Quote Originally Posted by Shinysides View Post
Wow, what an honor. What unit are you with fm?
To say the least, he is extremely lucky and told me he is the only one in his troop and possibly squadron (damned transformational Cavalry squadron in Infantry brigade structure) that is tasked with jumping. While in France he will get a weeks worth of tours of battlefields and the local area.

The Army had other plans with me, and now I am tasked with "providing the strength", aka recruiting. Got two-and-a-half years left before it's back to the Infantry, though these new hours are great. A few people kill themselves in Houston and we are forced to work 9-5 Monday-Thursday and 9-3 Friday with no working Saturdays unless someone is joining. By forced, I mean Sergeants Major and senior officers calling stations and demanding a personal explanation by leadership if someone answers the phone. This job should be easy for me as I love the Army and everything it offers. That said, I am also of the opinion that if someone needs to be talked into joining, I don't want them serving. I'll explain benefits and my personal experiences, answer questions, but I draw the line at "selling" the Army. So, I've yet to really start putting people in. Everyone that wants to join is disqualified due to law, medical, education or can't pass the ASVAB. Many of those who don't want to join now will be trying to join in a few years after getting a few criminal charges or working a dead end job. So, the bulk of my day is comprised of making phone calls, visiting high schools and going to Chamber of Commerce meetings and other social events.




Quote Originally Posted by sycld View Post
My step-grandfather served in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. He's in his late 90's.

I don't know much about the invasion aside from what I've seen in some old black and white movies that just showed the people storming the beach and the paratroopers into the French villages. But anyway, he was in some artillery squadron, so he didn't see any of the intense action, thanks to the Germans running out of gasoline.

You should appreciate him now while he's still here, my grandfathers both died well before I was born. It took a special breed to fight back then, just as it does for any conflict.