"Juan Jimenez" wrote in message
...
LOL! You think that's respect? grin Ever wonder what people say about
you behind your back?

Do I wonder what people say about me behind my back?

Not to any great extent. I'm truthful and sincere, everything else pretty
much works out on its own. Those that are close to me are in the best
position to evaluate my character based on my words and actions. To those
that are not well positioned to evaluate my character, I don't go out of my
way to shape to their opinions. Over time, most folks will figure it out.

You are probably a good husband, father, and neighbor. Unfortunately,
something consistently gets lost in translation when you speak to an
Internet audience. Maybe, things that are intended to entertain or
educate, come off as boastful or arrogant - or even beg belief. If that is
the case, you have to ask yourself why you are so misunderstood by so many
people. Is there a slight language barrier jet lag? I don't know, I'm
giving you the benefit of the doubt that you aren't as big an asshole as
many of us perceive.

Until you opened your mouth, most of us were poised to respect you for your
military service and accept that such service often includes sacrifice,
risk, pressure, and emotional reward for a job well done, a job that might
have saved lives or a job that might have helped a unit meets its
objectives.

You enter into dangerous territory when a recantation of your achievements
are expressed in terms of sacrifice, risk, the preservation of life. If
viewed as a boast in any way, the reader immediately thinks of those that
sacrificed more, risked more, and saved more lives, without any boasts.

Without minimizing the emotional fulfillment you experienced when you helped
that mother and child, I must say that many of us here on RAH would expect
nothing less from a Marine.

I have a couple of stories of similar gravity that I probably will never
describe in a forum like this because I am afraid of how such a telling
would be perceived. I guess my thought is that a lot of people would have
reacted in similar ways if they were placed in similar situations.

I guess if joe-blow were to tell the same story as you did, we would be a
little more passive. You were a Marine. We expect more of Marines.