare). Problem is that unless they were dropping this pic into the active zone than none of this would apply and again the stereotype proves itself again!!!!
Pat
Supporter
Gee Damian, you are wrongfully perpetuating a military stereotype. I guess because I was in the military 30 years, my experience doesn't bear out your assessment of stupidity of average military men and women. Most of the truly stupid things I personally encountered were driven by the civilian leaders of the military (congressional funding of unrequested weapons systems, ridiculous rules of engagement, the use of contractors, and my pet peeve, the black beret.) Heck, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spent $175 million during 2010 to maintain hundreds of buildings that it does not even use. This includes a pink, octagonal monkey house in the city of Dayton, Ohio.
Try getting your kid into West Point, Annapolis or The Air Force Academy and let me know what you think of the academic standards. Colin Powell, (who I worked for a short time) seemed pretty well informed to me.
How about some data: (source DOD) The average IQ for new enlisted men in 1998 was about 105.This would be in the 60th to 65th percentile compared to all the young people in America when the Armed Forces Qualification Test was normalized in 1980 on the National Longitudinal Study of Youth's sample of 13,000 people ages 15-23.
Military recruits have a high school graduation rate of 98 percent and the national youth graduation rate of 75 percent. This trend continues among the 2004 and 2005 recruits when compared to the national educational attainment levels reported by the Census. Officers are increasingly well educated. It takes a college degree to become an officer. It almost always takes a master's degree to make it to the rank of major.
Or you can look for yourself Who Are the Recruits? The Demographic Characteristics of U.S. Military Enlistment, 2003-2005
You just PROVED EXACTLY what I was talking about. These snipers may have been Nobel prize winners but they have absolutely NO COMMON SENSE and that's what is missing from your view. Intelligence isn't just regurgitating information. They are great MONKEYS but not real leaders or THINKERS!!!!! Now You also talked about TWO higher end schools as an example. Why not say try getting a kid into Harvard? You talk about the exception as the rule while the truth is that it's the opposite. Yes the military child ALREADY IN ROTC is still in the middle of the grade! Just how many of the soldiers in that study were recruits off the street and NEVER in ROTC (which is where MOST recruits come from). See I can spin the numbers to. Just think about that in relation to your point. As far as the outside private influence I will say that if the military would gets it's head out of it's a$$ than they wouldn't be there period. War is big business and the govt controls it therefore they control the players. Oh we can go on & on back and forth but this pic if true doesn't do your view any justice does it?
Pat
Supporter
Damian, ROTC is for officer candidates not for enlisted soldiers. Read the study, it is comparing military enlistees in 1999 to those in 2003. (Officers are commissioned, not enlisted). And yes, getting into West Point is much harder than Harvard. Read for yourself, the Military Academy guide suggests you begin preparing in middle school! http://admissions.westpoint.edu/pros_cadets_sophs.html
Members of the military are "MONKEYS"??? Wow, in addition to be woefully misinformed, you sound angry. I guess that MONKEY Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger that landed the U.S. Air flight in the Hudson was just a mindless monkey who happened to have graduated from the Air Force Academy.
I won't attempt to defend the SS picture of the Marine Snipers at the basis of the blog. My assumption is that it is out of local ignorance, much like you see bikers with similar symbols (the Hells Angels Filthy Few patches bore the SS bolts which lore says means you killed for the club).
But I really can't defend your biased suggestion that it results from categorical and systemic military stupidity and the simian reference to most members of the armed forces. THAT would be unjust. Get a grip. Try actually meeting someone from the military.
Howard Jones
Supporter
George Washington, Ex US Military, Stupid ? Who's stupid now? FUAH, That means Fuck You Ass Hole for the stupid guy.
Pat
Supporter
I'm actually a bit in shock as to the "stupid monkey" view of veterans. I chatted about it at lunch with a friend and fellow vet, and he indicated that in his view, the sterotypes, largely from Hollywood, are pervasive. Further, it may be at the basis of the horrible situation in veterans employment.
Hint: for those of you non-vets, it's not really like in the movies "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket", "Good Morning Vietnam" or "Stripes"...
Looking at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data and it becomes apparent that while the job market is slowly improving for most Americans, it’s moving in the opposite direction for Gulf War II vets (defined by the BLS as those on active duty since 2001). The youngest of veterans, aged 18 to 24, had a 30.4 percent jobless rate in October, way up from 18.4 percent a year earlier. Non-veterans of the same age improved, to 15.3 percent from 16.9 percent. For some groups, the numbers can look a good deal worse: for black veterans aged 18-24, the unemployment rate is a striking 48 percent.
This is a national tragedy.
Hint: for those of you non-vets, it's not really like in the movies "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket", "Good Morning Vietnam" or "Stripes"...
Looking at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data and it becomes apparent that while the job market is slowly improving for most Americans, it’s moving in the opposite direction for Gulf War II vets (defined by the BLS as those on active duty since 2001). The youngest of veterans, aged 18 to 24, had a 30.4 percent jobless rate in October, way up from 18.4 percent a year earlier. Non-veterans of the same age improved, to 15.3 percent from 16.9 percent. For some groups, the numbers can look a good deal worse: for black veterans aged 18-24, the unemployment rate is a striking 48 percent.
This is a national tragedy.
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
My goodness I am agreeing with Veek.
The American military, and the American officer corps in particular, is remarkable for its level of education, commitment to the notion that it is always under the absolute control of the civilian government, and for never having challenged civilian rule.
Our young enlisted men and NCOs are generally far more educated than the rank and file in most military organizations outside of Western Europe. Our officer corps is educated at some of the best institutions in the country and are well read and versed in engineering, history, philsophy, military science, literature, and so on.
Do we have bad apples in teh American military? Of course. Are they the exception and not the rule? Yes.
The American military, and the American officer corps in particular, is remarkable for its level of education, commitment to the notion that it is always under the absolute control of the civilian government, and for never having challenged civilian rule.
Our young enlisted men and NCOs are generally far more educated than the rank and file in most military organizations outside of Western Europe. Our officer corps is educated at some of the best institutions in the country and are well read and versed in engineering, history, philsophy, military science, literature, and so on.
Do we have bad apples in teh American military? Of course. Are they the exception and not the rule? Yes.
Pat
Supporter
Thanks fellows, it arcs back to the discussion you had concerning the battle of Midway (which I really enjoyed and got a lot out of). I wish my father-in-law was still alive to ask about it, he was aboard the Yorktown.
The young men and women that are willing to lumber in with a torpedeo bomber against a Japanese carrier are cut from the same cloth as those willing to helo into a hot LZ in Vietnam or go house to house clearing the town of Ramadi. We're lucky to have them and they deserve our support.
The young men and women that are willing to lumber in with a torpedeo bomber against a Japanese carrier are cut from the same cloth as those willing to helo into a hot LZ in Vietnam or go house to house clearing the town of Ramadi. We're lucky to have them and they deserve our support.
