We Happy Band of Brothers -- Not

I didn't start a war. Nobody died
--Rafael Nadal, on putting his loss to
100th ranked Rosol into perspective
_________________

The Tallahassee Democrat ran an article 9 July about the fraternity to be found at the local Post No. 13 of the American Legion (Veterans Helping Veterans). Of course, in order to feel the love, one needs to be accepted as a member of that brotherhood, which Ranger was not.

He expressed his consternation with his exclusion from the group in a response, which the paper did not publish; we will do so here:

Dear ed.,

Though the American Legion performs many charitable acts for veterans, the group is not the all-inclusive "band of brothers" the writer portrayed.

This veteran had a different experience with our local American Legion Chapter.

The Executive Committee, in secret session, rejected my application for membership. As a retired U.S. Army officer and Vietnam veteran who receives Combat Related Special Compensation for 100% VA disability, one would think I would qualify for membership in this congressionally-chartered veterans organization.

The local chapter refused to explain their decision to me in either verbal or written form. Off the record, a member expressed to me that my anti-war stance was the cause of their decision. Freedom of speech -- the thing we combat vets put our lives on the line for -- was being sanctioned in their dismissal of my application.

I believe the bible and the Constitution are not entwined. I am not homophobic and do not hew to a hard right-wing political view, all of which are contrary to the prevailing notions of what a servicemember should believe according to fraternal organizations like the American Legion. I believe our nation's strength lies in democratic thought.

Like all veterans -- but not all American Legion executives -- I fought for my freedom to dissent.

Dissent is not unpatriotic.

--James Hruska

Band of Brats

The enemy owns the terrain
--FOX news report on Afghanistan
(h/t This Fucking War)

What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like this always on your back
--Beat the Brat, The Ramones

We happy, we few, we band of brothers
--Henry V, (IV, iii)
_______________

Our previous post concerned Ranger's Jump School days and his transfer immediately thereafter to Jumpmaster school. He is not alone in this progression, but there is an online group, SOCNET.com, billing themselves "The Special Operations Community Network," which has been a thorn in Ranger's side from the start, and which questions the validity of this progression.

What once was a proud Band of Brothers has devolved with SOCNET into a Band of Brats.

Kirk -- leader of the Socnet.com hogsheads due to his more capable verbal skills -- has never seen fit to retract the baseless accusations made on their site against Ranger's credibility (nor has he bothered to file a Stolen Valor complaint, as that is what his band is alleging.) In addition, not one SOCNUT has accepted Ranger's offer to meet at the Ranger Training Brigade to verify my status.

All bark, no bite, the SOCNET dogs happily while away their days yipping and nipping at the heels of their chosen opponent, incapable are they of engaging in reasoned dialogue, the right to which they supposedly fought for.

They will attack, but they will not retract their errors. These brats are only interested in herd-like feeding frenzies devoid of reality-based considerations. They act out like children, vying for pats on the head by ringmaster Kirk. Their tabs and scrolls cannot cover their moral cowardice.

If these guys represent the Special Operations community, then we're sucking the big one.