ABikerSailor
Diamond Member
red herring and an attempt to divert away from the lie the Atlantic spewedQuick question for you guys.......................Donald Trump thinks that people who are smart, DON'T join the military. He recently said this...............
According to eyewitnesses, after a White House briefing given by the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Dunford, Trump turned to aides and said, “That guy is smart. Why did he join the military?”
Now, I don't know why others joined the military, but for a poor country boy from Montana, joining the US Navy seemed like my best shot for seeing places I would never be able to see otherwise. I've been to 26 different countries, and 49 different states, only missing Alaska. Granted, nobody ever got rich serving in the military, as the pay isn't really all that great. As an E-6 over 20 years of service, I only cleared 36,000 my last year of active duty. And, my last tour, I ran the Navy office for Amarillo MEPS, my boss was all the way down in San Antonio. If I was to do the same job in the civilian community, I would have been earning 120,000 to 150,000/year, maybe even more.
Does this make me "stupid" or "not smart" for spending over 20 years of my life in the Navy? Personally? I think it was one of the better decisions I ever made. Not only did I get to see a whole bunch of really cool stuff, but I now have a pension and health care for the rest of my natural, no matter what. And, having an income you can depend on is pretty important right now. Not everyone has the security that I do.
What are the odds that MSNBC had a political ad where parents of dead service members are saying my son isn't a loser? The advertisers are really really fast or it's just a planned attack.
Actually, this thread is about Trump and whether or not he respects those of us who served in the military. Me personally? I don't think he respects the military members, just pays them lip service. And, yeah, as a retired military member, I find his comment about smart people not joining the military kinda offensive. Some of the brightest and most intelligent people I've ever met, served alongside me in the Navy. Yes, smart people DO join the military. Matter of fact, of those in this country who are between 18 and 35 (age requirement for enlisting), only 30 percent of them are even eligible to join. Of that 30 percent, only about 1 to 2 percent actually do join. And, of those who actually enlist, only a small percent actually make it all the way to retirement.
I'm happy to be part of that elite club. Trump, even if he wanted to, probably wouldn't have been eligible to join, and even if he did, chances are that he never would have made it to retirement.