Ex-Marine to be awarded Medal of Honor; Saved 13 American & 23 Afghan Soldiers

[Zoupa]

To be fair, you're a poor judge of what's crazy or not.

[Ideologue]

Military and many police forces sponsor religious funerals because it's expected that some of their number will die, and a subset of the set of dead people will have wanted religious ceremony.  It's not like they make you get a Christian funeral if you don't want it, Zoupa; they're just providing a service, in accordance with the recipients' beliefs.  It doesn't mean America is a Christian nation, anymore than it means it's a front for the ZOG when a Jewish soldier is struck down and given a Jewish funeral, or the Caliphate when a Muslim soldier gets hit by a truck and is given services in accordance with Islam.

[sbr]

Military and many police forces sponsor religious funerals because it's expected that some of their number will die, and a subset of the set of dead people will have wanted religious ceremony.  It's not like they make you get a Christian funeral if you don't want it, Zoupa; they're just providing a service, in accordance with the recipients' beliefs.  It doesn't mean America is a Christian nation, anymore than it means it's a front for the ZOG when a Jewish soldier is struck down and given a Jewish funeral, or the Caliphate when a Muslim soldier gets hit by a truck and is given services in accordance with Islam.

But that wasn't a funeral, the President was awarding a soldier the MoH.

[Ideologue]

Military and many police forces sponsor religious funerals because it's expected that some of their number will die, and a subset of the set of dead people will have wanted religious ceremony.  It's not like they make you get a Christian funeral if you don't want it, Zoupa; they're just providing a service, in accordance with the recipients' beliefs.  It doesn't mean America is a Christian nation, anymore than it means it's a front for the ZOG when a Jewish soldier is struck down and given a Jewish funeral, or the Caliphate when a Muslim soldier gets hit by a truck and is given services in accordance with Islam.

But that wasn't a funeral, the President was awarding a soldier the MoH.

Well oh.

[Razgovory]

To be fair, you're a poor judge of what's crazy or not.

On the contrary, having been both sane and insane, gives me intimate insight into madness.

[Eddie Teach]

To be fair, you're a poor judge of what's crazy or not.

On the contrary, having been both sane and insane, gives me intimate insight into madness.

Hannibal Lecter certainly had a lot of insight into manias other than his own. 

[Valmy]

Yeah this isn't a funeral, they're not in a church, so chill out Yi.

Is the US government a christian state? Serious question. I don't understand how you can have a prayer in an official ceremony of state. It just makes me uncomfortable.

Nope a Rabbi or whatever could also have done it.  Religious stuff is supposed to instill civic virtue.  At least that is the idea.

[Barrister]

Yeah this isn't a funeral, they're not in a church, so chill out Yi.

Is the US government a christian state? Serious question. I don't understand how you can have a prayer in an official ceremony of state. It just makes me uncomfortable.

Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law:

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/Charter/page-1.html

[AnchorClanker]

Its called the chaplain invocation.
Every military official activity begins with one.
They are suppossed to keep it neutral so it can apply to all religions and it doens;t offend anybody.
This is not the way it always happens. I have had to call chaplains out, and let them know not all american soldiers are christians.

Yep, we had it for the USN Chief's pinning ceremony on Friday.
BTW, and you'll like this, Siege - we had a Rabbi with us at my last command, and he was easily the most visible and affable chappie of the lot (out of three or four)

[AnchorClanker]

[Nitpicky] - Ex-Marine is incorrect in this case - he's a former-Marine[/nitpicky]

For Marines, the distinction is important.  Ex-Marine is code for "was kicked out for bad conduct, etc"
Those who were medically or honorably discharged are former-Marines.  I have no idea when or why this started.

[Siege]

By the way, his complains about commanders refusing to provide fire support (artillery, rotary wing, etc) is a direct result of our current Rules of Engagement, which gives priority to avoiding civilian cassualties over protecting our guys on the field.
This is our every day story.
If you call for fire support, and if you are lucky, you gonna get a few artillery rounds placed a MILE away from the target you asked to be hit, in a place the commander knows for sure, by looking at his map, that is far away from any civilian structure or road. This means it is completely uneffective. Sometimes you ask for an smoke screen, to cover your movement, smoke that is not gonna kill nobody, and they again place it a MILE away where it is not effective at all.

From the unit commanders point of view, it is LESS damaging to their carreers to lose soldiers than to hit a civilian structure and kill a couple of civilians, which might be military age males which happen to be civilians this day because they either were spotting for their dudes or because their friends picked up their weapons leaving the dead bodies behind for the propaganda effect.

I got to tell man, shit is really stupid out there. You can only rely on yourself and your team.

[Razgovory]

Maybe you should join the other side Siege.  They don't care if you kill civilians.

[Alcibiades]

By the way, his complains about commanders refusing to provide fire support (artillery, rotary wing, etc) is a direct result of our current Rules of Engagement, which gives priority to avoiding civilian cassualties over protecting our guys on the field.
This is our every day story.
If you call for fire support, and if you are lucky, you gonna get a few artillery rounds placed a MILE away from the target you asked to be hit, in a place the commander knows for sure, by looking at his map, that is far away from any civilian structure or road. This means it is completely uneffective. Sometimes you ask for an smoke screen, to cover your movement, smoke that is not gonna kill nobody, and they again place it a MILE away where it is not effective at all.

From the unit commanders point of view, it is LESS damaging to their carreers to lose soldiers than to hit a civilian structure and kill a couple of civilians, which might be military age males which happen to be civilians this day because they either were spotting for their dudes or because their friends picked up their weapons leaving the dead bodies behind for the propaganda effect.

I got to tell man, shit is really stupid out there. You can only rely on yourself and your team.

Army Captain who was there with the Marine for most of the engagement was shunned for awards or recognition because of his critical remarks about his superiors in the AAR and afterward.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/09/military-dakota-meyer-will-swenson-ganjgal-afghanistan-091311w/

[CountDeMoney]

I have had to call chaplains out, and let them know not all american soldiers are christians.

You should explore regulation and compliance as a career, what with your talent of making sure there's at least one douchebag in a group.