Veterans Day

On the top pic, what branch does the mouthless skull represent? The intelligence community?

and the current potus got 5 deferments for bone spurs

my dad who died in 1971, served in north africa never spoke about it in the brief 19 years i knew him. we were on opposite sides of the viet nam conflict, but when my number (352) came up in the draft just weeks before he died, he was happy i didn't have to go to a war zone

honor those who serve, hate the war

Weird that they added that logo to the first pic. It’s for an outfit called “Imminent Threat Solutions Tactical.” https://www.itstactical.com/

Technically,  11/11 is "Armistice Day" to commemorate the end of WWI.  But those wars are extremely profitable,  so they had more.

WWI ended about 100 years ago.

"They"  renamed Armistice Day to "Veterans' Day" for PR purposes and not to shine any light upon the continuing Wars for profit.

Thanks to all the veterans. Nice to see so many honor their sacrifice and get off their butts to vote.

Of course, The Say Hey Kid and Teddy Ballgame only gave up prime years of their careers, Pat Tillman gave up so much more.

When young Jimi Hendrix got caught riding around in a stolen car in Seattle, the judge gave him two choices - go to jail or join the Army.   Jimi took the later option and ended up at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.   He liked jumping out of planes, but otherwise the Army life was not for him.  He and fellow soldier Billy Cox would often sneak off the base at night to play nearby roadhouses and Jimi would sometimes be caught behind the latrine pleasuring himself when he was supposed to be doing other things.   The Army and Jimi soon parted ways.  

Are there any known pictures of Jerry Garcia in his army uniform?

>>>Are there any known pictures of Jerry Garcia in his army uniform?

I have looked but couldn't find any.  If anyone has one, please post it.

Like Jimi, Jerry was forced into the Army to avoid jail time for car theft (Jerry had stolen his mom's car).  Also like Jimi, Jerry didn't conform to the Army lifestyle and pretty much did what he pleased and went AWOL a lot.   I think his tenure in the service was even shorter than Jimi's.

I didn't know Jorma was in the air force until I read his book.  Haven't seen any pictures of him in uniform, but unlike Jerry and Jimi, Jorma took his job seriously and was apparently really good at intercepting Soviet radio transmissions while serving in Germany.

I remember watching Ken Burns' Jazz documentary and hearing that Dave Brubeck was at a USO show for the troops with his army unit  in Europe shortly after the Normandy Invasion.  He, along with thousands of others, was being entertained before being sent off to the front lines of the war.  The leader of the Army Band asked if any of the gathered troops were piano players.  Dave came forward and sat in with the band.  The officer leading the band recognized his talent and had him immediately transferred to the band.  

I saw Dave twice, in the mid 80's with his sons at Old Cabell Hall in Charlottesville, Virginia and in his twilight years in the early oughts at the Hollywood Bowl in L.A.   Both times he was lively and playing at a high level, a happy go lucky human exuding joy.  Dave seemed to lead a charmed life.

Changing subjects, Tom Constanten served in the U.S. Air Force, but I couldn't find any photos of him in his service uniform.

My father and 7 of his brothers all severed during wartime. Most served in WW2,  Dad was younger and was in the Air Force during the Korean War. He was assigned to teach pilots. he was eager to fly himself, but during basic training the guy on the bottom bunk left out his coffee can full of cigarette butt instead of sliding it under his cot, and when Dad jumped down from the upper bunk he landed on the rusty can. have I mentioned that cigarettes suck? although it’s possible that the accident saved his life, since many in his class never returned home from the Korean War. All of his brothers survived the war(s), one became an alcoholic and the others all died of lung cancer. Dad was the only non smoker and non drinker among them. He’s in hospice now - late stage Parkinson’s. He was excited to visit the Aviation museum when he visited last and spotted the flight simulator he trained the recruits on. he later became a middle school math teacher, and his military training helped him survive there too ;)