Real or not?

A few days ago, on facebook, a friend had put in her status update something about praying for those doing real army stuff, and hoped that they were safe. (please note that my quotation marks key on my keyboard is broken, hence the different color instead of quotation marks.)

It got me thinking. Granted, I have no idea what she meant by that phrase. She could have just meant those soldiers that were deployed. (And I did not ask for clarification. I have tried to not comment on those status updates that bother me for whatever reason. Facebook home pages are rarely the right place to have a discussion about this sort of stuff) But then, I got to thinking about what else she could have meant, those soldiers actually doing army stuff by going out, doing raids, clearing bombs, shooting big guns (or small ones), flying planes or helicopters and all those sorts of things. Not to mention Special Forces, or Delta Force, or Rangers, or Green Berets. And when I was thinking about that, it kind of bothered me.

I rarely care what someones job is within the Army (or whatever branch they happen to be in). I think that if it is a job in the Army, it is real army stuff. And if they are deployed, then they are doing real Army stuff. No matter if they are in support or not. If the computer satellite guys don't do their job, not only do the soldiers not have the internet, but the higher up guys don't have any way to communicate either. If the doctors and surgeons, nurses, physicians assistants, and any other medical job other than a medic weren't there, these soldiers wouldn't be coming home to their families. (Medics rock though. They are out there with the soldiers and keep them stabilized so that the docs and others can do what they need to do.) If the guys that do finance, or the engineers or any other kind of support job weren't there, how would the guys doing real army stuff do theirs?

My grandpa was in the Navy during WWII. He never shot a gun. He was on an aircraft carrier and was an airplane mechanic. He was in charge of one airplane, and making sure it was in good working order so that when that pilot needed to go, his plane was safe and ready. I am sure that pilot was glad to have my grandpa there to keep his plane running well.

We have made many friends in the Army. Friends that are Special Forces, Green Berets. Friends that do the computer side of things. Friends that are nurses, doctors, physicians assistants. People that fly helicopters, people that are medics. And really, it does not matter one bit. As long as they do their job the best they can, they are doing real army stuff.

So, am I going to go back and comment on her status? Nope. No point in doing it. Both our husbands are deployed, and both are doing real army stuff. And that is the end of that.