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Hansang Bae (1984)
I thnk brats are better adjusted than your avg kid. The concept of staying put from birth to death is so foreign to me. I know people in Long Island who've never left Long Island. Very weird to me. Also, the first time I went to a civvy movie theater, I stood up when the lights dimmed. My friends were looking at me like "WTH are you doing???"
Another time, we were vacationing in Maine and at 1700, the National Anthem played. I went straight to Reveille mode and had to remind myself that I didn't have to render a hand salute. But I had to explain to my family that paying respect is important.
Then I took my family to Korea. I took the kids (incl nephews/nieces) to UN Cemetary in Busan and had them read the plaques of the War Dead. 18, 19, 20, 21 year old boys and men who died during the Korean war. I explained how the US is the only country that bring the dead home. And why they had to pay respect. Why 50K+ US troops, UN and countless ROK paid with their lives so that we can enjoy what we have today.
Another funny story. One day, we were talking (right after OEF or OIR, can't remember) and she was shcoked that I was still in IRR. And I remember telling her, 'Don't worry honey, they don't need out of shape Infantry officers, they need staff pukes so I'll never be recalled" Then two weeks later, she called me hyperventialting. She had to sign for a certified letter from Dept of Army. She was freaking out. I came home, and I opened the letter. It was the OPM (milpercen?) breach. If I'm honest, there was a part of me that was little disapointed.
Then about a year later, a coworker called me around 6PM. He knew I was still in the office. The was an NG Armor officer. And he told me his unit just got activated. We talked a long time about how he was going to miss his 3 year old girl. And I told him she'll never know you were gone. That I'd rather be gone when she's 3 than 13. And how Armor was going to be a walk in the park after the absolute air dominance. How we both admitted as Combat Arms that it's a little excititng. And how we could never tell that to civillians because they'd never understand. Three days into being in-country, he was killed when a grenade was thrown into the tent he was sharing with the outgoing CO (he was taking over for him). I was gobsmacked.
The one thing I'll end with. It's not a political statement, it's just a point of view. People who complain and moan about every aspect of American life are the ones who've never set foot in a poor country. They have no perspective of what it means to suffer to *that* level. What was it Kruchev (?) said at a UN speech once? "your homelss live in *their cars" Growing up in Korea, I didn't have running hot water. Didn't have a toilet, just an outhouse. No toilet paper, just newspaers and magazines. You spent the time loosening the fibers (no pun inteded) so they could be used as softer toilet paper. You raised vegetables and chickens for food. I remember getting vaccinated with a needled that the nurse would dip in alcohol and put it to a candle to sterilize. And even at 7 years, you knew it was going to hurt like hell if you weren't the first 5 or so people as the needle dulled with each shot. LOL. I wish there was a way for me to teleport some of these people to a poor country. I'm proud that Korea went from the penultimate poor country in the world to what it is today. But I will never forget the men and boys that died to make that happen. How Task Force Smith had to carry out a DLIC mission. We talked about it at IOBC in an acadmic sense. What it means to sentence people to death so that others may live. (DLIC == Detachment Left In Contact). And Task Force Smith had to actually do it. I wish there was a way for me to have the people experience it. Then maybe everyone will take a breath and realize that "you know what, we have it pretty damn good and we have more in common than not" Everything is relative.
Sorry for the rambiling...
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