[JS_startup]

I like one point in particular that he touched on. That is, the military's careful manipulation of the media and public perception and the lens through which we view military personnel.

I know I'm supposed to laud infantrymen as brave and patriotic (which is why I'd never voice this in public), but frankly..nearly every frontline veteran I've ever met seems like an uneducated, violent and scary thug. I know that's basically what you have to be to fight on the frontlines, but the disparity between public opinion and reality is shocking.

[bdunbar]

but frankly..nearly every frontline veteran I've ever met seems like an uneducated, violent and scary thug.

I never went to war, but I was a rifleman in the Marines, spent eight years there.

One thing I've noticed about me, and other guys like me, is that you'd never know on first acquaintance that I was a Marine. Commonly heard: But you don't look/act like a Marine!

I suspect you've met more so-called 'frontline veterans' than you think.

[cglace]

I spent a lot of time near Beaufort, SC on a nearby island after college. All the marines from Parris Island would go to downtown Beaufort on the weekends. Most of the marines were dicks looking for a fight. Some were cool but I remember thinking they were the exception not the rule.

[bdunbar]

Sure. And except for the 'looking for a fight' part I might have been one of those guys.

My point was that _some_ guys may be stupid thugs but not all of them are, and most of us grow out of it.

[PakG1]

Are you saying that the frontline changes people? Or something else? Just trying to clearly understand your meaning there.

[bdunbar]

Of course being in the service changes people - going to war even more so.

I'm saying that not every grunt is a coarse thug.

We leave the service, get a job, get an education, get a life. We leave the soldier behind, is what I'm saying.