It was said in passing.........and it wasn't personal, so I shouldn't take it personal. But dang it, when a civilian, who has never served their country other than paying taxes, comments on the military, it's usually wrong.
"At least in the Navy, you never had to worry about him not coming home alive"
WTF?
After sharing a piece of my mind, I sat down and went back to work on a project. But I kept thinking about it.
They have no clue........just because the Navy tends to be ship bound doesn't mean there aren't risks and danger involved......
I remember the night I got a call that he was chemically burned while training a young kid on some equipment. The kid messed with something he shouldn't have and The Man pushed him out of the way when it burst and took the burn. Six weeks later when he walked off that ship still wearing bandages, my heart stopped beating. Until he smiled.
There was the deployment that I got a call telling me that he volunteered for an off boat mission in an area where they were trying to peace keep and would be back in a week. A WEEK. I can't remember anything about that week, except that he finally called.
Or there's the story that still gives me nightmares. When he called me from the ship one night during a brief underway. His voice thick and low, to tell me he loved me and would always love me and kiss the babies for him. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know something was wrong but I put on a happy face and coo-ed at him and sent him back to work. Then I took the phone outside and sat for hours smoking ciggie after ciggie until he called the next morning. Seems there was a problem with a piece of equipment that they lower from a man sized hole in the bottom of the ship, seems that it was stuck and water was flooding the room too fast for the pumps to pull water. Problem was, they really needed this equipment to work. So they locked (please read that again, LOCKED) my husband and one of his kids, and his LT in the room. It was either fix it or just let the room flood. So behind a locked and sealed door, they worked until the water was neck high before they finally manhandled the gear into place and the pumps could dry the room.
Over ten years, you collect those war stories up and put them away safe where you can use them to reassure yourself that yes, you've had worse times. And this too shall pass.
Military life is dangerous for everyone. Pilots are at risk, people who work on the flight deck are at risk, hell even cooks in the galley are at risk.
Broad general conclusions by idiots really piss me off.....
Pardon me, while I go put my soapbox away.
Be back this afternoon.....
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Idiots......
