It's Marine, not soldier

As a Marine with 8 years service, I can tell you that there are more important things than getting my skivvies in a wad because someone who has not been trained in military nomenclature makes a mistake when addressing me otherwise respectfully. I do not take it as disrespect, I take it as a lack of information that they, as civilians, do not particularly require. And that is why I would never call a civilian disrespectful just because he doesn't know that the word Marine is always capitalized when referring to the Marine Corps--as you failed to do.

I agree with your main points, but as an enlisted man in the Marines I can tell you that we address all of our NCO's as their complete rank. I know this isn't the rule in the other services, but we'd get a foot in our ass if we called a ssgt or gysgt just "sergeant." In the Marines its "roger" staff sergeant or "good to go" Gunnery Sergeant, First Sergeant, Master Sergeant etc... I've been in for three years and its still a pain in the ass when you see all of those chevrons and rockers walking past you and you can't tell if he's a master sergeant, sergeant major, or master gunnery sergeant, but you sure as hell better get it right before you open your mouth to say "good morning," or you guess hold your breathe and hope you don't hear "Hey Devil Dog, I rate my proper rank!"

Your statement "We now have had two U.S. presidents (Clinton & Obama) with NO military background." is sadly incomplete. There have been MANY U.S. Presidents with no military background. Among the early Presidents, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, and Martin Van Buren had no military background. In the 20th Century, William Howard Taft, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, FDR, and Lyndon Johnson had no military background, Reagan was inducted during World War II but could not serve overseas because of poor eyesight and saw no combat, and George W. Bush only served in the National Guard, which during the Vietnam War was widely accepted as a way to avoid combat duty.

We now have had two U.S. presidents (Clinton & Obama) with NO military background.

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No, it's not. Thinking that it is the same shows your ignorance and complete lack of respect.


I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.
www.werepissedoff.net

And we have a winner for douchebag of the wk post! As someone who is into all things military, and is going to enlist in the Navy for a chance at BUD/s I don't see how its so hard. Even if its just out of respect, although I don't expect civilians to know all the technical stuff, they should know the difference between Airman, Marine, Sailor, and Soldier. And I agree, I think that everyone should serve a mandatory tour in the military, might help shape up my generation.

I think it's a post draft thing. There is a progressively smaller percentage of the general population having served in the military with the aging/death of the WWII and Vietnam generations and as a result there are more people who aren't as familiar with the proper terminology. My experience is that such an "error" is best handled by considering the intent of the person addressing you. If they are attempting to address you respectfully you may have the opportunity of correcting them without embarrassing them. If time or circumstances don't allow for that simply acknowledge them respectfully and move on. IMHO overreacting and embarrassing the person who is trying to be polite does nothing but drive a little more wedge into the divide between the military and civilian worlds. Now if it being said in an attempt to be disrespectful; well, how you handle that has to be based on the individual situation.

i dont belive you.

there is no such thing as an ex marine. once a marine always a marine

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The one thing that stood out from your post was that you seemed to imply that since you have a higher chance of being hurt or killed in service, your job is more important than that of a postman or a milkman. I'm sorry, but I fail to see the logic in this.
You also seem to imply that I care less about deaths if a soldier volunteered, which is far from the truth. A death is always a tragedy, but I refuse to grieve more for a person who "gave his life" for his country (nationalism is a pretence I strongly reject, nations and borders should exist solely for beurocratic reasons in my opinion), than if a postman is hit by a milk truck.
A soldier is a soldier to my eyes, and if you hink it's important to differentiate between separate sections of the military, then it's your job to make me aware of them. Not mine.

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