Tom In VA wrote:mvscal wrote:REMF's don't know anything more about the reality of war than you do.
Not true, especially in the case of WWII. They might not know anything about the realities of combat, but war is not all combat and the combat that does take place wouldn't be possible without the logistical chain, strategic planning, and REMF's doing their job along the way.
And it wouldn't be possible were it not for a guy screwing lugnuts on a
B-17.
Tom, I don't say this very often, but, in this case I gotta go mvscal and call you a fukking idiot. Still like you, though.
mvs made a completely valid point. Painting stevens as some sort of authority on the ugly realities of warfare because he earned the bronze star is ridiculous.
Dude is obviously highly intelligent and his contribution is every bit as valuable as a guy diving on a grenade to get the star.
So fukking what. Most folks think the bronze star is always rewarded as a result of someones bravery/stupidity. Unlike the CMOH and the silver star, the Bronze star can be awarded for merit as well as valor. This means that you just did your yob very well, or, atleast somebody thought you did.
So, basically, if Thomas said Stevens is not skilled in the art of doing crossword puzzles, busting out the bronze star for secret geek cyphering skillz would dispute it.
But, that's not the claim.
The claim is that justice Steven, although a very intelligent fellow, shares a common flaw in highly intelligent folks. These highly intelligent folks seem to think that everybody else is nice and law abiding like them.
They don't seem to realize that the world is chock full of arseholes who will do ANYTHING to get over. And when the other guy is not following any rules at all, sometimes, you just might have to bend a few rules yourself, just to keep it fair.
Unfortunately Stevens, Ginsberg and many other real smart folks who always sat at the front of the class sucking the teacher's cakh ferociously, never noticed those miscreant in the back shoot spitballs and looking at other kids answers. Thomas, on the other hand, has.