Amen-Moses

Well I am no lawyer but if you are sworn to uphold the constitution and you feel strongly about a certain subject that it surely should be your duty as a Marine to exercise your right, as specified in said constitution, to speak out about it.

If you don't then you are suppressing your own rights under the constitution to which you are sworn and are thereby failing in your duty. If this happens you should march yourself directly to the guardroom (or whatever you Marines call it) and have yourself severely punished.

14 days of chopping Spanish onions (not the Freedom onions they are far too weak) for the mess hall should sort you out!

Amen-Moses

Liquidrage

Being advised does not constitute an order.

And don't tell me that it does constitute an order. It does not. An order is an order, not an advisement. It would say you "cannot, shall not, etc". It wouldn't be a "passing on", it would be an official statement.
This does not mean there isn't peer-pressure to not do so.
They can, and should, however, order not to go to either while in uniform, and this is typical of the militaries policies on activism of any kind as uniformed soilders engaged in activism can be seen as an official military stance.

Amen-Moses

Back in 1980 I was stationed outside a city where there were race riots planned for the weekend, we were all ordered on the parade ground on the Friday morning not to enter the city in uniform that weekend and further advised not to go into the city at all unless we went in groups for added safety.

First thing Saturday morning we all got up, dressed in battle dress (not strictly speaking "uniform" ) and went down to the city centre en-masse, we arrived at around midday and stood in the main square by a few pubs, around 1500 of us were there (an Army camp up the road had likewise been given the same orders and they joined us), when the marchers arrived with their racist banners and such they just stopped dead in their tracks in amazement, on the other side of the square a large crowd of let's say darker skinned people likewise also stopped. We didn't do anything except mill around drinking and chatting but we were directly between the two groups and diffused what would have been a riot purely by our presence.

On the Monday morning we got a right royal dressing down from the station warrent officer which was followed by a speech by the local chief constable thanking us for our help in quelling the situation, he had 500 policemen in attendance on the Saturday and did not need to use them nor were there any mass arrests like their were in other towns where the riots had taken place.

Afterwards we were unofficially told that the top Brass had realised that we would go in anyway so by ordering us not to they would ensure we went in safely and wouldn't cause trouble. That's good man management!

Amen-Moses

joedad

I haven't been to a Vets Hospital recently, but my first exposure back in the 60's and 70's was downright appalling. You grow up naive having read about the "heroes" from Corregidor and Iwo and Chosin, and how we owe them our freedom, and then witness dilapidated, ramshackle, WWII T-Housing, full of forgotten disabled Vets, some with mental problems and living in squalid conditions. Definitely not the kind of treatment you had expected to find when it comes to our national heroes. It was a great dose of reality at a very young age. I certainly hope that's changed.

And I definitely agree that the best way to support our troops in Iraq is to get them the hell out of there. In the meantime, do extend every possible kindness toward their families, and respect those that put themselves in Harm's Way.

On a different note, and having been a soldier and an officer R.A, combat arms but never in combat, Bush strikes me as a coward.

joe

Majestyk

Most politicians strike me as cowards.

Jimmy Higgins

Will that be seemless glass?

Loren Pechtel

But the tones! She tells me I'm saying something wrong and how to say it right and I can't hear any difference. I haven't' even tried to learn the bird tracks they write with other than 1-9.

mikester

i always figured that civilians supported soldiers by going about their normal business as usual.


its not like praying or chanting or protests or bitching will help them at all. i say to support them while they're already at war, give them more weapons, food, shelter, and what it takes for them to get out alive.


just my 0.02$

Loren Pechtel

Don't insult them--if you don't like the war, complain to the politicians.

CALDONIA

I have often seen the slogan, "Support our troops," it means that government policy must be above criticism once war has commenced. The usual false dicotomy: to be against war against A means you are a traitor to B. Sometimes there are more than TWO sides to an issue or argument.