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Old June 11th 04, 06:27 PM
Ami Silberman
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"LaDonna Wyss" wrote in message
om...
"Ami Silberman" wrote in message

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"LaDonna Wyss" wrote in message
. com...

"Ami Silberman" wrote in message

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No, a NASA operation. Even "stuffy" wouldn't argue that it was a

military

operation. AS-204 was not under military command or control. It did

involve

several military personnel as flight crew. Heck, does this mean that the

LA

Raiders' games in 1986 were military operations since running back

Napoleon

McCullum was on active duty in the Navy (but permitted to play for the


Raiders that season.) Is my D&D game a military operation since one of

my

players is in the Marine Corps Active Reserve?




I realize I'm getting older, but surely with the news coverage of the


past week you have heard of the "Cold War?" What do you think the


race to the Moon was all about? Just a bunch of flyboys getting the


ride of their lives courtesy of our tax dollars, with which of course


we had absolutely nothing better to do with that money?


As for D&D, I think that says a lot about the person to whom I am


speaking.


I've lived through a major part of the Cold War. I understand that the race
to the moon was part of the Cold War. Not everything in the Cold War was a
military operation, in fact, most of it wasn't. Voice of America was not a
military operation, and neither was the Peace Corps. The fact is that the
astronauts were not on active military operations. They died in the service
of our country, but they did not die in its defense. By your logic, the
civilian contractors who died during the Apollo program also died in the
defense of our country. To my mind, considering the astronauts to have died
"in defense of our country" cheapens the memories of those who died in
Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere while on active duty and in combat with the
enemy. I think it is very fuzzy-minded to conflate the two (dying in service
to the country, and dying in defense of the country), and we can even add
"dying while in service to the country" to take into account non-combat
deaths in the military.

And what does D&D say about me? Does it say anything more than a Google
search on my name does?