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Project Jenny KLIK - 1st Inf Di v Women in Vietnam RELATED-- To AFVN To Saigon To Vietnam Further Afield Index
From: Bob Nelson
Date: May, 27, 2015
Subject: When We Wore the Uniform
Wow, minus the jet fuel and being at sea.... Totally, totally agree with this. Unfortunately even the newest recruit will not share this..., the military is changing too damn fast.
From: Arnaldo Rodriguez
Date: May, 27, 2015
Subject: When We Wore the Uniform
Okay, thanks
Arnaldo
From: Dick Ellis
Date: May, 27, 2015
Subject: When We Wore the Uniform
I hope I didn't leave the impression that I wrote this piece....it was apparently a Senior Navy Chief....who remembered his days in uniform also..... It was sent to me and I just forwarded it....but stupidly forgot to send the name of the writer. Everyone please use it...I am sure the Chief won't mind!!!
Dickie, absent minded editor
From: Arnaldo Rodriguez
Date: May, 27, 2015
Subject: When We Wore the Uniform
Well said. Thank you.
With your permission, I would like to post this on my Facebook for family and friends to read. I also have family and friends who are veterans, and I’m sure many of them are still able to associate with this.
Arnaldo
From: Bob Nelson
Date: May 27, 2015
Subject: When We Word the Uniform
Wonderfully said and time captured.
BobFrom: DIck Ellis
Date: May 26, 2015
Subject: When We Wore the Uniform (Forwarded, but not written by Dick Ellis)
Memorial Day is time for a little nostalgia!
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Occasionally, I venture back to NAS, Meridian, where I'm greeted by an imposing security guard who looks carefully at my identification card, hands it back and says, "Have a good day, Sr. Chief". Every time I go back to any Navy Base it feels good to be called by my previous rank, but odd to be in civilian clothes, walking among the servicemen and servicewomen going about their duties as I once did, many years ago.
The military is a comfort zone for anyone who has ever worn the uniform. It's a place where you know the rules and know they are enforced - a place where everybody is busy, but not too busy to take care of business. Because there exists behind the gates of every military facility an institutional understanding of respect, order, uniformity, accountability and dedication that becomes part of your marrow and never, ever leaves you.
Personally, I miss the fact that you always knew where you stood in the military, and who you were dealing with. That's because you could read somebody's uniform from 20 feet away and know the score. Service personnel wear their careers on their sleeves, so to speak. When you approach each other, you can read their name tag, examine their rank and, if they are in dress uniform, read their ribbons and know where they've served.
I miss all those little things you take for granted when you're in the ranks, like breaking starch on a set of fatigues fresh from the laundry and standing in a perfectly straight line military formation that looks like a mirror as it stretches to the endless horizon.
I miss the sight of troops marching in the early morning mist, the sound of boot heels thumping in unison on the tarmac, the bark of drill instructors and the sing-song answers from the squads as they pass by in review. To romanticize military service is to be far removed from its reality, because it's very serious business -- especially in times of war. But I miss the salutes I'd throw at officers and the crisp returns as we criss-crossed with a "by your leave sir". I miss the smell of jet fuel hanging heavily on the night air and the sound of engines roaring down runways and disappearing into the clouds. The same While on carrier duty. I even miss the hurry-up-and-wait mentality that enlisted men gripe about constantly, a masterful invention that bonded people more than they'll ever know or admit. I miss people taking off their hats when they enter a building, speaking directly and clearly to
others and never showing disrespect for rank, race, religion or gender.
Mostly, I miss being a small cog in a machine so complex it constantly circumnavigates the Earth and so simple it feeds everyone on time, three times a day, on the ground, in the air or at sea. Mostly, I don't know anyone who has served who regrets it, and doesn't feel a sense of pride when they pass through those gates and re-enter the world they left behind with their youth.
I wish I could express my thoughts as well about something I loved and hated sometimes. Face it guys we all miss it...Whether you had one tour or a career, it shaped your life.
"A veteran is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America“, with no restrictions.
When We Wore the Uniform
May 2015
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