My embarassing, idiot Republican father

[skygazer]

The "father in WWII" thread made me think of this. My dad recently spent some time with my sister who lives in DC. Now my sister works for the State Department and has been posted in hot spots all over the world for the last 12 or 15 years. My dad wanted to see the WWII memorial so she took him there.

Dad is technically a WWII vet. He enlisted in the navy in '45 just before the end of the war and served on a ship that never went anywhere remotely close to a danger zone and the war was over within a couple of months of his enlistment but he's technically a vet.

So he wears his WWII vet jacket and cap and parades around the memorial and good-hearted people come up and thank him for his service (and it's very nice that people do that) and he's a fucking HUMBUG because he lets them believe that he stormed Tarawa or something when he just slung hash on a boat somewhere and never had a shot fired at him.

Meanwhile my sister who has served her country a lot longer and more effectively than he ever did (and who HAS been shot at more than once) looks like chopped liver next to him. It just really annoyed me - his taking credit for something he really didn't experience. And it's so typically Republican.

[djeseru]

1. I've never understood that either.

My step-dad is a former Marine, served for a couple of years between Korea and Vietnam. Yet he seems compelled to act as though he's the "authority" when it comes to the military and I should know better than to question my country's actions. It comes complete with a Marine flag flying next to the US flag in his front yard, hats and sweatshirts he wears constantly, then to the Marine stickers and accessories for his Harley and his two trucks. Yet, prior to 9/11, this wasn't such an issue. He couldn't care less about his service, or what there was of it, 15 to 20 years ago.

I have found as I get older, I am understanding my parents less and less...

[TheBaldyMan]

2. give your dad a break

the war didn't end when it did because of your dad. If it hadn't ended he would have gone off and done his duty. Both my parents were in uniform right at the end of the war 44-45, they were just bits of kids who enlisted at SIXTEEN! thankfully they both came through unscathed. Okay your dad is a bit light on the tit tin but be thankful he wasn't involved in combat.

I'm not detracting from your sisters service but I think you'll find she downplays her service anyway.

[skygazer]

4. Oh, I absolutely appreciate the fact that he enlisted

And that he would have done his duty had it continued. I just think it's hypocritical of him to let people think he was some kind of combat hero and that's exactly what he did. Purposely. This is the same guy who scoffed at John Kerry's purple hearts and said they were awarded for "scratches." You can't play it both ways, as far as I'm concerned. If you expect people to honor your service, you should honor the service of others. And you shouldn't mislead people about what that service entailed. He could very well have visited the memorial without all the WWII trappings - he did that solely to get attention.

[Darth_Kitten]

5. Ask him about his scratches....

what scratches did you get in WWII, Dad? ;)

I hate hypocrisy, or people sitting on their laurels. ;)

[TheBaldyMan]

9. Agreed it does cut both ways

My folks downplayed their exploits in the war themselves and were life long lefties.

[EstimatedProphet]

3. Yeah, that would be pretty galling to watch

Technically, anone who was in the military is a vet, but pretending to have been in a war is low.

[bullwinkle428]

6. My Dad actually did serve during the war in Korea, but he never

made a big deal about it to anyone - no macho, blowhard attitude about it during the entire time I knew him (he passed away in 1999). In fact, his political and sociological attitudes clearly had a stronger influence on me and my brother than anyone else we knew growing up...he was always a very proud Democrat! :patriot:

[Gatchaman]

7. Only about 25% of the soldiers in WWII

actually fired their gun in combat.

[TheBaldyMan]

8. thanks to new brainwashing techniques

sorry I mean 'conditioning during training' it's improved 40-60% and they shoot to kill.

God, how I hate those O.R. pricks.

that's probably why there's so many vets with PTSD

[xmas74]

10. I read that somewhere once, I believe.

Unfortunately, according to his service records, my grandfather was one of the ones who had to fire his gun.
Sorry, just thinking about him today. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of his death.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. My father-in-law served a full tour in WWII

But he doesn't puff about it, he was stateside training recruits. He would be appalled if people thought he was one of the vets who was in Europe or the Pacific and corrects anyone who assumes it. He's proud of his service but he knows that others risked more. Oh, yeah, he's a lifelong Democrat too.

My grand-uncle who had nasty duty in Europe refused to talk about his WWII service to anyone but my Vietnam combat vet brother. He was also a lifelong Dem.

Same pattern throughout my family. The ones who served in the war zone are the least likely to talk about it -- and one did storm Tarawa.

[Capn Sunshine]

12. I was going to post something similar

You'll find, the closer to combat most vets are, the less they speak of, let alone glorify, their experiences in wartime.

And I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you all to give a few bucks to the DAV:

http://www.dav.org/donations/index.html

[graywarrior]

13. He deserves a medal for living this long.

What's he in his 80's? He probably believes he really contributed. Plus, sounds like he raised a couple of great kids. Be proud of him, even if he is a fundy.

[nicknameless]

14. Reagan was even worse, in that regard:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20040628/cockburn

There was no internationally recognized border in Reagan's mind between fantasy and fact, the dividing line having been abolished in the early 1940s when his studio's PR department turned him into a war hero, courtesy of his labors in "Fort Wacky" in Culver City, where they made training films. The fanzines disclosed the loneliness of R.R.'s first wife, Jane Wyman, her absent man (a few miles away in Fort Wacky, home by suppertime) and her knowledge of R.R.'s hatred of the foe. "She'd seen Ronnie's sick face," Modern Screen reported in 1942, bent over photos of starved babies in Poland, gritting between "set lips" that "this would make it a pleasure to kill." A photographer for Modern Screen recalled later that Reagan wished to be photographed on his front step in full uniform, kissing his wife goodbye.

[TheBaldyMan]

15. give Reagan his due

when the story about Dubya going AWOL was raging I found out that Reagan did try to volunteer for active duty. His eyesight was so poor he was turned down by all the services. He was later drafted into the army to make films, in this respect he comes off a lot better than some who were content to be reservists in the Coast Guard (aka the Hollywood Navy) or John Wayne who used the absense of half of Hollywoods leading men to occupy a niche as male lead.

edit for typos

[qnr]

16. I take umbrage with that, but I'll withhold comment n/t

[nicknameless]

20. Reagan's "due" wouldn't be printable.

Making movies required more courage than being a Reservist in the Coast Guard?!!! :eyes:

There have been MANY rethug chicken hawks, and Reagan was one of them. Despicable bastards who send others to die and to murder.

[TheBaldyMan]

21. it wasn't unknown for stars to enlist in the US Coastguard

as they were based in California they were restricted to coastal waters off the Western seaboard, it was sometimes jocularly referred to as the Hollywood Navy for this reason.

Some big hollywood stars did try repeatedly to sign up but were turned down on health grounds (e.g. Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart AND Ronald Reagan)

Other stars did serve with distinction interrupting a lucrative career often at its height in a business where there a was a lot of competition. Some served in the USO, touring theatres in combat zones. refer to website : The Stars go to war

Poor old Ronnie was turned down by the Army and the Navy/USMC because of his eyesight and was turned down by the USAF because of his hearing. But he did get to make 'Desperate Journey' with Errol Flynn and Alan Hale, probably one of the corniest movies ever made.

John Wayne ducked his service and spent the war furthering his movie career.

[mulsh]

17. my dad - sub corps

my dad served in the pacific theater, mostly on submarines. his younger brother served in the marines in europe, he recieved a purple heart. on ther other side of the family three uncles were in the army durring WWII, one of them was killed in France, the other two were in the pacific theater, they both survived japanese prison camps.
none of them ever brag about their service. my brothers and I were never encouraged to join the military.

[undeterred]

18. Both of my uncles served in WWII

One in the Pacific and the other in Europe.

The uncle who served in Europe was in some of the bloodiest campaigns in Italy. He was "shell shocked" (that's what they used to call PTSD) and disappeared for a year, then returned to combat. He suffered from depression for years afterwards. We could never get him to say much about it, and he never encouraged anyone to enter the military. I suspect that he killed people and felt lifelong guilt over it as he was deeply religious and I just can't imagine him doing anything violent.

The other uncle was on a ship that was attacked in the Pacific and he was in the ocean for nearly 24 hours before being rescued. His best friend drowned wearing my uncles life jacket, and he watched another friend get killed by a shark. That's about all he ever said about it, and it took years.

My father could not serve for medical reasons. He was the right age, and I think he felt badly that he could not serve when everyone he knew was going over. I can't imagine him letting anyone think that he served though.

[Skittles]

19. hey - he served - that's more than most chickenhawk repugs do

it's worth something