The Veteran Thread

[Dykea]

Originally Posted by Wolfsong

Hoo Ahh........


Boy those witch hunts of old could stop your heart couldn't they? They always seemed to happen in the next company over to mine or somewhere close enough to my door step that it felt like I was next. I dunno what I was so scared of......what were they gonna do? Bend my dog tags and send me home? It felt like so much more then.

I can't even imagine what it was like for our WWII era brothers and sisters where being homosexual could earn you a vacation out in Leavenworth. Now THAT would be scary!

I was stationed in Alaska and one of THE oldest gay bars was in Anchorage... Mad Myrna's. It had several names over the decades = but it was THE gay bar and the "old timers" would tell me stories of how the AF MPs would try and do "raids" trying to BUST homos/dykes!!!

The bar was a HUGE ASS oval thingy... but it had a ridiculous lip from counter to bar stool that I NEVER understood??!! The story goes....

When the MPs would come in w/their battons looking for service members, all the military homos/dykes would hide under the lip and the civilian members would cover them and **flounce**flirt**fickle** w/distraction the MPs, so that they never saw the military personnel hiding, crunched, fetal position under the bar in plain site.

Now this sounds cRaZy today!! I know! But it's not. I was there for one of the raids back in 1999 as a civilian and it still worked.

This is lezzbian and gay history.

[Parker]

First, I almost didnt get in because the recruiters thought I was gay based on how I dressed (jeans, high-top sneakers, polo shirt, and sweater vest - it was 1989, shut up!), so they made me talk to a psychiatrist who asked me ALL kinds of personal questions about my dreams and fantasies, who were in them, what we did, etc. It was very uncomfortable, but I guess he decided I was fine and they let me into boot camp.

Then in boot camp, one of the girls who was gay decided to turn the suspicion towards me and accused me of coming on to her (this happened in high school too - wtf?).

Now, I didnt know at the time that I was gay - that came months after boot camp - so when I told them I was straight before joining and when I told my CC I wasnt gay when accused of it in boot camp, I was telling the truth as I knew it at the time.

Then when I was stationed in San Diego, I worked at a local lesbian bar as a barback. One night a year, the gay community gets together and dresses up to go to an awards show so they can hand out awards like best gay bar, best gay restaurant, best gay bartender, etc. The people that worked at this bar with me all wanted to go and they talked me into going with them, so we all got dressed up and went to this awards show.

I didnt know the mayor was coming to say a few words or that the media was coming to film the mayor and get crowd shots. The instant I saw those camera, I darted to the back of the room because I didnt want my superiors to see me on TV and kick me out or whatever.

When I got back there, I saw a bunch of military people who came specifically in their uniforms and I suddenly felt very silly standing back there, hiding, hoping no one I knew was watching the news. I decided then and there that I wasnt going to hide anymore and if they wanted to kick me out, fuck 'em.

That almost happened at my next duty station up near Fresno, CA - an ex-girlfriend was causing trouble for me at my hospital (by then, I had become a hospital corpsman, crossing over from airman by going to the HM school) and a LTJG (O-2), who was my immediate supervisor and knew I was gay because of this ex of mine, decided he wanted me gone (he and I had a history where he verbally abused me and even put his hands on me once and shoved me) so he reported me for violating "Dont Ask, Dont Tell" (this was 1995). Of course, he had no idea that the 3rd in command of the hospital was also a dyke! lol So after we both issued statements to her (he lied more than once in his, of course) she told him to never touch or talk to me again, or even be anywhere near me, or she would have him transferred out of the hospital. lol

Looking back, it's surprising I ever made it IN to the Navy, let alone that I never got kicked out while serving. lol

[Dykea]

crap... i posted twice. this is why i wasn't a yeoman.

[Dykea]

I don't think people really understand how hard it was back then... and that the overturn of DADT was just the "Patriotic" thing to do, instead of lesbian/gay rights.

SAME EXACT thing happened w/POC in the Services. It had NOTHING to do w/equality - it was about patriotism.

I've said this for nearly 2decades that it always has a major start in the Armed Services tho.... and I was right.

What we all went through was actually quite traumatic and GOD KNOWS we know how many people who were investigated, Masted/Court Martialed and fucking DISCHARGED!

ESPECIALLY WOMEN!!! Women in all the Services were discharged at a MUCH HIGHER percentage rate then male homosexuals. No one KNOWS THIS tho because the majority of images/stories are of gay males. People don't "empathize" w/lesbians in the Military. We are a old joke.

Women were ONLY 8 to 10 percent of the entire military back then!!

Women in the Armed Services have NOT had an easy route and no one knows the stories... because know one really cares to hear them.

Women's History... again erased and ignored.

[Wolfsong]

Originally Posted by Dykea

I don't think people really understand how hard it was back then... and that the overturn of DADT was just the "Patriotic" thing to do, instead of lesbian/gay rights.

SAME EXACT thing happened w/POC in the Services. It had NOTHING to do w/equality - it was about patriotism.

I've said this for nearly 2decades that it always has a major start in the Armed Services tho.... and I was right.

What we all went through was actually quite traumatic and GOD KNOWS we know how many people who were investigated, Masted/Court Martialed and fucking DISCHARGED!

ESPECIALLY WOMEN!!! Women in all the Services were discharged at a MUCH HIGHER percentage rate then male homosexuals. No one KNOWS THIS tho because the majority of images/stories are of gay males. People don't "empathize" w/lesbians in the Military. We are a old joke.

Women were ONLY 8 to 10 percent of the entire military back then!!

Women in the Armed Services have NOT had an easy route and no one knows the stories... because know one really cares to hear them.

Women's History... again erased and ignored.

Oh but see that's the whole thing. I went to basic in 1982 and they suspected that ALL OF US were gay. Why else would a woman want to join the military right? Unless we wanted to be a man? *Snort......what rubbish.

I was only ever confronted 1 time in 20 years and that was by some drunken sergeants from my own unit in a bar. They figured either I was sleeping with my best friend (a male lieutenant who was the platoon leader of another platoon) or a lesbian. I remember saying to them, "Oh brother you boys don't give me many options. I'm either banging H***** or a lesbian. Isn't there an option to join a convent?" and laughed it off. They persisted awhile until I got mad and reminded them either on or off duty - I was an officer in the United States Army, and, unless they wanted to find themselves missing a stripe they'd knock it off and, if nothing else, respect the rank. They came around the next day with their hats in their hands, hung over as a mother, and very apologetic.

[theoddz]

We've come a looooooong way, baby!!!

From this:



To this:



The baton has been well passed.

Semper Fi,

~Theo~

[JAGG]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEMPER FI DEVIL DOGS !!!!!!!!!

[theoddz]

Happy 238th birthday, Marines!!!



Semper Fidelis,
~Theo~

[TruTexan]

Happy Veteran's Day to all the Vets out there. Thank you for serving our country and for our freedom.

[TruTexan]

Happy Veteran's Day to all of you whom have served or are still serving in the military. Thank you.

[JDeere]

Happy Veterans Day to all who have served!

[CherryWine]

Happy Veterans Day to all soldiers, past and present. Thank you, and may peace be with you!

[clay]

Happy Veteran's Day to everyone who has served in the military!!!

[The_Lady_Snow]

The UFW & Chavez family pay tribute to veterans everywhere

Among countless Latinos who defended their country in the Armed Services were two of Cesar Chavez’s cousins, Rudolph G. Rico and Lawrence Horta, with whom Cesar grew up in the North Gila River Valley outside Yuma Arizona. They died fighting with the U.S. Army against the Nazi tyranny in Europe during World War II. Cesar’s brother-in-law, Guillermo Fabela, helped launch the Normandy Invasion by parachuting behind German lines with the famed 101st Airborne Division on D-Day and fought through the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. Cesar served for two years with the U.S. Navy, including in the western Pacific, just after the end of the war.

When Guillermo Fabela returned to Delano, Calif. after the war he and other Latino veterans organized the petition campaign that resulted in ending segregation at the Delano Theater where Cesar, while on leave from the U.S. Navy, had been arrested earlier for sitting in the whites-only section.

The Navy named its latest 689-foot long Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Cesar Chavez. She was launched on May 5, 2012, and is deployed to strategic locations worldwide. USNS Cesar Chavez recently joined an international task force led by the Australian Defense Force searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 off the west coast of Australia.

source - www.ufw.org/