Posted: 6/24/2008 9:27:01 PM EDT
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I joined the USMC shortly after the 9-11-01 attacks. I injured my knee in bootcamp, but finished and then went to infantry training where the same knee was never quite right. I injured it again in training and was discharged after a long stay in rehab with no improvement. My knee is still screwed up. It locks up if I move it wrong, and it doesn't take much. I can get it unlocked, but I have to sit down to do it. My problem is a kneecap that moves too much and pops out of place without much encouragement. While I was in rehab, I was treated very poorly and grew to hate the military. I got sick of the bullshit I had to deal with and was ready to go home and be done with it. I still get the urge to join back up. I start rolling thoughts around in my head, and then after reminding myself of the bullshit, I tell myself it's a bad idea. For some reason, I just can't get away from the desire to join. If I could get my knee fixed, I would be very tempted to go back in. Still, I remind myself that I'm 25 now, and I'd be almost 30 when I got out. I just don't understand why I still want to be in the military after all the bullshit I endured. |
My uncle reenlisted at 39 after working as a cop for 12 years. He got home from Iraq this past August. He was a combat photojournalist for the Army and did more stuff than a typical infantry soldier. He had a little trouble keeping up with the young guys, but not too much. He injured his back jumping off of an Abrams he was in that was hit by an IED and he's likely to be discharged medically. |
I got an honorable discharge. I don't get disability money. I guess part of me feels like I left the job unfinished. My buddies went over and were the first ones in... doing the hardest fighting and I missed out. |
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I love the USN but the health care, although basically free, leaves a little to be desired in the military. I broke my ankle on 16APR. Went to medical the following morning and got Xrays. Doc said I need to see an Ortho out in town since he didnt see anything but it might be broke where he cannot see. The referal thru Tri-Care took 7 weeks. Went to the Ortho, first thing out of his mouth when he looks at the Xray.. "Looks like an horizontal and incomplete fracture at the very end of your fibula. He showed me the line he was refering to and said most non-bone doctors miss these injuries as they are tough to spot. So I walked around on a broken ankle(technically a broken leg) for almost two months. Good news that it would still be treated as a severe sprain as the original diagnosis stated. I aksed my medical CPO what would have been if I was experiencing dizzy spells and had to live with a cerebral aneurism for 2 months.. he had nothing to say.. |
Well then, you got fucked. You need to revisit the issue with someone and fix that shit. |
Too late. The time to file an appeal has run out. At some point, one of the docs put in my file that it was a preexisting condition and that kept me from getting any sort of disability. Yeah... I got fucked. That was just one of the many things that turned me off of the military. |
Yeah... the healthcare is pathetic. Yet, liberals think that the government needs to be in charge of everyone's healthcare. My uncle, mentioned above, basically had a broken back for 2 months in Iraq before someone finally took it seriously enough to send him to Germany for real care. When they realized how serious his injury was, they wanted to evac him out immediately... which he found hilarious since he'd been going on missions for 2 months like nothing was wrong. |
My knee locks up too often. If I try to play any sort of sport, it's a constant annoyance. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where my knee would cause problems for everyone around me. |
| Do it if you can. You're young enough to still make it happen. If you don't you'll really regret it when you're too old. Trust me on that one. The military turned me down, partially because of a past knee injury, when I tried to enlist at 18. I didn't pursue it, it was just after Vietnam and a time of peace and there was no overpowering reason to be in the military, so I just moved on with life. I still regret not pushing harder to make it happen. |
Fighting for yor country and your freedom is noble and I certainly cannot fault anyone who does it but you didnt miss out. Im no combat veteran but I medivac'd enough Marines that were fucking burned, bombed, shot, stabbed, etc to know that there isnt anything about combat that should be coveted except the commraderie that it brings. I dont think the Marine that had his legs blown off and a permanant colostomy with his facial features burned away would agree that you missed anything either. Nor would the others I met and flew home.. Careful what you wish for there.. |
I knew all that when I enlisted initially. I knew a war was coming. Doesn't change a thing. |
You say that as if all sorts of NG personell get hurt because of that. It's fucked up and it's wrong. The NG has taken on a huge burden in this war on terror and have come up strong and able to carry their weight. This kind of BS does nobody any good. 
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I know, just saying, it aint all you think it is.. I have had my days of white knuckles in the plane and that wasnt even with bullets flying. The military is dangerous enough without a war.. |
My position, almost to a T. It was my shoulder, and after my discharge, I paid out of my own pocket to have my shoulder surgery, since the military played my like a piano. I even made my own plans to rejoin after my recovery, and until I was diagnosed as a diabetic. Even now, years later, I wish I could rejoin and do my part. Not a day goes by that I don't have a thought about some jarhead that's in some shithole, taking my place because I cannot be there.
Our stories are almost exactly the same. Word for word. |
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The fucked up knee could haunt you in the future. My advice (having two fucked up knees) is to forget about the military and start focusing on career and building a retirement fund. If the knee is really tweaked, it will get worse, and at some point you could have mobility problems. If that happens, you need to be prepared for it and you need to have some money saved. |
You are correct sir. I apologize. I realize they have done a LOT in this war (too much, as far as I'm concerned.. ng units are deploying more often than active units, i believe), and I'm grateful. Just bitter, because I've been working with NG guys lately, and for the most part, they are poorly trained and out of shape. There are good ng units I hear. Just haven't had much experrience with them. I respect the ng, but I see a fair amount of them that joined the military for the wrong reasons, trying to reap the rewards of a military career without doing the work. It's annoying. No disrespect to the decent NG guys that joined for all the right reasons and take it seriously. |
it's called character and being part of something bigger than yourself. regards 6 |