“Thank You”
(or, Happy Memorial Day, a random pagemonkey rant)

Before I write much more than this, I need to write this:

Thank you. All of you. Those serving, those who have served. Your families - your wives and significant others, your parents and your children. And all your friends.

And lastly but certainly not leastly, thank you to those who are considering serving in the US military. We owe you more than words can express - for being willing to bet your future on our ideals. When you sign for the chits, know that you are not alone, we are behind you.

The United States of America is based on few, but very simple and precious concepts - and because they are so very basic, they are typically hard to defend and maintain.

They are a modification of our base instincts, mods which logically help all of us instead of just the strongest or smartest - even though the original intent was to prevent the most dishonest from taking advantage of the rest.

So-called “Human Nature,” in fact the success of homo sapiens so far, has at its instinctual core a hardwired behavior set which - when running unchecked - enables any particular human to quash virtually everything around it.

In other words, part of the human experience is constant modification of the environment around any sample human; we make fires, roads, buildings, dams, and anything else we can which we understand at a gut level might cause us to be more viable - and we are just as willing to kill off anything we fear or feel could eventually cause us harm.

For many years, it appeared that our ancestors invaded Neanderthal territory and drove them out, thus killing them; then, it appeared that our ancestors might have actually conceived campaigns to kill them outright; the latest news is that we might have eaten the poor fucks. (image © Discovery Channel)

That is human nature - a very rugged, durable, and most importantly, flexible set of rules written genetically to assure survival. Were you to compare it to any of the computer operating systems available today, it would take a lot of patching simply to keep it from killing and eating co-existing operating systems.

Given that in most cases, defending us takes suppressing your instincts for survival and ease of life, we all owe you a huge kudos.

Defending the American lifestyle, and the philosophies behind it - which are in many ways based on constructively redirecting the basic human hardwiring so that it is beneficial to more individuals than it is in its “native” format - is often a task which seems thankless. But rest assured, we truly appreciate your efforts. At least the “we” that count - those of us who love our country and feel it’s worth preserving, pimples and all.

We would not be here, you would not be reading this, if folks like you had not put your courage where others’ mouths were.

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One of the richest, most rewarding eras in my life was my hitch in the USAF.

Most of what I was taught in Basic Training made sense at the time, and the few things which didn’t made themselves obvious when I reported for duty at my first permanent duty station. The things I learned there didn’t all make sense immediately, but most of them did by the time I finished my hitch - and the few oddball things I’d learned that didn’t seem to fit in anywhere have magically become resources I draw upon now.

My AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code) was advanced avionics; my actual job turned out to be maintaining all the communications equipment on Lockheed C-5 and C-141 cargo aircraft, some of the most magnificent birds to grace the sky. Non-working comm equipment won’t ground one of these heavy haulers in time of war, but it sometimes makes the difference between the craft living to haul another day or not and often has a lot to do with how the captain and first officer smell after landing. (this image of T/N 670174, which I am intimately familiar with, is courtesy of CodaSystems, taken in Tuscon, AZ upon retirement of the craft. To properly scale things, any VW Beetle will fit inside the engine intakes. Much of the C-5 fleet is in mothball state, but could be reactivated if we need real lift capability.)

My duty station (Altus, Oklahoma) was also host to a SAC (Strategic Air Command) tanker base; the boys there were flying a lot of old, old KC-135s and damn proud of their mission readiness rating and the airworthiness of their craft. Indeed, you could eat from any surface of those tankers, inside or out, and you could damn well depend on them getting airborn with the right call. Boeing had done an amazing job making these tankers, and the boys who flew them and fixed them appreciated that and did an amazing job keeping them fit. (this image courtesy of Airliners.)

The USAF was an experience I would wish upon any young man. I have no need to fold my underwear after doing laundry now, but I still have the discipline; hence, I have no torn or stained underwear. I am not a whiner, I am not lazy, my friends can count upon me doing what I say I will do, and not doing what I say I won’t do.

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Because the United States is a republic with heavy leanings to democracy, its citizens have an ability to speak freely even if they don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s one of those quirky freedoms we have, one worth defending.

Under our peculiar blend, proving that someone doesn’t have the right to say whatever they want to say is almost impossible.

But in no way does such freedom mean that some of our citizens who speak out against our military represent what most of us feel.

And because of the way we elect important officials, it is impossible to guarantee that you won’t be mis-used or cared for poorly after such mis-use.

I have great hope for our current Commander in Chief, as he seems to understand the value of every human life, instead of just those he thinks are important. Hopefully, you will be tasked in the future with things more in keeping with our overall goals and more suited to your status. It is a waste of our precious assets to use you as security guards for oil, when there is so much more wrong in the world that could use an honest, well-trained hand - such as yours - to moderate. In so many cases, your simple presence - your discipline, your obvious strength, your clear will - has made the difference between conflict and not.

And hopefully, this will occur under the philosophy which was mode-O-day when I was active duty. That you need the best tools and the best training so you can accomplish the essential mission and come home alive to enjoy future missions.

Where it counts - where the proverbial rubber hits the myth-enshrouded road - our military is our elite class, a rank earned through virtue and courage.

You are my sons and daughters, and like any good mother, I would never send you off without a good lunch. I feel shame for the last several years.

Again, thank you - all of you. You ensure that my way of life will continue, and you assure that the human quest for improvement will continue without setback.

~ pagemonkey

I completely forgot to call all of you “Gentle Reader” throughout this post. All y’all will just have to get over it!