American Sniper
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Saw the movie last night. Thought it was boring, long, and badly put together. The ending (although overdue) just sort of comes from nowhere. Would not watch again. Most overhyped movie in a while. 
From the couple of people I do know who were in Iraq in the military the condition in the bases he was at looked far better than they described- and on the cell phone while in combat? Did that seriously happen?
From the couple of people I do know who were in Iraq in the military the condition in the bases he was at looked far better than they described- and on the cell phone while in combat? Did that seriously happen?
Carlos Hathcock?
Stfu.
neevo
Limey Hippo
Doh! Yes!
In my defense I was typing that whilst listening to Hancock's Half Hour - British TV (and radio) comedy
Most famous episode is
Brilliant
Came from his book, which you need to read. Satellite phone if I remember correctly, he was out with the troops so much he would use down time to call home.Saw the movie last night. Thought it was boring, long, and badly put together. The ending (although overdue) just sort of comes from nowhere. Would not watch again. Most overhyped movie in a while.
From the couple of people I do know who were in Iraq in the military the condition in the bases he was at looked far better than they described- and on the cell phone while in combat? Did that seriously happen?
Even though he was a SEAL he seemed to want to spend his time in infantry engagements as he expressed an almost pathological need to protect the troops, Army, National Guard, Marines and early on Polish Special Forces.
I could barely read the end of the book, to know what he went through, how much he cared for his fellow servicemen and to know how it ends sucks.
neevo
Limey Hippo
Did you just fart or did you say something? hmm let me wait for the smell and I'll know, the really foul aroma comes from your mouth...
I have been reading a number of first hand accounts of Iraq and Afghanistan, some by SEALS, others by Infantry (Outlaw Platoon is a good book).
I don't know how our troops handled what they did. The constant deployments, return home, deploy again, especially the SEALS and I imaging other Special Operations types, takes a tremendous toll.
If you compare it to WWII, the battle were generally on a much larger scale with huge casualty rates, but of shorter duration, this was continuous low scale combat (which is only small scale to those not involved) and has gone on for 14 years now.
The battle for Europe lasted a little over 1yr for American troops, though many of those same troops had served in Italy (which had a higher proportion of casualties then Western Europe, and North Africa)
This country owes a lot to those men and women we sent over there.
I was at a function recently and they asked for the veterans to stand up, if my family had not prodded me I would not have stood up, not embarrassed but I don't consider what I did to be in the same category of the recent veterans, or the Vietnam, Korea and WWII vets.
I don't know how our troops handled what they did. The constant deployments, return home, deploy again, especially the SEALS and I imaging other Special Operations types, takes a tremendous toll.
If you compare it to WWII, the battle were generally on a much larger scale with huge casualty rates, but of shorter duration, this was continuous low scale combat (which is only small scale to those not involved) and has gone on for 14 years now.
The battle for Europe lasted a little over 1yr for American troops, though many of those same troops had served in Italy (which had a higher proportion of casualties then Western Europe, and North Africa)
This country owes a lot to those men and women we sent over there.
I was at a function recently and they asked for the veterans to stand up, if my family had not prodded me I would not have stood up, not embarrassed but I don't consider what I did to be in the same category of the recent veterans, or the Vietnam, Korea and WWII vets.
I agree with some of the article, but then again it could not be 100% wrong. If you read the book you understand Kyle did what he was supposed to do. Kill the people who were going to kill Americans. He expresses disgust with the Iraqi's but it is not some jingoistic mind set. He just has no respect for people who are killing each other and flocking to the Iraqi cities just for the opportunity to try and kill infidels.
One point in the book he lists all the different groups who were there to fight Americans, was a pretty long list. His bottom line was they were there to kill the troops he was with, and he was going to stop them.
Gal at work said it was practically unreadable it was so poorly written. Its on my list to check out nonetheless.
This. Fawking Seattlites.
Don't generalize too much. I'm a Vietnam vet, and I repaired airplane radios. Never slogged a rice paddy, never fired a shot at an enemy, but I figure I did what I was told, and that was my share. Be proud to be in the company of the people who were the real heroes.
neevo
Limey Hippo
True.
Battle of Stalingrad Aug '41 to Feb '43
The Siege of Leningrad lasted approx 900 days
but not a battle as such it's still a long time to be in one place fighting
No way to argue which wars were easier than others... but... the numbers show- United States military casualties of war - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Basically the War On Terror (Combined stats from Iraq and Afghanistan) saw orders of magnitude less casualties than WW2.
Basically the War On Terror (Combined stats from Iraq and Afghanistan) saw orders of magnitude less casualties than WW2.
Read "Fearless" by Eric Blehm. Probably one of the most gut wrenching stories about war you will ever read. It's about a SEAL named Adam Brown who has some pretty amazing things happen that he has to overcome to become a SEAL Team 6 operator. The book is written posthumously through a collaboration with other operators who felt that his story had to be told so it probably is missing the exaggerations that come with other books of its type. It'll also make a grown man cry like a baby.
The Fearless story of Adam Brown - KATV - Breaking News, Weather and Razorback Sports
The Fearless story of Adam Brown - KATV - Breaking News, Weather and Razorback Sports
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I think what that shows is that we went from getting the job done without worrying about what the public thought, to pussyfooting around and not really letting our military does best and not really committing to the job at hand. We don't lose as many lives, but we don't win so the lives lost are basically for nothing.