Happy 235th birthday to the U.S. Army, still out there on the front lines defending Americans' freedom and way of life. You're welcome. No, really, don't mention it.
The Army might even be able to continue for a few more years now that it's replaced the spectacularly stupid "Army of One" with "Army Strong" as a recruiting slogan. What was wrong with "Be all you can be," anyway? I feel a little deprived, since we didn't even have a slogan in my day. You know why, of course. Because, back then, they could just grab any ablebodied men they wanted off the street, that's why. I beat the draft, though. Enlisted. Got to get up pretty early in the morning to put one over on me, boy. That was another good Army slogan: "We do more before 9 in the morning than most people do in an entire day." But they should have added, "and then we spend the rest of the day looking busy."
The best recuriting slogan ever was the simple, direct one: "I want you." I suppose during World War II it was considered a polite request. Have to give the Marines credit for the best slogans, though. "The Few, The Proud, The Marines" gets just the "Few Good Men" they're looking for.
Comments
I admire people willing to enlist in our armed forces.
But the constant cliche that they're "defending our freedom" is nonsense.
No country has attacked the United States since World War II.
Our military is not a defensive force; it is an offensive force. That's not necessarily bad, but let's stop lying to ourselves about it.
No rational nation would attack the only remaining superpower.
Military personnel who have sacrificed for our country since 1945 have done so on foreign soil, in wars we did not declare and had no need to meddle in.
Here's where I agree with the Libertarians (and George Washington): We should avoid unnecessary foreign entanglements. Our huge military infrastructure is the primary contributor to our budget deficit and is unnecessary to our safety.
You want to cut taxes and the size of government? Cut our military establishment in half, and stop fighting pointless wars in the mideast.
Wow Littlejohn, you are really in full "I wanna be a European" mode today.
Like it or not, in this "global" society, somebody has to be in charge, the World's cop if you will. I really prefer it remains us as opposed to Russia or China. Just seems like a good idea.
I'd like to chime in on the 'Army of One' slogan. It was horrible, and, although I've never served, I know enough to know that the idea expressed therein must be just the opposite of what you'd want in any group of warfighters.