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Military veterans

86K views 418 replies 286 participants last post by  SargeDiesel 
#1 ·
How many members / riders here are veterans? When, where, and what branch did you serve?
 
#2 ·
Active Duty, I'm an E4 in the Navy, I've been in for 1.5 years and I work on Naval Air Station North Island.
 
#3 ·
I served in the US Navy during the Vietnam Era 1969 - 1972 on the submarine USS SKIPJACK SSN 585 and was honorably discharged back into this nutty society. Was E5 when I left the service. I was a Machinist Mate & also a member of UDT for the whole time enlisted. Worked on all the Oxygen Generators and O2 Burners the Air Conditioning plus pumps etc...

Also kept all the screen doors in good condition too!!:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
 
#8 · (Edited)
US Coast Guard 1979-1996*
Yeoman, First Class (E-6)
Mostly stationed on east coast, New England area, and the eastern Great Lakes (Cleveland, OH and Buffalo, NY).

*In 1996 & 1997 (if you all remember) Congress & President Clinton signed a bill that dropped the 20 year military retirement down to 15 years. Anybody E-5 and above could fully retire at 15 years. I weighted the pros and cons and decided to go for it after 17 years. Word has it that they had to shut it down real quick, because so many members got out!! It was called TERA (Temporary Early Retirement Authorization).
 
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#10 ·
US Army Reserves Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Aug 1981 - May 2011, Corps of Engineers, deployed to; Kuwait Nov 2001 - Jun 2002, Iraq Feb 2003 - Apr 2004, Iraq Aug 2008 - Jul 2009. Not really deployed but work at USACE HQ Sep 2009 - Dec 2010.
 
#12 ·
I was turned down when answering the Viet Nam Draft...
BUT I support you,
Thank You

Will participate in;
Rolling Thunder Americus, GA = Sept. 2014
Rolling Thunder DC = 2015
 
#20 ·
u.s. army 1961-1967 mostly at ft. hood, texas one tour in vietnam 1965-1967 then after 4yrs as a civilian went to u.s. air force working in logistics from 1971-1986 retired after 21yrs. at tinker afb oklahoma. one tour in korea and thailand with the FB-111's during the cambodia campain
 
#22 ·
I served in AF from 83-87, and was in CA (language school), TX (equipment training), S. Korea, and MD (NSA) mostly. Not exactly a good experience for me, for my 'career', but always tried to enjoy the time, wherever I was. Had lots of fun in Korea, especially as that was the language I learned.

One bad experience was seeing a mink blanket in a shop window, and stepping in to see how much it was, and hearing the shop owner holler back to the lady in the back that he was going to see how much $ he could get out of this 'dumb GI, meaning me. I decided to only speak English, and asked, and heard him say that they had only paid $4 for it in Korean, and turned to me to say, "I'll give you my best price, $15!" I turned away, and said, "See you later" in Korean, and they stopped me. I got it for the $4 they paid, but they wanted me to not tell any of my friends. Well, I told all of them to avoid that place!

The one really awesome experience I had was bicycling through the countryside, thinking I could make it to the coast, which was only 10 miles away, as the crow flies. I must have gotten only about 5 miles out, when I realized I wasn't going to make it and still get home before dark. When I turned around, someone sitting on the bank between the ride paddys, where there were a dozen or so workers planting rice, yelled out to me to come over. Suspecting something terrible, I cautiously went over to them. There on the blanket on the ground was one medium bowl of kimchi (fermented cabbage that is the staple of Korean cuisine) and another bowl of rice the same size. I was asked to sit down and eat with them. I was in awe! I asked if this meager meal was for all the workers to share, and was told that it was. Since I could explain in their language that I didn't feel right to 'steal' the food from their mouths because they were obviously working so hard, they were not insulted (which they normally would be for such a refusal). I was so humbled, though, at the hospitality and generosity of such simple folk who had so little, yet were willing to share.
 
#24 ·
US Navy, USS Michigan, SSBN 727 FTB2 1983-1989
"There are only two ships in the Navy, submarines and targets. Ha! :)
 
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