Those who signed up for military service (not drafted) have shown where their loyalties lie: their country is more important to them than their own life. They may have had problems maybe even made some bad decisions; but we ought to respect their volunteerism, though perhaps not as much as those who served honorably or those who fought on front lines or those who've been awarded medals for bravery. Respect is deserved to all and more respect for those who've shown their mettle under fire.
yeah, i'm still struggling with this - a little more personal background - I taught high school kids for five years, while my sons went through high school and out on their own - the youngest joined the navy at 19. When they had the boot camp graduation ceremony, i was struck by how they all looked like kids, just like the kids i had been teaching a couple of years ago. And they were, basically.
That's one reason i'm not jumping on the "Nathan Phillips was arrested when he was 20!" bandwagon that's out there right now, and only mentioning his lackluster military service in the context of how the adult Phillips is currently describing it - as a native "elder" - a title that summons up wisdom and good judgement, one might expect better
As a Navy brat (the child of a naval officer), I was raised to have respect for veterans, law enforcement officers, and my elders period. I raised my daughter the same way. To this day, I tend to respect veterans when I see them. For the most part, I would show respect to Nathan Phillips even. But, when I saw him walk through that crowd straight for the boys and heard him straight-out lie about the situation, I lost respect for him.
i was raised the same, nori - i think most of us older folks were - to automatically respect those who are older, in positions of authority and responsibility - and i raised my kids the same way
but i often felt hypocritical doing that - teaching them to respect a president i didn't, having "the discussion" every time there was a news story about a person in a position of authority or responsibility shown to be unworthy of respect
I'll give respect to someone currently in the service, but afterwards, they have to earn it
so i guess with Phillips I can say that I respect his service, spotty as it was, but i have no respect for the man now
like the presidency - respect the office, not the man, until he earns it
This. I agree with you Nori. I have respect for Phillips on a certain level. He did have a rather mediocre military career, went AWOL even, but not every veteran can be a Medal of Honor winner.
I used to embarrass Jessica when I would stop and thank the Walmart greeter for his service. It doesn't embarrass her anymore. But, she didn't get why I was so nice to the "old man with the funny hat at Walmart."
If I hadn't heard him lie about that whole mess, I would probably still respect Nathan Phillips. I have more than one reason to respect him: he is a veteran (doesn't matter when or what he did as a veteran), he a native American elder (I'm 1/2 native, myself), and he's, generally speaking, my elder.
the problem i see is that the leftist msm expects that from the right - that's why the virtue signalling trigger words are so effective, that's why they use them incessantly, that's why my BS meter pegged early on
they expect the right to respect "native american" and "elder" and "Vietnam War Veteran" - or maybe not - maybe the "native american elder" was intended to sweep in the leftists and the "vietnam war veteran" was intended to sweep in the right
or maybe i'm overthinking it
https://www.wnd.com/2019/01/nathan-phillips-not-vietnam-vet-discharge-papers-show/
According to this article, Nathan Phillips served in the Marine reserves as a fridge mechanic before being discharged without ever having gone overseas. He's also noted as having been away without leave on multiple occasions.
Not exactly the Vietnam recon veteran he claims to have been if the article is legitimate.
When it comes to servicemen, whether it be military or police, firemen, etc, I respect them according to their accolades. I'm not just going to give undue veneration for anything with a stripe or badge because that's just stupid and Phillips can be an example of why.
:thumb:
