The Dogtag Chronicles

And the douchebag award goes to...

Sat, 25 May 2013 08:37:37 -0700

The guy that told the 12-year-old that all military members are killers, liars and thieves while she was trying to give him a Memorial Day poppy.

I respect all points of view, even the ones I don’t agree with. You want to be antiwar/antimilitary that is fine. You have every right to think that and have the constitutional right to express that belief. But it takes a special kind of asshat to express that belief that is handing out poppies with her dad’s VFW post.

Next time just say, “No thanks.”

I did take the opportunity to have a positive First Amendment discussion with her so we win.

This was her response after he walked away. “How can he expect me to pay attention to what he was saying, I barely pay attention in math class.”

thedogtagchronicles: On a rainy Saturday morning, while most of...

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:03:15 -0700

thedogtagchronicles:

On a rainy Saturday morning, while most of her friends are in bed she gets dressed and heads over to a local cemetery. The local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter enlists the aids of boy scouts to help place flags on the graves of all the veterans one week before Memorial Day. The flags mark the graves for a full week after. She will be back to help collect the flags.

She doesn’t earn any merit badges, she won’t get school credit and she does it without her friends. While the boy scouts run across the grounds, she walks alone with a bundle of flags to the far reaches of grounds. She will later walk through and help double check the lines to make sure no veteran is missed.

Every year she looks forward to this. Her chance to pay respects to the veterans that gave their life for her country so she could be free. She does this, and no one knows. This is the future of America.

Another old post for the new followers.

thedogtagchronicles: She does it every year. Gets up early on a...

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:21:49 -0700

Looking for veteran markers

The flagpole and monolith

For all five branches.

In front of the display tent

thedogtagchronicles:

She does it every year. Gets up early on a Saturday, gets ready and heads out the door. Her chores will have to wait, she has something more important to do. They arrive early and stand by the flag pole. Like always, there is a brief ceremony.

A retired Ranger or Navy Chief says a few words. The U.S. and POW/MIA flag are raised all the way up, then down to half mast. The veterans and cub scouts salute, she stands the quietly with her hand over her heart. She is polite and reverent. When it is over, the scouts laugh and joke as they run across the grounds while she calmly fills her arms and walks the rows, head down reading the grave markers.

“Daddy, can I do it,” she asks. She doesn’t want help except where the ground is especially hard. She wants to carry the flags and mark each grave herself. Her tribute to those fallen in combat or the vets no longer with us.

She will stop by the display tent, and old GP medium and get a cookie and some juice. She will visit with the old vets and their wives, people that have known her for years. Then she will get back into the car and go home. No one at school will know, she doesn’t talk about it to her friends. This is just what she does every year and is proud to do it.

She will be back a week later. On Monday, Memorial Day. While everyone else is grilling hotdogs, she will sit and listen to the speaker. She sits quietly while a family long denied gets the flag they deserve and finally hear those words, “On behalf of a grateful nation…” She knows to cover her ears for the rifle salute and one of the vets always saves a spent 7.62 blank from the M1 for her.

I see so many people on Tumblr say how much they love their country and want to join the military. I wonder what most of them were doing last year while she was planting flags at the memorial cemetery. How many were drinking when she was standing quietly as the bugler played Taps? Don’t worry, you aren’t being judged by a 10-year-old. This is America after all. You are free to do what you choose. And how she chooses to spend her time is to pay respect for those that made this country free.

Posted this 10 months ago. Thought I would share it with my new followers.

strangeparking: thedogtagchronicles reblogged your photoset: Hahaha well the lighting is bad so I...

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:18:21 -0700

strangeparking:

thedogtagchronicles reblogged your photoset: Hahaha well the lighting is bad so I can’t take a…

Unfuck your flag. lol That flag is displayed incorrectly.

I don’t think that would be very aesthetically pleasing. It’s a bathing suit not a logo on the declaration of independence, it can stay the way it is.

I know, I was joking. I always point out flag code violations. I would disagree with you on the look. I always think it is cool when a clothing maker knows how to make the flag right. But this is a bathing suit, not a flag so I really don’t mind but it amuses me to make the comparison.

Are you going to do more than just reblog pics for Memorial Day?...

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:04:37 -0700

Are you going to do more than just reblog pics for Memorial Day? I will be handing out poppies, placing flags on the graves of veterans and participating in two different ceremonies. One in uniform as the firing detail. What will you be doing?

strangeparking: Hahaha well the lighting is bad so I can’t take...

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:00:01 -0700

strangeparking:

Hahaha well the lighting is bad so I can’t take a quality photo until morning but here it is, I love it. c:

Unfuck your flag. lol That flag is displayed incorrectly.

yourealwaysnaked: thedogtagchronicles: yourealwaysnaked: My...

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:42:29 -0700

yourealwaysnaked:

thedogtagchronicles:

yourealwaysnaked:

My aunt gave me this.
I thought it was cute

Did you square her away and tell her that a Marine and a Soldier are two different things?

Damn straight I did!

Excellent, carry on.

No one remembers a coward

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:33:06 -0700

History may not remember, but the people that coward served with will never forget.

yourealwaysnaked: My aunt gave me this. I thought it was...

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:55:44 -0700

yourealwaysnaked:

My aunt gave me this.
I thought it was cute

Did you square her away and tell her that a Marine and a Soldier are two different things?

#SOLDIERPORN: US Army releases April suicide information.

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:22:44 -0700

#SOLDIERPORN: US Army releases April suicide information.:

soldierporn:

(Official DOD media release, 23 MAY 2013. Source.)

The Army released suicide data today for the month of April 2013. During April, among active-duty soldiers, there were 11 potential suicides: one has been confirmed as a suicide and 10 remain under investigation. For March 2013, the Army…

Common terms of modern US military history as applied to the...

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:30:16 -0700

Common terms of modern US military history as applied to the generations who fought our wars.

sean-p3: thisisjamesj: “For the culturally unaware… The...

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:59:41 -0700

sean-p3:

thisisjamesj:

“For the culturally unaware… The Herndon Climb is an annual tradition at the Annapolis Naval Academy in which members of the freshmen class, AKA “plebes,” climb a lard-covered monument to retrieve the Plebe ‘dixie cup’ hat and replace it with an upperclassmen’s hat, marking the end of wearing freshman headgear and moving up to headgear more like a U.S. Naval officer.

But really, it’s just about getting nearly naked and climbing a wet, greasy pole. For America.”

—Matt Bellassai

images by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Remind me to tell you about crossing the line sometime ;)

I think they already crossed a line. So Navy cadets swarm over a lubed phallic symbol as a rite of passage. The only reason I am not making jokes is because there are no points for the easy ones.

45-9mm-5-56mm: georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov: These 80 silver...

Tue, 21 May 2013 23:27:07 -0700

45-9mm-5-56mm:

georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov:

These 80 silver goblets commemorate the 80 men who flew the Doolittle Raid against Japan in April 1942.

At every reunion, the surviving Raiders meet privately to conduct their solemn “Goblet Ceremony.” After toasting the Raiders who died since their last meeting, they turn the deceased men’s goblets upside down. Each goblet has the Raider’s name engraved twice — so that it can be read if the goblet is right side up or upside down. When there are only two Raiders left, these two men will drink one final toast to their departed comrades using the 1896 Hennessy kept in the center.

I wrote this up awhile ago and it was sitting in the queue. When it popped up I decided to check and see how many are left. Apparently there are four still alive, but just a month ago, in April, they decided to hold one final anniversary and toast using the Hennessy later this year between the four of them, rather than wait for it to just be two.

What I would give to be in the room for that…

(via

TumbleOn)

Your choices say a lot about you. Go.

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:02:41 -0700

Your choices say a lot about you. Go.

Playing OPFOR at Fort Knox in 1995. Good times.

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:14:04 -0700

Playing OPFOR at Fort Knox in 1995. Good times.

Chuck Norris is only an Honorary Marine.

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:27:04 -0700

Chuck Norris is only an Honorary Marine.

Welcome to my life: thedogtagchronicles: thereisnoloveitsjustahoax: ohmuhgurth-airsoft:...

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:44:34 -0700

Welcome to my life: thedogtagchronicles: thereisnoloveitsjustahoax: ohmuhgurth-airsoft:...:

oparnoshoshoi:

thedogtagchronicles:

thedogtagchronicles:

thereisnoloveitsjustahoax:

ohmuhgurth-airsoft:

obi-quiet:

Who knew that my mom would be more welcoming to me joining the Marines than my dad.

Everyone in my family ignores me when I bring up the military. They think that because I’m going to college…

They say things like, “In the Army, you live in barracks that don’t have cable.” Or stories about when they were recruits like, “When I was an airman we could have pie or we could have cake, but we couldn’t have both!” Scary stories like that.

Lol, Army barracks, ugh. When I was at Ft Gordon, I called my grandfather. He did three tours in Vietnam, volunteered for all three, retired as a Master Sergeant. I told him where I was and he laughed, said he was there when it was just Camp Gordon. I told him where my barracks was and he said, “Where they used to have the out patient hospital barracks? They finally tore those down and put in real barracks, huh?” I said no, these were those same buildings, to which he responded, “That can’t be right, those were condemned when I was there!”

Yeah. That’s how the Army rolls. Black mold in the air vents and such. Still, good times.

The barracks we had at JBLM were substandard for Air Force. In fact, an Airman would get prorated BAH to be compensated for the poor housing. Of course, soldiers could stay there and be told to suck it up.

leagueoflowerenlistedmen: loseegoose: What the fuck is...

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:37:33 -0700

leagueoflowerenlistedmen:

loseegoose:

What the fuck is air?

omg.

Seriously? A public affairs unit and this is the best they can do? If you are going to celebrate being a POG, at least be good at your job.

Welcome to my life: thedogtagchronicles: thereisnoloveitsjustahoax: ohmuhgurth-airsoft:...

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:25:06 -0700

Welcome to my life: thedogtagchronicles: thereisnoloveitsjustahoax: ohmuhgurth-airsoft:...:

thedogtagchronicles:

thereisnoloveitsjustahoax:

ohmuhgurth-airsoft:

obi-quiet:

Who knew that my mom would be more welcoming to me joining the Marines than my dad.

Everyone in my family ignores me when I bring up the military. They think that because I’m going to college…

They say things like, “In the Army, you live in barracks that don’t have cable.” Or stories about when they were recruits like, “When I was an airman we could have pie or we could have cake, but we couldn’t have both!” Scary stories like that.

thereisnoloveitsjustahoax: ohmuhgurth-airsoft: obi-quiet: Who knew that my mom would be more...

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:48:29 -0700

thereisnoloveitsjustahoax:

ohmuhgurth-airsoft:

obi-quiet:

Who knew that my mom would be more welcoming to me joining the Marines than my dad.

Everyone in my family ignores me when I bring up the military. They think that because I’m going to college that I need to get a desk job or something. Join up, man. I have a few friends going to basic here in a month or so for the Marine Corps.

^Marines have Boot Camp, Army has Basic, Navy is RTC or Recruit Training Command, and Air Force has Summer Camp

^ Hey, don’t disrespect the Air Force. It is a sleep away camp and not always in the summer. They can’t go home until camp is over. Sometimes their camp counselors yell at them.