MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Why do you think I was in a hurry to get home?
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Does welcome home stuff really matter?
- Thread starter villanelle
- Start date
fattestfoot
In it for the naked volleyball
I like that the first line of that is "No symbol is more sacred in American life right now than the military uniform," and the picture above it is a uniform that's a complete soup sandwich.
That said, I definitely agree with the article. It's like Representative Giffords getting shot in the head and being called a hero afterwards. Is she really? Shouldn't we really be celebrating the doctors who were able to allow her to make her recovery?
Volunteering to put up with 6-12 months of crappy working conditions doesn't make us heroes, it just makes us dedicated workers. I also agree that it's always awkward when someone "thanks me for my service." I never know what to say back to that.
I wasn't sure initially, either. I used to say "thank you" back, which doesn't really make sense. Now I mix it up. There's "you're welcome," "no worries," "my pleasure," and if you're feeling froggy, you can throw out a good "no problemo."
It's obvious that it's not a real uniform - it's meant to be an amalgamation.
In the 80s and 90s, as a young Naval Aviator returning from deployments, all of the hoohah and celebration was an inconvenience and was wasted on me. Now, the thought of returning from a much different deployment in the Army, at the age of 47, solicits a much different feeling. The signs, ribbons and ceremony aren't just for the returning service members. It also gives the families a chance to show that they care. Families all have their personal way to say to the one they love, "I am so glad you are home!", but they often miss out on the part that says, "Thank you for YOUR sacrifices and service." Maybe I am putting too much meaning on it, but I think that is what all of the ceremony and public celebration is about. At least it is for me.
We do this in the National Guard for deployments just like the Navy does, but the feeling is more personal. You can feel it in the air. Upon return, the guys you deployed with become more of a family. Even the guys you couldn't stand while deployed, were still there next to you (in the bunker, during that 0200 medevac launch, etc...). When other parts of our unit come home while we are already at home, we go out to the hangar floor! Not because we have to, but because we want to, we know we should, and maybe even we feel a need to do it.
Each person feels differently about the welcome home stuff. I know I am in the minority, but I like it.
We do this in the National Guard for deployments just like the Navy does, but the feeling is more personal. You can feel it in the air. Upon return, the guys you deployed with become more of a family. Even the guys you couldn't stand while deployed, were still there next to you (in the bunker, during that 0200 medevac launch, etc...). When other parts of our unit come home while we are already at home, we go out to the hangar floor! Not because we have to, but because we want to, we know we should, and maybe even we feel a need to do it.
Each person feels differently about the welcome home stuff. I know I am in the minority, but I like it.
Way to play Martyr...
I think the varied responses in this thread show why you need to do multiple things. Are the single officers going to care? Apparently not that much. Are the signs important to an 18yr old AN? Maybe. And if that's what it takes to make that AN feel good then it's worth the effort. There are plenty of different groups that get captured in a homecoming ceremony, JOs being just a portion of them. I think the important thing is to do something to show the deployed sailors that you care, you recognize that they're back, and that their sacrifices (even if they are part of the job) are worthwhile and important. I get the salty JO "it's all part of the job, i don't need a celebration" thing, but as MB's experience can testify to, it's easy for that to lack of interest in a celebration to become apathy on the part of the squadron where guys come home from cruise and it's like no cared.
Another part of this is IA homecomings. At my fleet squadron we used to get a personalized banner from the squadron for the guy and hang it up in the spaces. When the guy came back we made sure he had friends or family meeting him at the airport. I was the IA coordinator and would always contact wives or the service member to see if they wanted the squadron at the airport. Some guys said "bring everyone", while others said "all i want to see is my wife." We honored their wishes and then would have a welcome back party for them. For the Os this meant we'd head over to the club, have a couple of beers with the guy and then send him on his way with a signed leave chit. The banner was his to keep. If he wanted to put it up on his house, he could. If he wanted to throw it out, no one cared, I got them for free online. For the sailors I made sure either the appropriate mess or their shop had a welcome back event for the guy.
Villanelle, don't take these posts too harshly. You're dealing with active-duty mindsets who just went through some crazy times and you're right there with them. Of course they don't care now, but they'll remember the smell in the air or something you did 20 years from now. Master might even look back on his six mile walk and laugh...perspectives change. It sounds silly, but he might even end up back there in 30 years and get out of his car and walk around where he walked before, cursing that duty driver.
I can't say whether cups in fence is THE thing to do, but I think it's all worth it in the end because the end is actually when you look back at this time in the Navy and remember the look and feel of things. Nowhere else on Earth will you guys ever experience anything like what you're in right now, good or bad. It truly is an adventure that you are lucky enough to be a part of. The rest of your non-military peers "back home" will never know or feel the things you know and feel. Nor will they have much to remember of significance from their 20's and 30's because life is passing them by and you guys and your families are living! -- even if it is hard, iffy, wonderful, sexy, or utterly miserable. Besides, nobody is going to welcome you home, put up signs, or cheer for anything else you do when the Navy is behind you. I remember all the little jet signs posted along the road going into the base with little phrases on them leading up to some wink-wink joke about finally getting laid. I didn't think anything of that stuff at the time, but when I see it now, it brings back good feelings.
My departed grandmother (grandfather was a Navy doctor during WWII) described unthinkable sacrifice living on S. Pacific islands before the war. On her death bed, she wouldn't trade the adventures of her life for anything in the world. The memories, the bugs, the tears, the risk of internment and war at her doorstep, the sights, the smells. She truly lived a life worth living, good and bad.
RadicalDude
Social Justice Warlord
That stock photo is ridiculous. Did they just go to a mil surplus store, buy a bunch of shit, and randomly assemble it?
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
I stated it as an example of how the squadron can fuck away easy shit.. Like sending a duty driver to pick up someone flying in not with the main airlift.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
But there were all sorts of signs welcoming us home. Just no driver to give me a ride.
How can you be sure they forgot? Maybe they thought something else was more important, like a pizza run?
I thank them every chance I get. In my era people called us names and actually would spit on us, and I remember that. It got so bad that we traveled in civvies. Not that it helped; we were clean shaven, in clean clothes, with shined shoes and had short hair. When I thank someone they usually just say “Your welcome, thank you, sir.”
Steve
This was how it was in West Coast LAMPS as well....at least in the early 80's.
Trophy Hinge's west coast LAMPS homecomings were equally (to Japan) non-events, except the time he road the boat in, which had a bit more fanfare because it was a bunch of ship families standing on the pier. But for fly offs, it was always a few families in the hanger and a small assortment of guys who happened to be at their desks at the time. No signs around base, no... anything else.
Here, the CAG squadrons do signs and stuff, but their world is a little different, since the whole squadron comes back at the same time so they are all having a shared experience, whereas for us, they trickle in and trickle out.
It sounds like some people appreciate it, at least in retrospect, so I think it's worthwhile to continue on some level, but next time it's raining, I'll head indoors.
Here, the CAG squadrons do signs and stuff, but their world is a little different, since the whole squadron comes back at the same time so they are all having a shared experience, whereas for us, they trickle in and trickle out.
It sounds like some people appreciate it, at least in retrospect, so I think it's worthwhile to continue on some level, but next time it's raining, I'll head indoors.