SC governor: Removing Confederate flag will defy race hatred

[Pakboong]

I grew up a Yankee in the South and I have always been offended by the Confederate flag, although all southerners do not fly it in a racist manner. I am not sure how important it is, but I am all for getting rid of it.

As a USN Submarine Service crew member, I was stationed in Charleston and lived in the suburbs for nearly two years. I was in a US military bubble and didn't hang much with the locals and I was at sea about half the time. The few times I was out and around I sensed a disdain for my dark blue, winter uniform. Even when in civvies they knew I wasn't one of them and they weren't very hospitable. I got the feeling that I was considered an "occupying military force".

The only dicey encounter I had was with a kid from The Citadel Military College while I was in uniform. He thought the better of taking me on, but I couldn't help sensing even with the minimal time I spent in Charleston that they were still fighting the Civil War.

The military mind and experience is decidedly and radically different from the ordinary and normal civilian mind, which probably explains a lot of the posts around here.

Four years in Army ROTC in university and four more years as an officer of Infantry gave me invaluable lessons and experience in these respects.

Thanks for your honorable service and I do have a question if one doesn't mind, which is that it traditionally has been true submariners are short guys cause it's impractical to have a bunch of tall guyz in submarines. Jimmy Carter the US Naval Academy grad was for instance a submariner and if you've ever seen or met him he's a short guy.

It also seems to me US Marines have more personal Confederate flags per grunt than any other branch of the military,.. Army, Navy, Air Force and throw in the Coast Guard. (Actually i'd never met a Coast Guard grunt nor would I expect to.) Recall the grunt cop in McKinney Texas had put in ten years with the Navy too.

http://mic.com/articles/113310/why-the-u-s-army-doesn-t-need-racial-thursdays-a-special-day-for-racism

Pro basketball player David Robinson was in submarines during his Navy days.

[MaxYakov]

I grew up a Yankee in the South and I have always been offended by the Confederate flag, although all southerners do not fly it in a racist manner. I am not sure how important it is, but I am all for getting rid of it.

As a USN Submarine Service crew member, I was stationed in Charleston and lived in the suburbs for nearly two years. I was in a US military bubble and didn't hang much with the locals and I was at sea about half the time. The few times I was out and around I sensed a disdain for my dark blue, winter uniform. Even when in civvies they knew I wasn't one of them and they weren't very hospitable. I got the feeling that I was considered an "occupying military force".

The only dicey encounter I had was with a kid from The Citadel Military College while I was in uniform. He thought the better of taking me on, but I couldn't help sensing even with the minimal time I spent in Charleston that they were still fighting the Civil War.

The military mind and experience is decidedly and radically different from the ordinary and normal civilian mind, which probably explains a lot of the posts around here.

Four years in Army ROTC in university and four more years as an officer of Infantry gave me invaluable lessons and experience in these respects.

Thanks for your honorable service and I do have a question if one doesn't mind, which is that it traditionally has been true submariners are short guys cause it's impractical to have a bunch of tall guyz in submarines. Jimmy Carter the US Naval Academy grad was for instance a submariner and if you've ever seen or met him he's a short guy.

It also seems to me US Marines have more personal Confederate flags per grunt than any other branch of the military,.. Army, Navy, Air Force and throw in the Coast Guard. (Actually i'd never met a Coast Guard grunt nor would I expect to.) Recall the grunt cop in McKinney Texas had put in ten years with the Navy too.

http://mic.com/articles/113310/why-the-u-s-army-doesn-t-need-racial-thursdays-a-special-day-for-racism

Brings to mind the familiar expression at the time: I have no doubt in my military mind ...

I don't recall any unusually tall or short sub sailors. There was a distinct advantage, of course, to being short. A cursory net search brought up this submarine-related forum entry:

"I'm 6'6" and served on a US sub in the early 90s. At that time I weighed about 220. I was on a fast attack sub, smaller than modern boomers but still considerably larger than a u-boat. There weren't that many places that I could stand all the way upright, except for back aft in the engine room. You learn quickly where to duck to make your way around the boat. The worst part was trying to sleep...feet usually hanging out in the passageway. Actually, I cracked my head more on a submarine tender than on the sub itself. I guess because I could stand upright in most places on the tender and would forget to duck sometimes for those occasional low hanging pipes. Ouch! I don't know if there is a limit today, but I know that I never met anyone taller than me serving onboard a sub while I was in the Navy. I ended up with the nickname "Lurch"."

Yes, one of my crews also had a "Lurch" and he was also at least 6' 4" and actually resembled him.

PS: "boomer" is sub slang for Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine from the "FBM" acronym (FaBooMer).

Edited June 27, 2015 by MaxYakov

[Publicus]

I grew up a Yankee in the South and I have always been offended by the Confederate flag, although all southerners do not fly it in a racist manner. I am not sure how important it is, but I am all for getting rid of it.

As a USN Submarine Service crew member, I was stationed in Charleston and lived in the suburbs for nearly two years. I was in a US military bubble and didn't hang much with the locals and I was at sea about half the time. The few times I was out and around I sensed a disdain for my dark blue, winter uniform. Even when in civvies they knew I wasn't one of them and they weren't very hospitable. I got the feeling that I was considered an "occupying military force".

The only dicey encounter I had was with a kid from The Citadel Military College while I was in uniform. He thought the better of taking me on, but I couldn't help sensing even with the minimal time I spent in Charleston that they were still fighting the Civil War.

The military mind and experience is decidedly and radically different from the ordinary and normal civilian mind, which probably explains a lot of the posts around here.

Four years in Army ROTC in university and four more years as an officer of Infantry gave me invaluable lessons and experience in these respects.

Thanks for your honorable service and I do have a question if one doesn't mind, which is that it traditionally has been true submariners are short guys cause it's impractical to have a bunch of tall guyz in submarines. Jimmy Carter the US Naval Academy grad was for instance a submariner and if you've ever seen or met him he's a short guy.

It also seems to me US Marines have more personal Confederate flags per grunt than any other branch of the military,.. Army, Navy, Air Force and throw in the Coast Guard. (Actually i'd never met a Coast Guard grunt nor would I expect to.) Recall the grunt cop in McKinney Texas had put in ten years with the Navy too.

http://mic.com/articles/113310/why-the-u-s-army-doesn-t-need-racial-thursdays-a-special-day-for-racism

Brings to mind the familiar expression at the time: I have no doubt in my military mind ...

I don't recall any unusually tall or short sub sailors. There was a distinct advantage, of course, to being short. A cursory net search brought up this submarine-related forum entry:

"I'm 6'6" and served on a US sub in the early 90s. At that time I weighed about 220. I was on a fast attack sub, smaller than modern boomers but still considerably larger than a u-boat. There weren't that many places that I could stand all the way upright, except for back aft in the engine room. You learn quickly where to duck to make your way around the boat. The worst part was trying to sleep...feet usually hanging out in the passageway. Actually, I cracked my head more on a submarine tender than on the sub itself. I guess because I could stand upright in most places on the tender and would forget to duck sometimes for those occasional low hanging pipes. Ouch! I don't know if there is a limit today, but I know that I never met anyone taller than me serving onboard a sub while I was in the Navy. I ended up with the nickname "Lurch"."

Yes, one of my crews also had a "Lurch" and he was also at least 6' 4" and actually resembled him.

PS: "boomer" is sub slang for Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine from the "FBM" acronym (FaBooMer).

Yes, I know what a "boomer" sub is thx...I am aware although most taxpayers are not. USN is installing its latest stuff in the attack subs but one rarely if ever hears anything at all about boomers in any respect....the silent service to be sure and I sleep and eat better knowing the boomers are always out there. Boomers 24/7 keep Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un and the ayatollahs looking over their shoulder always so that's great strategic work by youse guyz.

I still say USMC seems to have more Confederate flag & stuff grunts than any other service as those guyz in the Crotch get super gung-ho about almost anything they're involved in...the extreme personality types. Neither side in the Civil War btw made any effective use of its Marines and hardly any use of 'em sat all. It's the 20th century to the present post-Civil War rebs that get all psyched up about the Battle Flag and the Confederacy.

Next time there's a North Korea thread I might pick your military mind about boomers out there off Northeast Asia that keep Kim's army nailed down and stationary in the North.

[Publicus]

I grew up a Yankee in the South and I have always been offended by the Confederate flag, although all southerners do not fly it in a racist manner. I am not sure how important it is, but I am all for getting rid of it.

As a USN Submarine Service crew member, I was stationed in Charleston and lived in the suburbs for nearly two years. I was in a US military bubble and didn't hang much with the locals and I was at sea about half the time. The few times I was out and around I sensed a disdain for my dark blue, winter uniform. Even when in civvies they knew I wasn't one of them and they weren't very hospitable. I got the feeling that I was considered an "occupying military force".

The only dicey encounter I had was with a kid from The Citadel Military College while I was in uniform. He thought the better of taking me on, but I couldn't help sensing even with the minimal time I spent in Charleston that they were still fighting the Civil War.

The military mind and experience is decidedly and radically different from the ordinary and normal civilian mind, which probably explains a lot of the posts around here.

Four years in Army ROTC in university and four more years as an officer of Infantry gave me invaluable lessons and experience in these respects.

Thanks for your honorable service and I do have a question if one doesn't mind, which is that it traditionally has been true submariners are short guys cause it's impractical to have a bunch of tall guyz in submarines. Jimmy Carter the US Naval Academy grad was for instance a submariner and if you've ever seen or met him he's a short guy.

It also seems to me US Marines have more personal Confederate flags per grunt than any other branch of the military,.. Army, Navy, Air Force and throw in the Coast Guard. (Actually i'd never met a Coast Guard grunt nor would I expect to.) Recall the grunt cop in McKinney Texas had put in ten years with the Navy too.

http://mic.com/articles/113310/why-the-u-s-army-doesn-t-need-racial-thursdays-a-special-day-for-racism

Pro basketball player David Robinson was in submarines during his Navy days.

Good however my post speaks of a "bunch" of submariners, meaning a crew. So I think the USN wouldn't want a submarine full of David Robinsons, or for that matter a crew whose average height might be 6' 2". Probably the same concerning other countries too.

Nobody is picking me up on my thesis that USMC very likely have more Confederate flags and paraphernalia per grunt than any other branch of service. Maybe there's silent agreement among many posters or possibly some former gyrenes might be shy to come forward about it.