Fellow vet, hoped to be done fighting, but this country is devolving into madness, and I'm prepared to fight for the constitution. I took an oath, as all that served did, to defend this country from all enemies, foreign or domestic, and I took that oath to heart. Hope for the best, prepared for the worst.
Generally speaking, most of this stuff is purchased through civilian stores just off post catering to military needs. No paperwork required to buy, but you'd be better off dead than to get caught wearing awards you didn't earn. And yes, there are ceremonies and other formal occasions where one needs to wear a dress uniform with all your ribbons and awards on them.
Wearing medals or badges you didn't earn is super cringy, and you're basically just shitting on everyone who actually did earn them. I'm not trying to take away this guys service, but as an actual recipient of a CIB, I feel like his lying is a direct slap in the face.
I have a circular path through my house that I'll walk aimlessly whenever on the phone. On days without many phone calls, I'll end up having a much much lower step count.
Edit: fixed a word
Yeah, but we used to call the guys that just went and bought shit they didn't earn PX Rangers. Anyone could go buy any badge or medal they wanted, but that doesn't mean they earned the right to wear it or that they have the documents proving they were awarded it... and I don't know about you, but I got presented with a certificate and a physical medal for every medal I earned, badges we had to buy but only after they were earned.
I'm guessing the whole unit got put in for them, and he was part of the unit, just not in an MOS (military occupational specialty) qualified to earn this particular combat badge. Someone didn't look close enough and just rubber stamped it. Basically, it just slipped through the cracks... but he knows as he knew then he wasn't in an MOS that could receive this award.
The Combat Infantry Badge, as the article mentions, is only awarded to infantry and special forces soldiers that have seen combat as typically these units were the only ones that saw action. With Afghanistan and Iraq, we saw a new form of conflict where there wasn't a specified frontline to the fighting and support rolls (such as the one he was in) often found themselves under fire. There was some push to award all soldiers that saw combat a CIB regardless of what job they held. The Army decided against doing this, but they did eventually create the Combat Action Badge (CAB) in 2005, which is similar to a CIB in that the recipient must be engaged in combat to earn it, but it is awarded to any MOS. He likely would have qualified for the CAB through his service, but I'm guessing it just wasn't a thing when he served.
I'll take it one step further and say potato salad CAN be downright delicious when made well... I have also had potato salad so bad that it caused me to have an existential crisis about how I ended up where I was, eating what I was, and I had to pause to reconsider my life's choices.
TIL hard boiled eggs can explode in a microwave and that the explosion can be as loud as 133 decibels. For reference sake, a gunshot is about 155 decibels depending on caliber, so that's one loud ass egg.
Well, yeah, he only suffered a scratch.
Ok, but why does this picture make me think he just wants to rub his nipples?
Top right is accepting of all fetishists. Hell, we probably invented a few you haven't even heard of yet.
If the GOP wants to bring morals back, all they have to do is stop being so amoral.
My favorite is when you point out all the shit from their Bible, they don't follow, and they hit you with "oh that's from the old testament, and Jesus did away with all of that."
I'm also always amused at the concept of a perfect infallible being not getting it right the first time and having to push out the revised new testament.
Oh, continuing down that line of thinking leads to far worse then "kinda fucked up." If the judeo christian deity exists and is accurately described by their books than it is a total monster not worthy of praise or devotion...
What I understand about the judeo christian god is that they are believed to have created everything that has ever been or will ever be. They have total knowledge of everything past present and future, and they "knew me" prior to them creating me, knew what kind of person I would be, and knew without doubt that I wouldn't believe in or worship them... so they created me with full knowledge that I'll spend eternity being tortured in hell. What kind of benevolent deity brings a creature into existence just so they can be tortured? If that's not full blown fucked up, then I don't know what is.
When you're brainwashed from birth, it's difficult to recognize you've been brainwashed.
I don't think the world is ready to deal with the type of power one would wield after being deputized by a pillow salesman.
How many rounds did he fire before losing his hearing entirely?
I ask because I have fired thousands of rounds, probably even tens of thousands of rounds through AR platforms without wearing hearing protection (while in service), and I only have mild hearing damage.
I lie to myself by saying, "I can stay awake for one more episode" before eventually falling asleep on the couch sometime in the next 10 minutes. Then, approximately 3-4 hours later, I'll wake up, take my evening medications, brush my teeth, prepare for and then go to bed so I can lay there awake for the next hour or two trying to fall back asleep. Eventually, I'll dose off and get a few more hours of sleep, although never achieving the quality or depth of sleep I obtain while passed out on the couch.
The amount this woman fails to grasp, morally or otherwise, is truly astounding. I still blame her for Trump's win, and wished they'd both just fuck off already.