Help! My son is hostage to the MONKEY!

A lot of you here know me. Probably most do not but my son, against the very best advice of his experienced and wise father, joined the Navy over the summer. Surprise! He doesn't like it. Hell, I didn't like it either and spent most of my time scheming on ways out that wouldn't carry a shit discharge with it.

I know that resources sprang up during Viet Nam to assist soldiers and sailors and airmen in getting out. Do any of you know any resources like that on the web these day? Have we gotten that far in resistence yet?

:wtf: :kick: :kick:

Not knowing what else to do, I bit my tongue and put up with it for four agonizing years. Getting my discharge remains one of the best moments of my life!

They have a underground railroad of sorts set up to advise kids on getting out of the military, and I'm sure they will be revving up to act in case of a draft.

Make sure he swings REALLY hard.

You don't want it hangin' on by a thread.

would be for your son to gain a lot of weight. The military has a weight requirement, and if you can't meet it, you're gone.

So you might want to send your son a box of Twinkies and a case of Jolt Cola to start him off! ;)

He's 6'-5", 150 lb.

6'2", 215.

And he loves to eat. :D

We were talking about your son, weren't we?

He'll be gone in a day. Or hell, just have people say they saw him do it. Don't know what kind of discharge that would get him, though.

This is my first post here so here goes. You really should tell your son to stay in, if he leaves now he will try and quit everything he does in life. My dad joined the Navy in WWII and I tried about 15 years ago, they wouldn't take me because I had RK surgery done to my eyes. Your son is fighting for his country and that is way more than any of his friends who are probably going to go to college for 4-10 years and then go work at Costco will EVER do in their lives. You should be proud!

but the crux of the biscuit is that now that he has had it really strike home that what he is expected to do is to kill people, he is soft-hearted and well meaning, not bloodthirsty or self righteous.

Water is wet.

Rocks are hard.

People are the way they are. Try to change that, and even bigger problems ensue.

enjoy your stay.

masters. Why persist in all this rah, rah, nonsense. War is about being used for corporate gain. It nearly ALWAYS has nothing to do with freedom or democracy....just the opposite usually.

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No excuses for age, physical ability, sex or anything else you can think of. Hell, you can sling hash and peel potatoes for the soldiers and clean the latrine. If you consider fighting in this immoral war honorable and the "right" thing to do, then YOU go. My cousin wants to come home, so you can therefore take his place.

NO EXCUSES!

Should i wave a flag now?
The Professor

Are you so obtuse that you didn't read the original post?

The cure for the college graduates going to work at Costco is simple - get a real media, so we don't have to listen to morons advising us to "be proud" as our jobs go to India, our country goes to shit and our children into the Bush void.

Be proud indeed. A mantra for the stupid vote.

edited for gender confusion :)

do just keep kicking this, especially around 10:00 pm or so

My best friend is in the navy reserve, she is supposed to go to Bahrain and now I am scared because Saudi Arabia just came out in support of jihad. I am so angry at everyone in my family that voted for W., I won't sleep easy from now on.

what about writing military families speak out, mfso.org, or Bring them home now BTHN@mfso.org they might know or Veterans for Peace you might have to google for these, Veterans for Peace has a great webstite.

God Bless.

Sounds like he could use the help, especially in the "take responsibility for his actions" department. Apparently he didn't get that lesson and a few more at home. Why not encourage him to live up to his responsibilities and be an adult, maybe he will but his isn't the only attitude that needs to mature. I think most parents would be proud of their son for deciding to serve in the defense of their country. Certaintly not a right/left issue, more one of honor or lack there of.

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flame wars on liberal websites for that.

I apoligize FOR this person, whomever they are.

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Though not relative to the decussion, I spent time in Forts Bliss, TX and Gordon, GA. then two tours in Nam, in and around Quy Nhon, Da Nang, Phu Bi, and Dong Ha to be exact.

Colonel Hackworth?

Really?

No shit!

everyone knows your losing it. Why not try wining to the Mods some more because someone doesn't agree with you.

would a poor bullshit artist with a keyboard and delusions of grandeur cause me to "lose it."

Whe you come to the table with empty pockets, you go home hungry.

The word you're looking for is you'RE.

You'RE the one who ....

You'RE a real credit...

Mods?

Otherwise I think he's pretty much fucked.

sign up as an adult, freely, of his own volition. This may fall under the category of very hard and very valuable life lesson learned.

What is it he dislikes about the Navy? Everything? Tedious drone work? The concept of being involved in war?

I have no desire to see your son harmed as a result of his involvement with the military (spent over a decade in the Navy myself), although if he is not a hospital corpsman supporting Marines I would think he'd be unlikely to be in danger in this war.

he's actually kinda lackadaisical about danger. It's the military environment and the mission. When were you in? I was in the mid-70s ... tailend of Viet Nam.

BTW, he was an adult but you know as well as I do how recruiters are. Fuck them. If he can get out, good. I have some fond memories of the Navy but overall, no. It sucked in every way.

Agree wholeheartedly

I wholeheartedly agree with the mission thing, even if you don't get killed, it's still fukt...

I was haze gray and underway. An Operations Specialist. Water, water everywhere and nary a drop to drink.

vf31 f4's out of va beach va oceana nas

USS Ponce out of Norfolk, the Blue Ridge out of San Diego (now homeported in Japan) and the USS Peoria. An OS2 when I got out. Might have been a Radarman when you were in ...

and like you, stuck it out till the miserable end. I've often thought that a 'less than honorable' discharge would have meant more to me than the honorable one cause it would have meant that I had protested the bullshit.

I know a couple of people who managed to get out because their families contacted their congressperson. I assume there would have to be some sort of reason given, but maybe it's just a formality and they could help you come up with something....good luck!

just had to get in on this we had a man in 67 got deer john from his girl so he jumped off the ship the chopper went after him and he refused to take the life ring. they sent him back to the states strange they couldn't get the smile off his face he was waving at us as he left lol

Remember that one ... young enlistee in bootcamp sent to the shrinks because he kept picking up pieces of paper and saying, "This isn't it," discarding it and going to the next scrap of papers.

Shrinks were all puzzled and finally they decided to discharge is useless ass and when they handed him the discharge papers, he said ... "THIS is it."

can you just see what a 6'5" going through all the hatches oh my akin head lol

That really DID make me laugh out loud!

Welcome to DU vet! :toast:

been on a few forum just a old salt still pissed about the vote fraud, had to change user-name started getting weird emails, i had used my real name on a leo site. i hope everthing work out for your son

But I sure am sorry this has all happened. And I hope you get some good advice fast. That seems to abound around here, even if some assholes sneak into the joint.

via IM.

and he doesn't mind not having a pinky toe
tell him to ummm slip while cleaning it.

especially the back though...

They're not going to let go of him easily. :(

the trick is what sort of discharge one gets.

He's further away from the bullets.

The GI Rights Hotline
(800) 394-9544
(215) 563-4620 Fax (510) 465-2459
Mailing Address:
405 14th Street Suite 205
Oakland, CA 94612
http://girights.objector.org
girights@objector.org


Here's what they have to say about the hotline and the help they provide:

We are a network of nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations who provide information to servicemembers about military discharges, grievance and complaint procedures, and other civil rights.

Whether you are in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, we can help with military discharges, such as:

Delayed Entry Program
Hardship
Conscientious Objection
Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Homosexual Conduct
Entry Level Separation
Medical
Psychological

We can help if you are AWOL or UA.

We can help if you are experiencing hazing, harassment or discrimination, or if you have been a victim of sexual assault.

Learn how to help members of the military with discharges using
Helping Out: A Guide to Military Discharges and GI Rights.

Advice for CO's in the Armed Forces

Stories about life in the military

Go to http://girights.objector.org/ for clickable links on all of the above topics.


The GI Rights Hotline is sponsored and staffed by people from the following organizations:

Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors
American Friends Service Committee - New England Regional Office (Quakers)
Center on Conscience & War (NISBCO)
Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild
Northcoast WRL / Humboldt Committee for Conscientious Objectors
Quaker House of Fayetteville, NC
Resource Center for Nonviolence
San Diego Military Counseling Project
Seattle Draft and Military Counseling Center
Veterans for Peace
War Resisters League


If you find this info helpful, please pass it on!

Those who believe they made a mistake do not know where to turn. When they come to you, turn to Helping Out for answers.

Get the Facts About GI Rights

What do you do when your nephew, child, or client calls and says "I'm AWOL"? Is it possible to request a discharge from the military? What's the difference between a General, Other Than Honorable, and Dishonorable discharge? What rights do members of the military actually have?

http://www.objector.org/helpingout/description.html

Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors
1-(888)236-2226

Hope you find the info you need...

:kick:

Dunno if he's seen his thread yet or not...

Instant discharge.

If he is in the Navy and I assume on a ship or stationed somewhere safe he should just stick it out.

Yeah its a couple years of his life but atleast he isnt somewhere fighting and dying.

Save those "resources" for the people who really need the help those that are at risk to be in even more of harms way.

and your way of phrasing it reveals more about you than you intended.

I hear that the current G.I. bill gives somewhere in the area of $10,000 in benefits? Recently discharged military please correct if above is wrong? I resigned my commission in 85' and used every cent of my, at that time called, VEAP benefits totalling $8500. Don't mean to come across as a Polly Anna type but that's something to look forward to when you get frustrated with Active Duty.

on edit: Yikes! Please don't consider me a Republican ... just attempting to help now that he's committed.

his problem with it is that now he is faced with it, it is the mission that has him dismayed. Not the micky-mouse, not the discipline, not the committment. It is just that as he got into it more deeply, the reality of the mission is what is getting to him.

His conscience.

I understand that completely. While I tried to explain that to him before he joined, he was under the join-up spell that recruiters nurture and depend upon. Now, he really has a problem with launching on civilians, either with Tomahawks or with Trident II (D-5)s and the reality of that mission is weighing very heavily on what he personally is willing to do.

who's of the Catholic Faith:

Conscientious Objection: Information and Resources

http://www.paxchristiusa.org/pc_con_object.asp

can I just call you Princess now that we've met.

:D

I have this thread bookmarked and will send it as well as the links sent to me privately.

The thing is, when my son joined, I questioned whether or not he could do what was asked of him. I am a vet and I knew the sorts of mindset, conditions, and missions that were involved. I thought that he might be stricken with conscience when the reality of it set in.

I was blessed that my six-year (total service 4 yr AD and 2 yr IRR) was completed just a few months before they were tapping the reserves for Gulf War I.

no intent to offend, but your son isn't a "hostage" to anyone. military works the same regardless of who the president is. if you enlist, you're enlisted. you can't change your mind. end of discussion.

he will be fine over there. totally undertandable why you worry. natural. press coverage makes everything look like constant death for everyone, but the stark reality is that getting hurt over there is a long-odds proposition. vast majority go over, serve, come home unscathed.

just keep your prayers going and the yellow ribbon around the oak tree.

read post # 69.

funny how that is one of the few universal truths, eh?

i suppose if one is angling for a way to an early discharge, conscientious objection is probably one of the more realistic strategies?

was under the impression that conscientious objectors just get sent to non-combat roles, not sent home. don't really know, though

in any case, it was the "hostage" statement that caught my attention. just not an honest description of his situation.

I have been on this board for a long time and fully know what it tkes to grab attention and keeping a thread from quickly moving into the archives. I was seeking information and links and my DU brethern responded beautifully and to all of those, thanx.

Otherwise, I am tending the thread because it amuses me to argue.

:D

just been here a few days, but i've noticed how fast things drop off the board...it's almost impossible to keep up.

so much noise

HOT SEX as a preface to the premise.

This pamphlet describes in detail "Conscious Objection and The Military" regardless of one's particular faith:

http://www.paxchristiusa.org/COMIL.pdf

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