MDS1965 DOESN'T BELIEVE IN LIVING OFF THE GOVERNMENT

Present actions aside, IF he is really a retired CPO, he has more than paid the price for the retirement he gets. He has endured long hours under conditions 98% of our population would consider unacceptable. He has earned a small fraction of what he could have with the same skills in civilian life. last but not least, he has put his life on the line to protect the right of asses like you to make stupid comments like that. OH, and he has also paid into Social Security, just like you.

I speak with authority as a 10+ year vet who chose to get out for family reasons. In those 10 years, I spent 2 in restricted, highly isolated locales where the only people you see for a year at a time are your fellow crew members, all 20 or so, and all men. As a PO-1 (one step down from CPO) I routinely worked 10-12 hour days in port, even longer underway, frequently working those 12 hours or so and then getting up in the middle of the night to stand watch. When I was not working, I was subject to immediate recall. After I got out I worked as a civilian technician, doing the same type of work I had in the service. In the first year I almost tripled what I made in the service, while working 8-4:30 M-F with very infrequent after hours work, which by the way, paid time and a half or double depending on when.

To be clear, I am not defending what Mark may be doing now, but he more than earned that retirement.

You just don't get it Kevin. I didn't say he didn't deserve it! I said he has no place to talk. I've been on SSI for 2yrs the entitlements he's talking about and in 45yrs I've paid into a fund so if I needed it it would cover me. He made that choice when he enlisted and there hasn't been a war since the civil war where our military has fought for our freedom and since 1972 it has been a choice to join. My son is a 12 yr Coast Guard vet so I know what it's about dude!!

Your first sentence strongly implies it, and it is what I find objectionable as a vet and to which I was responding. He may have been in the employ of the government but he most certainly has earned whatever he gets. Being in the military is not exactly a cushy civil service job as your son would know.

Mark does make a valid point however as there are many able bodied people living off the government. I have no issues with those who are legitimately disabled receiving assistance. In my job however I see many who choose to work the system rather than work, and I have a big issue with that. The system is rife with fraud, and only the stupid ones or the most blatant offenders get caught. It's hard to be sure from the short out of context quotes above, but I believe that is to whom he is referring.

If you really believe that there has not been a war where our military fought for freedom since the civil war, you are sadly mistaken. Or maybe you would prefer to speak German. Unless you are a serious student of history, most do not realize the razor thin edge upon which victory in WWII hung. We were at one point within days of losing the Battle of the Atlantic, if we had, England and Russia would certainly have fallen, and eventually, the remainder of Africa and the Middle East. What remained would have either come under Nazi rule or influence. The Americas would have been isolated. The cold was as well was a real war in which lives were lost and a global struggle for freedom was fought. There may not have been any declared war, but those who served will tell you it was war none the less. Justified or not, Korea and Vietnam were a part of that war.

Today we are in another war. One your son may see action in, if he has not already. Not a traditional war fought with battle lines, armies and navies, but the war against terror is no less a war. It may be asymmetric, and the threat harder to pin down, but make no mistake, our freedom and way of life is very much at stake. Unfortunately much of our capabilities are not well adapted to this sort of war, which makes it very dangerous indeed.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Often attributed to Jefferson, but in reality, a well know quote in his day used by many. Actual origin is unsure, but it may have come from a speech by John Philpot Curran and Irish politician in the late 1700s although it is recorded slightly differently.

Good for your son. I was a Coastie myself. We all took the same oath: "I, _______________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Your son and I (and Mark) all signed a check payable in blood, as has every other current or former member of the military. One that has no expiration date.