Military Brats

[Ags2000]

I don't know how many people on this board are military brats, so these might not make sense to some of y'all. However, to those of y'all that are military brats, I hope you enjoy this. This is a list some friends and I have compiled.

You Might be a Military Brat if . . .

... you rememember having K or C Rations around the house in case of emergencies, or WW III.

... you park your car by the side of the road to watch the jets take off at the nearby air base many years after you used to sneak as close to the flight line as possible to watch the jets take off when you were a kid living on the base.

... your children think that the best color in the world is camaflouge and use you pancho liner as blankets.

... your accent changes to fit in a new geographic location.

... even after you move, you still leave boxes unpacked

... you sprinkle your speech with foreign words(e.g., "mox nix"(sic) - German for "makes no difference") or gestures(e.g., wave the right palm to the left, Japanese for "no, thanks")

... you correct another, that's not a "gun", it's a "rifle" or that's not a "boat", that's a "ship"

... you can tell the difference between a Lt. Colonel and a Colonel

...If after your father has been out of the service for over 20 years and you have been married with your own children for 18 years, you still refer to a car as a vehicle;you look at your childs patent leather shoes and tell her they could us a "spit shine"

... you get misty eyed when you pass a convoy of military vehicles filled with soldiers on the highway.

... if you call grocery shopping "going to the commissary" and going shopping as "going to the BX" (or "PX" if you are army).

... if you still say, "yes, sir" to your father.

... if you remember watching "parades" as young recruits marched in formation behind housing...

... if the crossing guards at your school were MP's

... if you thought that the prefix "Mister" was the official rank of a teacher

... if you got upset if anyone dared called your dad "Mister H"

... if when you are asked by other moms how you manage when dear hubby is on a long business trip, you remind them that your mom survived a full year without your dad --- and at least no one is shooting at my hubby.

... if you know that spagetti ice is not frozen spagetti!

... if you know that Italian Ice is an Ice cream vender not
icecubes from the alpine mountains.

... when you see a child crying as they say good-bye to their daddy as they go off to combat ... and you can't help but get a tear in your eye, for you've been there.

...When they talk about different war sights in high school and you know where they mean, because you've stood there.

... when they talk about tanks and other military vehicles and you've know what it's like to sit in them.

... when there's a new kid in town, and you can't resist the opportunity to welcome them into the community for you know what it's like to be new.

.. when the national anthem is played at a game and it means more to you than just time to play ball.

... when someone has a p-38 on their key ring,they tell you that you have no idea what it is or how to use it. You get a can and open it in seconds flat. Of course you know how to use it, as a kid you had to practice in the bomb shelters at school, just in case.

... if, when you went to a civilian movie theater for the first time, you were shocked to learn that nobody else was standing up to say the Pledge before the movie.

... if you still role down your window when it is close to sunset to listen for the bugle playing so you can stop your car when they lower the flag.

... if the first thing you did when you got a new car was to take it to the base to get it checked over by the MP's and the dogs to make sure it was clean before you got a base sticker.

... you still call it "0-Dark Hundred" when you have to get up really early and don't mind as much as your friends do.

...You get up at 8:00 on a saturday and your dad calls you a sleepy head for sleeping in.

... if you have to pause for a few seconds when someone asks where you are from.

... if those same people eventually get bored or wide eyed as you finally attempt to explain where you are from.

... if no one recognizes your accent no matter where you are living now, as your own accent is an amalgamated version of the many accents you grew up around.

... if you can never get used to NOT hearing fighter jets flying over your house all the time.

... if you can count cadence.

... if you learned your alphabet as " Alpha, Bravo, Charlie..."

... if you know what "At Ease" means.

... you still rise to the sound of Revele.

... your answer to the question "where are you from?" is "All Over" or "Depends on what year your talking about and what rank my Father was"

... what troubled you most about graduating college wasn't becoming a real adult, it was that your ID card expired and you became a civilian.

... "move in condition" never meets your definition of clean.

... you find it shocking that some Americans do not know the Pledge of Allegiance.

... by the age of 10, you knew how to convert at least one foreign currency to U.S. dollars.

... the church you attended during childhood offered both Protestant and Catholic services.

... you always considered yourself an American; hyphenated versions were not part of your vocabulary.

... it's a daunting task to obtain transcripts from every school you've ever attended.

... you've fed at least 10 stray dogs and cats at each house you ever lived in.

... whatever you're doing and wherever you are, you stop dead in your tracks and stand straight at attention when you hear "Taps".

... the term "permanent address" is an oxymoron.

... not even a professional shoe shine can match your work.

... before a ballgame, you stand at attention for the National Anthem, even if you're alone in your living room.

... "friendship" means we knew each other at some point.

... your childhood friends were Christians, Buddhists, Jews, black, white, brown, and you never noticed a difference.

... you know at least one international access number and five U.S. area codes.

... you stop your car on a highway and walk through mud to pick up an American flag that has blown off somebody's car.

... you know what a "regulation haircut" is.

... the sight of a "Bekins" or "Mayflower" truck makes your stomach turn.

... your dad went on a "Med cruise" without your mother.

... your childhood memories include Duraglit, Brasso, liquid starch and Kiwi shoe polish.

... your dad was called into his C.O.'s office because of some stupid stunt you pulled at school.

... you never got to take any second level class (i.e., French II, German II, Biology II) because it wasn't offered at your new school.

... you have to fight the urge to smack the hat off the guy in front of you in the bleachers during the National Anthem.

... acronyms don't confuse you.

... your childhood neighborhood had a "Yard of the Month" award.

... you figured out when you were eight that the U.S. ZIP codes progressed from low in the northeast to highest in the west.

... the term "mess" is a synonym for "untidy" and "food".

... an armed M.P. flagged you into your neighborhood.

... you don't know what to say when people ask you "Where are you from?"

... none of your high school yearbooks are from the same school.

... you ever wrote to your dad at an A.P.O. or F.P.O.

... you can't imagine having a friend for more than 3 years.

... your neighborhood promoted safe driving by arranging wrecked cars with "bloody", mangled mannequins in high-traffic areas.

... you don't have many momentos from your childhood because they were lost in some move or other.

... your family's living room contained a high-tech German stereo system, Italian designer leather sofa & chair, elegent Japanese dolls in glass cases; you had a maid, and your mother's clothes were tailor made, but back in the States, your family was considered "low income".

... you spent your summers at the base pool, in the base bowling alley, and playing in the sprinkler or on the "Slip 'N Slide".

... "the economy" means going off-base and paying higher local prices.

... by the age of 10, your shot record was more than a page long.

[Ags2000]

You Might be a Military Brat if . . .

... you could tell exactly what kind of plane was flying overhead without looking up, just by its sound.

... you promise yourself instant payback the next time you hear a civilian say, "The military gets too much money as it is, don't give 'em any more..."

... you can't resist the urge every 2-3years to pack up and move..even if it's just to another house.

... you go to an airshow and you actually DON'T have to wear earplugs because you are used to hearing the jets fly overhead.

... you know the Blue Angels routine by heart and start laughing right before the 2 solo pilots come screaming overhead scaring people to death.

... when somebody asks you what time it is and you respond by saying it is 1400 hours and they look at you strangly.

... you get into an argument with the band director at your highschool on the proper way to raise the flag during the playing of the National Anthem. (He wanted it to go up VERY slowly and reach the top as the last note was being played) To prove that you are correct, you ask your dad for a manual showing the correct procedure (and of course you are correct ).

... you have ever corrected your teacher/professor about dates and places of battles or other military actions that occured while you were in the area.

... no matter where you were stationed, you always knew you would soon have a lot of new aunts and uncles to watch over you because everybody is family.

... you have ever been a lookout on the 4th of July, or any other holiday that fireworks are used, to keep an eye out for the MP's because you're not supposed to be shooting fireworks on the base overseas.

... all the nice china in your house that everybody thinks is really expensive was actually bought VERY cheap while over seas.

... you go to 17 different schools in 11 years, missed the 5th grade and graduated the youngest in your high school class.

... your father tells people he meets that you were not born; you were issued!

... if you have scrubbed the kitchen floor with a toothbrush.

... you remember things by knowing where you were then.

... if you go nuts when ever you see a US Flag being flown in the rain or at night without being properly lit!

... f seriously considered altering your age on your ID card to extend your PX privileges ( and to avoid becoming a civilian for as long as possible!)

... if after nearly 30 years you still carry you dog-tags in your wallet - just in case.


You know deep in your heart - "once a military brat always a military brat"... and darned proud if it too!!

[Ags2000]

You Might be a Military Brat if . . .

... you felt sorry for those "sillyvilians" who were stuck living in one town all their lives -- how dull!!!

... you were (and still are) better at geography than your teachers!!

... you had a driver's license in the states, then went overseas and couldn't drive for two more years!

... you cried when the Berlin Wall went up because you truly understood what it meant -- and you cried again, for joy this time, when it came down, and you were surrounded by civilians who didn't understand.

... if you remember "blackout" shades on your windows which you pulled down when the air raid sirens went off.

... you remember the Air Raid warden knocking on the door when light seeped from your air raid shades.

... you know the difference between an Army and a Navy quartermaster!!

... you have a real live flag pole in your front yard & your neighbors think you are wierd because you salute it.

... you judge people by who they are, not what they are.


If there are any military brats here, can y'all name any others?

Hope y'all enjoy these. As I think of more, I'll add it


D

[Montana Ponine]

lol, no, none of those are me!! But three out of my four main teachers are military brats...They might be able to relate!