Hey everybody, happy Veterans Day. I hope you’ve got the day off. I’m not sure if I technically have the day off or not, but I’m taking it off, because… hell, it’s my holiday. And although I have a nice day of walking around the park and going to a matinee planned, I do have some posts set to go live later on, so there will be some new content throughout the day. Warming Glow will chug on without me, as long as you keep coming back.
For anyone who’s curious about the picture: that’s your fearless television blogger six and a half years ago (middle right), much leaner and balder than he is today. That was in Kuwait before the war started; back then, we had the luxury of celebrating victories in our little bunny ring toss game. Nowadays I’m more comfortable, but I miss carrying a nine-mil and the authority to give orders.
You know, that’s the real sacrifice veterans make: not the horrors we suffer while serving our country, but the loss of the world we know when we re-enter civilian life. I don’t want to be thanked for what I did; I just want to be normal. I want my command of a tank company at age 25 to count as much as running an 80-person department when people look at my resume. I want employers to treat veterans like people with exceptional job experience, not as otherworldly beings who insanely took a different path. I don’t deserve pity or awe, and I don’t want one day of reverence followed by 364 days of nonchalance. I don’t want yellow ribbons on cars. I want every person to challenge himself or herself, to pursue a life they deem honorable, to make the most of the few short years they have on this planet. Those who have been to war know that it can reveal the worst of humanity. Strive to make it better.
The Marine Corps’s ass-kicking birthday continues at Warming Glow with this video about HBO’s “The Pacific” — an epic miniseries that, as I’ve said before (more than once), will be the greatest thing ever televised. No, YOUR expectations are too high!
Anyway, this is just Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg giving us no information that we haven’t already gotten before, but it’s set to moving music, and they talk about Marines, and there’s an old M4 Sherman tank, and God damn it’s days like this that I miss shooting my .50 cal. What an amazing weapon. The way it’s mounted on an M1A1 tank, you can put steel on steel from defilade 1800 meters away. One of the rarest pleasures in life is sending hot steel at unsuspecting enemies of America. It’s one of the few things in life I enjoy more than cats in wigs.
Today’s the 234th anniversary of the day that the Continental Congress first issued the order for two battalions of Marines, sparking the recruiting process at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia. Since that day the Marine Corps has grown a great deal, lost the powdered wigs, and added helicopters, but the ass-kicking attitude and selfless service to country have stayed the same. To anyone who has proudly worn the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor: happy birthday.
Ordinarily, today’s the day where I take a break from relevant news to tell you about giants of the Corps like John Bobo and John Basilone and even my old classmate Brian Chontosh, but in keeping with the TV theme — and my soft spot for animals — I’ve embedded a couple clips from last night’s Conan featuring Major Brian Dennis and his dog Nubs. Dennis befriended Nubs — named because an Iraqi cut his ears off as a puppy — while patrolling the Syrian border in Iraq and helped nurse him back to good health after the dog was stabbed in the side with a screwdriver. After Dennis patrolled the area for the last time, Nubs followed Dennis and his unit back over 70 miles to the Marine camp.
If these clips don’t make you want to salute the flag while hugging a puppy, just go away. I don’t even want to look at you.
In the upcoming Season 6 premiere of Hell’s Kitchen, host Gordon Ramsay does his usual act of being a profane dickhead, and one contestant — a former Marine — gets up in his face and offers to take him outside and beat his ass.
Contestant Joseph conflicts with the shouty chef from the outset, refusing to eat an undercooked vegetable without a fork (”I’m not an animal”) and grimacing at the prospect of a luxurious seaside reward lunch (”This isn’t what I’m here for”). But after performing as one of the best players on the men’s team, Joseph wigs when Ramsay makes his usual simple request to name two of his teammates for elimination. Contestants have stood up to Ramsay’s bullying before, but not like this. [The Live Feed]
Of course, Ramsay bitched out. He’s a big tough TV guy crossing his arms and swearing at everyone and treating people like crap, but his authority comes from the cameras and people’s fear. Anyone who’s survived Marine boot camp thinks that Gordon Ramsay couldn’t berate someone out of a paper bag. We cornered the market on profane dickheads, buddy. Marine drill instructors have taken yelling and swearing to a linguistic plane beyond the English language. Some British twat isn’t going to intimidate us. THESE COLORS DON’T RUN, BABY! **puts 9/11 sticker on V-12 Ford F350**
