#U.S. Army Soldiers

[usarmytrooper]

[texasaggie-seaknight]

Soldier stud Aaron… (part 1 of 2)

[my-midlife-crisis]

[sher-ee]

NEW

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFA) blasts Donald Trump for his disgusting comments about the Medal of Honor:

“These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor but also crassly characterize the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”

[ghostwarriorrrr]

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Members of the Army Signal Corps come home, August 1945.

Photo: U.S. Army via the Rijksmusuem

[steelbluehome]

The Winter Soldier

I just found this thread on Reddit.

effdot•2y ago

It bums me out a little that a lot of fans of Captain America don't know what a 'Winter Soldier' is, aside from the name in Marvel comics.

Winter Soldier has a deep meaning to U.S. armed forces and U.S. history. It's a term with roots in the revolutionary war. A summer soldier was someone who could only be counted on when times were fair; they would only fight when things were easy. But a winter soldier was loyal, steadfast and true; they would fight when things were hard, like the soldiers who stayed on duty during the horrific winter at Valley Forge.

The name also has a connection to John Kerry and other Vietnam veterans who spoke out against the Vietnam war, and atrocities they witnessed or were ordered to commit. John Kerry was a straight-edge soldier from a wealthy military family, and he enlisted in the U.S. Navy reserves in 1966. He was awarded the silver star and the bronze star during his service in Vietnam.

By 1970, Kerry was an anti-war activist, and he and other soldiers organized 'the winter soldier hearings,' where they gave space for fellow Vietnam Veterans to talk about U.S. war atrocities in Vietnam. They called themselves Winter soldiers to emphasize their loyalty to the U.S., and to tell people that their speaking out was their duty as loyal soldiers, and even presented their testimony to Congress.

The superhero character of Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, embodies both of these historic pieces. Bucky is loyal and sticks around for a hard-fight, like the Winter Soldiers of the 1770s. Bucky has witnessed and committed atrocities, but worked to rectify those mistakes and speak up, like the Winter Soldiers of the 1970s.

His name is a badge of honor in our world, and in his world, he's done more than enough to redeem the name and place it in the same honor as other winter soldiers of the past.

That's why I hope they never change it.

ILikeClefairy•2y ago

My dumbass: “He’s the winter soldier bc Russia is cold.”

effdot•2y ago

Ed Brubaker, the writer who revived Bucky as the Winter Soldier during his run on the Captain America comics, was inspired by the Vietnam hearings I mentioned. He felt that characters introduced in the Captain America comics needed to have a political component to them. He learned about the connection to Thomas Paine (whose writings about summer soldiers inspired the idea of winter soldiers, and also Vietnam Veterans Agains the War), and loved the name more. He then connected that to his idea of the Soviet Army finding Bucky's dead body in the waters of the arctic, and also with his idea that Bucky would be frozen after his special missions, and Winter Soldier stuck.

So, yeah, the name is partly because of the cold, but it was the Vietnam hearings I mentioned that was the initial inspiration.

But you got right to the point, you aren't a dumbass, the only thing shown on screen is a frozen soldier and Soviets, what else would an audience think? I wish Disney and Marvel Films would just go one more step and talk about the real winter soldiers.

A lot of them are still alive, and a part of me hopes they live long enough for a superhero pop culture tentpole movie to honor them. They spoke out when Nixon was President, and it was incredibly dangerous for them to do so -- but they did it anyway.

And it feels like to me that no one knows in the U.S. anymore, because it feels like there's no way to explain or to reach people. But if Marvel Films mentioned a little of this, I think it would do some good for some real people.

Reddit thread

Learn the History of the Term “Winter Soldier” and Why Ed Brubaker Used the Name in Captain America by Glen Tickle

Winter Soldier Investigation - Wikipedia

Winter Soldier (1972 documentary)

American Crisis (No. 1) by Thomas Paine "Summer soldier"

I still would like it if he took on the name White Wolf, but now I don't mind if he remains the Winter Soldier.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

"Dogs Go To War"

A 1943 film about dogs being trained for World War II duties by the Remount Section of the Quartermaster Corps.

—

A part of the Quartermaster Corps, the U.S. Army Remount Service provided horses (and later mules and dogs) as remounts to U.S. Army units.

[zal-cryptid]

DC characters - Sgt. Rock

[military1st]

A U.S. Marine during Exercise Steel Knight 23 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.

The U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Brayden Daniel (2022).

[usarmytrooper]

[texasaggie-seaknight]

Soldier stud Aaron… (part 2 of 2)

[todaysdocument]

SSG Johnnie Riley, Platoon Leader, Mortar Section, 173rd Airborne Brigade, marks positions on the plotting board in preparation for the final assault on Hill 875, 15 miles southwest of Dak To. 1SG Jerry Babb operates the radio, 11/22/1967.

Series: Color Photographs of Signal Corps Activity, 1944 - 1981

Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860 - 1985

Image description: SSG Riley is seated on the ground, using a compass (I think) to mark a folded piece of paper. 1SG Babb is in the foreground, speaking into the receiver of a radio. His right hand is bandaged. In the background is another soldier, biting his lip. On a log next to the men are five 81mm mortar rounds. 

[militarymenrbomb]

He's serious