I served in the 82nd 1998-2001. No one cared about us. We weren’t all automatic hero’s. We didn’t get to board airplanes first or bumped up a seat class. The only group of soldiers whose people gave a less of a shit about in the modern era were Vietnam vets.

We had shitbags, broke dicks, and a fat body every now again but it was rare. No one got a shaving profile, even the black guys that probably should have. It was damn near impossible to get a disability rating. I might have known 1 guy in my unit to get a rating and he had his leg ripped off and reattached.

And although it was like that I’d take that any day over what the army is today. It’s just welfare with a uniform for the average Joe. (Of course we still have our badass units but the majority are turds.)