Unit Patches

AK-Andrew wrote:Freedom aint Free.

I will not stand for a symbol, sacred to me, to be misused. Ill ask the person to remove it, and if they do not comply, I will physically remove it.

To hell with what you think are your "rights".

I dont know how it is now, but when my unit recieved our combat patches it was a big deal. A way big deal earned in sweat and blood. Bigger than Rank advancement and many other individual achievements.

So to see you trivialize it and attempt to justify the misuse of the symbols by claiming Constitutional Right is offensive.

so your willing to sacrifice other people's freedoms (that you fought for, i take it), for your ideals, your stance doesn't make sense...

Im with Alex on this. I frankly dont care what you you wear while playing airsoft. Its just a game, wear what you want and have fun. If you wanna wear some unit patches then by all means go ahead.

Posers dont bother me either. You wanna try and make everyone think you are cool and act like your in the military? Go ahead, and do it. I could really care less. I know what I have done and what my accomplishments are. Thats good enough for me, and if i can tell someone is a poser im just not going to give them much attention. Imo the guys that get really ticked off about posing take things to seriously. Ive had a lot of friends die too, but I stil dont think its disrespectful. They want to act like us by telling people about our accomplishments. Seems like flattery to me.

Just my 2 cents. Some will disagree. Some wont. Who cares? Free country. I do what I want.

You shouldn't wear the patch if you didn't earn it. Shouldn't. Can you? Yeah. Just means you don't understand the significance of what wearing it is. And if you have been made aware of that significance, you are just disrespectful. But still, you can wear it. You just ought not.

original post edited for me not having read earlier posts that i used in a quote.....if i'm wrong on a quote..i'll admit it... ..but the rest of my post stands..

personally..i agree with paul in that just because you can,doesn't mean you should......but we're talking about wearing patches on your uniform while you run around with toy guns shooting plastic bb's at each other.... ...it's not something i think minors ought to be assaulted over....
as a historian i can say that,having interviewed hundreds of veterans for differing projects over the years,99% of them couldn't care less about how insignia is worn in the context of a modern day airsoft game or reenacting.....though i will say that i would draw the line if you are off field trying to use insignia you didn't earn to get things in the real world...then that's BS and is covered under the stolen valor act...
as per rank..well it's subjective....for me, i took my exiting rank from the navy,E-5, and converted it to an equivalent army rank for our ww2 stuff..i think it's funny when i go to a game and i see a team off teenagers that consists of 1 col.,1 maj., 2 capt. and a private....lol..

Nothings stopping your from wearing or not wearing certain patches, but on a general note that I tend to agree with is only wear what you have earned. Acceptable things that can be on your camo to me are your name, US flag, airsoft unit patch, or "motivational" patches, however I dont really care what stuff you have on as long as you dont falsely claim that you belong to something you are not a part of. You can do it, doesn't mean its a good idea to. YOu may have stated for whatever reasons for wearing the patch, but there will be others out there who will give you a difficult time about it (trust me, I used to collect all those military patches and put EVERYTHING on my camo when i started into airsoft lulz)

NOT http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?204766-Marine-Impersonator

Edited as well.....

Personally I have not bad the pleasure of serving so I don't have the right to voice my opinion either way. But if I have the respect to let a vet go before in line, or by them a beer after hearing some stories from the war, or drop in a 10 in the bowl at the USO table then I would gladly respect the wishes of the first active or former service member that had an issue with any patch they felt I should not wear because it was disrespectful to the ones who earned it.

original post edited for me not having read earlier posts that i used in a quote.....if i'm wrong on a quote..i'll admit it... ..but the rest of my post stands..

yeah

savoy6 wrote:original post edited for me not having read earlier posts that i used in a quote.....if i'm wrong on a quote..i'll admit it... ..but the rest of my post stands..

It happens .

-a|ex wrote:a fake bachelor's degree is something similar. if someone has a fake bachelor's degree on the wall, i don't ask them to remove it. it's their house and they can put whatever they want on it. it took me 10 years to get my bachelor's and it doesn't bother me that someone prints a fake one on and decorates their room with it.

being offensive is protected under freedom of speech. you're correct, nothing is free. many lives were lost for us to enjoy our freedoms. physically removing it from a person is considered assault. do you remember pledging an oath to protecting the constitution? i know i took that oath.

No one has died earning a bachelors degree so your comparing apples to left hand threaded beta players.

Would you wear a fake congressional medal of honor around? Just sayin'

Like I said wear what you want, but you should have the respect to remove it if asked by those who are able to do so.

Silent_Option wrote:
No one has died earning a bachelors degree so your comparing apples to left hand threaded beta players.

Would you wear a fake congressional medal of honor around? Just sayin'

Like I said wear what you want, but you should have the respect to remove it if asked by those who are able to do so.

LoL... when i was in college, it was common to read about students jumping off buildings because of depression. so yes, many have died attempting to get their bachelor's degree. also, students at virginia tech have been shot trying to earn their degree. and i'm not even going to mention the other heinous crimes against male/female students that go unreported.

would i wear a fake congressional medal of honor around? if it's to prove a point i would. i was a non-conformist during my early years in college, then became a liberal, now i'm a republican.

i don't understand why you can't grasp the meaning of the u.s. constitution (1st amendment).

That responses is just dense


Im unsure of why you feel i dont grasp the first amendment right in fact i grasp iti very well, as well as how came to be and what it's taken to remain in place.



Same as before .....Feel free to wear what you want, but the same right that allows you to do so, also allows those that feel you should take it off to tell you so. I personally don't care because I have no reason to be offended. I'm simply saying you should have some respect towards them. (That's my right to say so)

It seems as though you have an issue with someone telling you what thy think ( ie. "your patch is disrespectful to my brothers and I who had to endure hell to wear it"), but in reality such actions are protected by the 1st amendment right.

I think what Alex was saying is that it is ok to tell someone not to wear the patch, but going so far as to rip it off of their shoulder is crossing the line of the first amendment, and might possible be considered assault under the current law.

You know, for some reason, only people on the internet get miffed about people wearing unit patches. I've noticed it on other forums too. Vets that I have played with at games don't even give a second glance, heck, my dad gave out squadron patches to kids in school when they did "career days" for the fighting pelicans when he was still active duty. We're playing a GAME. When you make a loadout do you base it off of real deal units? Do you think real deal units are cool. Did you ever emulate somebody or something when you were a kid? I bet you answered yes to all three of those questions.

Twitch wrote:I think what Alex was saying is that it is ok to tell someone not to wear the patch, but going so far as to rip it off of their shoulder is crossing the line of the first amendment, and might possible be considered assault under the current law.

If so then I agree.

-a|ex wrote:

Silent_Option wrote:
No one has died earning a bachelors degree so your comparing apples to left hand threaded beta players.

Would you wear a fake congressional medal of honor around? Just sayin'

Like I said wear what you want, but you should have the respect to remove it if asked by those who are able to do so.

LoL... when i was in college, it was common to read about students jumping off buildings because of depression. so yes, many have died attempting to get their bachelor's degree.

Suicide can be prevented if the right action is taken. Plus, suicide is voluntary. You decide to commit suicide. You don't decide to be ambushed and shot at.

For the most part I agree with what I'm reading. My dad has passed on his BDUs to me and I haven't taken of the patches, though, he did give me several sterile ( blank) sets as well. I leave the patches on for sentimental value. I see my dad as a hero and want to preserve some of his stuff. But I don't go wearing the fully patched ones around, I wear the sterile jackets instead.

Recall that I never said "I demand you remove that patch!", I merely stated that I find that wearing patches you haven't earned is disrespectful to those who worked hard to earn that patch and died wearing that patch.

Hippie wrote:

-a|ex wrote:

Silent_Option wrote:
No one has died earning a bachelors degree so your comparing apples to left hand threaded beta players.

Would you wear a fake congressional medal of honor around? Just sayin'

Like I said wear what you want, but you should have the respect to remove it if asked by those who are able to do so.

LoL... when i was in college, it was common to read about students jumping off buildings because of depression. so yes, many have died attempting to get their bachelor's degree.

Suicide can be prevented if the right action is taken, but suicide is voluntary. You decide to end your life. You don't decide to be ambushed and shot at.

tell that to the Virginia Tech students that where shot in class...

-a|ex wrote:

Hippie wrote:

-a|ex wrote:

Silent_Option wrote:
No one has died earning a bachelors degree so your comparing apples to left hand threaded beta players.

Would you wear a fake congressional medal of honor around? Just sayin'

Like I said wear what you want, but you should have the respect to remove it if asked by those who are able to do so.

LoL... when i was in college, it was common to read about students jumping off buildings because of depression. so yes, many have died attempting to get their bachelor's degree.

Suicide can be prevented if the right action is taken, but suicide is voluntary. You decide to end your life. You don't decide to be ambushed and shot at.

tell that to the Virginia Tech students that where shot in class...

Umm...Being shot by someone else isn't suicide. Read the last part of what I wrote. It applies to that situation in a way. You still can talk to the person who wants to commit such an act and try to help them. You aren't going to be able walk up to a member of the Taliban or another terrorist organization and say "Hey, killing is bad and you shouldn't do it." You won't even get close.

Hippie wrote:
Umm...Being shot by someone else isn't suicide. Read the last part of what I wrote. It applies to that situation in a way. You still can talk to the person who wants to commit such an act and try to help them. You aren't going to be able walk up to a member of the Taliban or another terrorist organization and say "Hey, killing is bad and you shouldn't do it." You won't even get close.

you lost me. what does this have to do with kids dishonoring patches?
it was mentioned that students getting their bachelor's degree have no fear of getting killed in action. it's a known fact that students do get shot at and killed in classrooms. suicide is another form of being killed in college. i'm not following where Taliban fits into this.

i'd rather talk about 1st amendment rights and the soldiers that serve to protect these rights. the Taliban aren't tolerant to those that offend them. they do not agree with constitutional rights. if they find something offensive, they will force their will open them. if a kid wears an Allah sucks shirt, a Taliban follower will tell him to remove it. if the kid doesn't then the Taliban follower will remove it himself. does this sound like someone you know?

Yeah, that got off topic.

The Taliban are extremists. Of course they don't believe in constitutional rights. But no, no-one I know goes around forcing their ways on people. The only thing that comes to mind is the removal of content from the internet by either the government or companies complaining about copyright B.S.

It's late. I don't think this will make sense until I can edit it tomorrow.

I think there is some confusion here. The wearing of divisional unit patches is not what is wrong. Its the LOCATION of the patch that is upsetting for me.
A divisional unit patch worn on the RIGHT sleeve indicates the wearer was a member of that unit when deployed to combat. LEFT sleeve is current unit. Just dont wear a divisional unit patch on the right sleeve. Simple. Simple as not wearing jumpwings, airassault, ranger tabs, ect...even CMOH....which if you wear to prove a Constutional point, well....I smell Occupy.

And I would never harm a child for wearing a patch or any other reason...I doubt I would "snatch the insignia off his uniform", but I would try to inform him of his mistake without causing a big deal out of it. Thats all.

Okay, while I dunno why it would "magically" add weight to what I'm about to say, but lemme preface my comment with this: I'm 20+ year veteran, ranger/abn school graduate, combat tours and plenty of serious "bush" experience. I'd happily pit my military experience against anybody's and not come up too short, I'm certain.
All that said, it CERTAINLY doesn't diminish my accomplishments nor service to see an airsofter wearing ANY military uniform/symbol/patch and so on. It's a frickin piece of cloth! Much like the flag. I didn't fight for cloth, I didn't endure the rigors of training for an article of clothing or some damned patch. It warms my heart to see another generation of Americans embracing our military heritage and view the wearing of various uniform bits as a homage to those that went before them. I think some vets get a wee bit wrapped around the axle around here.
Besides, MOST unit patches are ISSUED, not earned, but even so, how can simply wearing one diminish the accomplishments of those that wore them in service? Were their accomplishments THAT ephemeral? My $.02.

as a historian i can say that,having interviewed hundreds of veterans for differing projects over the years,99% of them couldn't care less about how insignia is worn in the context of a modern day airsoft game or reenacting.....though i will say that i would draw the line if you are off field trying to use insignia you didn't earn to get things in the real world...then that's BS and is covered under the stolen valor act...

see..there you go....
and just as a point...the medal of honor is the one item you can get a felony for wearing if you didn't earn it,out side of some sort of theatrical production....if i remember correctly.

oh and i love the Franklin quote

Piznops wrote:Okay, while I dunno why it would "magically" add weight to what I'm about to say, but lemme preface my comment with this: I'm 20+ year veteran, ranger/abn school graduate, combat tours and plenty of serious "bush" experience. I'd happily pit my military experience against anybody's and not come up too short, I'm certain.
All that said, it CERTAINLY doesn't diminish my accomplishments nor service to see an airsofter wearing ANY military uniform/symbol/patch and so on. It's a frickin piece of cloth! Much like the flag. I didn't fight for cloth, I didn't endure the rigors of training for an article of clothing or some damned patch. It warms my heart to see another generation of Americans embracing our military heritage and view the wearing of various uniform bits as a homage to those that went before them. I think some vets get a wee bit wrapped around the axle around here.
Besides, MOST unit patches are ISSUED, not earned, but even so, how can simply wearing one diminish the accomplishments of those that wore them in service? Were their accomplishments THAT ephemeral? My $.02.

Well said Sir!