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Show Your ID.

Show Your ID.

By: Ronald Zeigler

As you all have heard, there are plenty of people who will impersonate a Veteran to get the meager perks that are offered to us. One way to help in weeding out these creeps is to show any military id that you have. On more than one occasion I’ve been offered a military discount just off of my wearing one my Sgt. Grit caps or other apparel. I always insist on showing my VA id and informing the person that they should always ask for it. Anyone can buy apparel. All those guys wearing Yankee gear never played for that team. Those of us who are Vietnam vets know that in today’s climate, “Thank you for your service”, is becoming a buzzword. I do feel that most people are sincere and it is my own experiences and biases that cause me to bristle before I smile and say thank you. Take care, all Veterans and active duty. Semper Fi!
Sgt. of Marines, 2/4 & 2/26, Vietnam ’67-’68.

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Comments

Bryan - June 16, 2020

I am a vet.and i trun down all the discounts and other things offered to me.I all ways tell them to save it and give it to one of the others.thier are those of us who came back from this war with more intact then others of are brother hood.I tell people when they thank me for my service not to thank me”I was just doing my job,to thank those who didt come backand those who paid the ultimate sacrifice…..I wont forget them .thank you brothess of the 2/3 Frist lieutenant R.l.fowler

Brian Hipwell - June 16, 2020

In 1968, just before Tet. I was assigned to bridge security outside Danang. We would shoot at anything that floated. One night I was posted on the bridge just behind an ARVN checkpoint when a motorbike zoomed past the ARVNs and toward my position. The ARVNs did’t do shit. As the bike approached me I shot at the driver when he was adjacent to me. I hit him in the hip and he went down real hard. I approached him, with two other Marines, rifles at the ready. He was a civilian contractor and extremely drunk. He knew about the curfew but was too shitfaced to remember. He was yelling at me and screaming that he’d sue me! I told him to shut up or I’d shoot him again. We called for an ambulance. I was told that he was chewed out by a Navy doctor that he’s lucky he wasn’t killed because, “Those fuckin’ Marines will shoot anything and usually kill it.” I had to write up a bullshit incident report and my CO thought it was the funniest thing ever. I hope you weren’t the idiot I shot?

Carl Conkling - June 16, 2020

I agree with the Marine about showing your ID when getting a discount at a business that offers one to Veterans. Like he stated, anyone can buy a cap. Most convenience stores carry caps that say something about any branch of our armed forces. Even Sgt. Grit items can be bought by anyone at all. Heaven’s even Wal Mart sells t-shirts that say something about our armed forces..I always insist on showing my state of Texas drivers license that says I am a Veteran on it to the cashier. Like the Marine above I too have been given a discount just because I was wearing a hat or shirt saying I am a Marine or a Veteran. I tell them to never assume that someone is a Veteran just because of an item of clothing they are wearing. Unlike, the Marine above I don’t have an ID card issued by the VA because in 2010 I was blatantly told that I made too much money to even be considered for one. At that time I was attempting to find information on Agent Orange having been sprayed in Panama in 1970 when I was stationed there. The VA strung me along for over 2 years before finally telling me along with the DoD that it had never happened. They still denied me an ID card based on my wife’s salary and also mine at the time. So I have to use my state of Texas issued drivers license and/or permit to carry license to prove I am a Veteran. Another form of proof is a current membership card in a Veterans groups such as the Vietnam Veterans of America, VFW or American Legion.

Burger - June 16, 2020

Let’s make no assumptions here, FE. When first reporting to Marine command, I encountered an odd stand-offishness of the troops and asked some I had got to know about it. They told me that contractors were resented for their “big money” jobs. I took the opportunity to ask the guys around me if this was true, and what they thought I made. ALL thought we were making half or a full millions dollars a year ! I about choked and said “I WISH !”, proceeding to tell them what I actually made: $12.44 per hour with 35% uplifts for in-country and hot zone work. ALL FOB work was hot zone work, and my helmet was just as prone to small arms fire and rocket attacks as anyone else out there. I did sit out there under fire, just like everyone else present. When I pointed to my FN’s and shared that these guys were making 2-4 dollars an hour, the animosity stopped and we all worked together as a team. But I was amazed at the general thinking that we all made “big money”. It just wasn’t so. And let me be clear, I have nothing but respect for the USMC and the principles therein. I am only pointing out that there is a third party here in the mix that are not posers, volunteered just as everyone else has done since the draft ended, and were genuinely thrilled to do our small part to make the machine go. I had some valid reasons (and a lot of invalid reasons) for not going in when I was 18, but the dipweeds and posers out there, and my own lack of stepping up ate at me to the point I sought out going. Denied (for being too old) at age 29 when we went into desert storm, I put it off again until it was a constant nag in the back of my head and sought out a way to make it work. How I regret not going in when I was 18. How I regret not being a lifer and making more of my early years with the discipline the USMC doles out. But it was a better late than never thing. And if I waited any longer, that door would have closed forever. I am often asked what it was like “being over there”, and I tell people is was the biggest thrill and the worst drag one could imagine, all at the same time. Any Marine will understand that. I say all this out of respect. It was a life-changing experience. I am sure you know what I am talking about there too. I only bring this up because I have heard so many vets ranting about anyone that did not enlist (or get drafted) being a poser. Guys who DID step up should not be dumped in the black water tank with all the posers just because they had to turn in their military ID upon leaving country.

Harry - June 16, 2020

Never mind Fred I just did a search on DD-256 ,Honorable Discharge !! Did not know that!!

Harry - June 16, 2020

What is a DD- 256? Do you mean DD-215? In my state(PA) you don’t even have to show proof of vet status.All a person has to do is check a box on your renewal form and SHAZAM! you are a vet. I can imagine how many non- vets have “Veteran” on their license here in PA. I have voiced my concern with Dept of Trans. but, have not heard back from anyone probably should write a Senator or Rep. Harry

Peter Wojtaszek MAG-16, MABS-16, Utilities, Marble Mountain 67-68 - June 16, 2020

Coming back to the world in November of 1968,with a 2:30am landing at El Toro MCAS, greeted by armed MPs. Ok, everything was not great but at least I could see round-eye again. Antiwar hippies, Kent State and sit-ins. Try being a Marine Veteran at UMass in 1970. (Read William Manchester’s Book “Goodbye Darkness, A memoir of the Pacific War) Now, I receive greetings and discounts from the same people who hated us in the sixties. An yes Communist Vietnam is now the USA’s trading partner. Posers too weak to serve, too envious of our service and when their are needed they will hide again.

Kirk Hogan - June 16, 2020

As far as the throw-away phrase goes. A long time ago I dropped that throw-away phrase and began using the more appropriate “Thank for putting your ‘ass’ on the line…. …And no, I was not in the Corps…but I am the youngest living son of a Naval Aviator who flew ‘HELL-Cats’ in the Pacific…..Dad only said this about his time: “Lord… we didn’t think we was gonna make it!”. That was so chilling that I spent a number of years to find out what that meant. Okinawa, May 4, 1945, his ship, the USS Sangamon, CVE 26 was crash-dived by a Kamikaze ,7-30 at night. All the aircraft below deck but one was destroyed. The radio in that lone aircraft was their only way to communicate with any other ship. Twenty six guys were instantly blown overboard, took two hours to put out the fires, Both of the 19-ton elevators , which bring the aircraft from the hanger bay to the flight deck, were blown upward and came down sideways. So you can see that ‘arse’ on the line has more meaning than that other phrase.

Old Marine - June 16, 2020

Grrrr… Ok, so you “served” as a contractor, but jumping Ron because he jumped on the posers is gonna get you absolutely nothing, but hate and discontent from me and from many other Marines. You may have “served”, but you did NOT “earn” the title, therein lies the difference. Since you were over 50, you obviously had plenty of opportunity to “earn” the title, you didn’t, ’nuff said. Thank you for making Marines lives better & easier, but quit bitching about your well-paid, contractor job. You made 5 times the pay that Marines made, while those Marines humped and fought, miles upon miles upon miles… You didn’t sit, alone, for many days and nights on end in that FOB, waiting for the “one with your name on it”, to come crashing through the helmet you wear, just about 24/7. No, you volunteered to be there, but THAT is where the difference ends between you and a Marine. Ask your corporate boss if he can get you discounts for “stuff”. You have the respect of Marines for doing your job, that isn’t enough? What else do you want?

Abiezer D. Stewart ( AKA: Roger D. Stewart ) - June 16, 2020

Am in total agreement with you on showing a Military ID which I’ve not always insisted on but after reading this article will from now on. THANKS.

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