okay but when I was a young innocent healthy teenager, I did join the army of my own volition and now they are taking care of me for the rest of my life. Some people want to join the Army. Let people do whatever they want.
All right, you hold onto those rare scenarios and keep assuming that everyone in the military ends up like that. You enjoy working every day for the rest of your life while we get to retire at age 40 or younger.
Good thing we fund the military instead of public healthcare that would take care of everyone.
Or you could move to a country where signing away your soul and conciousness in order to murder people your governement deems “dangerous” just isn’t a thing.
I got all of your benefits, yet didn’t have to join a murder brigade for it.
Isn’t one of the common complaints about US military healthcare is that it is notoriously terrible? You’d come in with your torso, three arms, and a leg blown off, and you’d be given a panadol for your trouble, whilst getting it put on your record, where it might impair future promotions?
Even for post-military, it’s still not great. There are countless anecdotes about people having to wrangle with the Veteran’s Association trying to get military acquired injuries classified as such, or simply not getting apporpriate care at all. Particularly when it comes to psychological injury as a result of military service.
Glad it worked out for you. Let’s not force people to risk death, dismemberment, and permanent brain damage just to live an okay life.
I don’t know anybody I served with in the military who experienced any of those things. We all came out completely alive & whole & thriving, The only person I knew in the military who died, he got in a car accident and died while he was on leave.
I’m guessing after 2006, with little to no deployment time then?
My unit still has suicides 20 years later. We had people go home without limbs, with major brain damage, and in body bags.
And no it wasn’t just us infantry guys. The mechanics had to go out and recover vehicles knowing they’ve been abandoned in the city for hours. That’s probably the only time we weren’t surprised. The logistics guys were driving every day, no matter what the IED report said. And the mortars landing on base didn’t stop to ask what your job was.
I’m glad you got the other side of the dice. But don’t pretend the shit stick doesn’t exist.
Having schools forward the contact info of low-income, low-performing students to recruiters at the age of 14 so those recruiters can start talking to kids without anyone else’s knowledge and having kindergartners do worksheets with recruiters where they talk about what branch of the service they would join if they could isn’t letting people do whatever they want, it’s grooming children to die for the aristocrats.
So what you’re saying is the country has no vested interest in supporting its citizens unless they are willing to die for it in which case the scraps thrown to you were sufficient enough to keep you out of abject poverty.
What a system.
I’m also a vet and I didn’t get shit.