I thought that I said it wasnt a personal shot at him. Goldpro relax. When I was in the military, you probably werent in the Coast Guard yet anyways. And back in the day (when I was in), the Coast Guard was under the Dept of Transportation. Every operation I've been on, there has not been not ONE C.G. deployed with us. However, we had Army AF, Navy and us (Marines). Your function is different than ours. You will never see a Coastie go to the front lines, fly an Apache or drive a tank. You're service enforces drug trade, immigration issues, and coastal protection. If you look up the history of the now Coast Guard, it used to be called several different things: Revenue Cutter Service, Lighthouse Service, etc. For the 210 years it has been around, only during a WW or recently Iraq, has the CG actually gotten near wartime combat. If you get a DD214 it should only have your active wartime activation only. Here's an exerpt from the official CG website:
In times of peace we operate as part of the Department of Homeland Security, serving as the nation's front-line agency for enforcing our laws at sea, protecting our coastline and ports, and saving life. In times of war, or on direction of the President, we serve under the Navy Department.
No one said that what you did WASNT noble, and I kept reitterating the fact. And yes, I was joking around but if you want to take it seriously, than I'm sorry that you feel that way. I can understand WHY you feel that way, because every coastie I ever met got mad too. Apparently everybody from the other branches must tell you the same thing.
Yes, Marines are by direction, under the Dept of the Navy. Not during just wartime... but ALL the time. The AF were apart of the Army at one time also. Anyone who served under the main branches have no problems collecting benefits, like the GI Bill or disability either. The CG has to jump through hoops to get these. Every paper I've ever seen said if you were CG, you may or may not qualify. Apparently, the CG needs special permission or you have to actually be injured during wartime in order to even qualify for some of those benefits. I could be wrong, but everything just changed last year when they added the CG to Homeland Security. And as I said before, when I was in the military, you were apart of the Department of Transportation. Before that, it was the Dept. of Treasury. Before that it was under Bureau of Navigation, etc. etc. Here's also some figures for you:
<TABLE borderColor=#000080 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=663 bgColor=#ffffff border=1><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=215>
War </TD><TD align=middle width=123>
Number Served</TD><TD align=middle width=121>
Deaths in Action</TD><TD align=middle width=79>
Wounded</TD><TD align=middle width=125>
Total Casualties </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Quasi-War with France</TD><TD align=middle width=123>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=121>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=79>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=125>unknown</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>War of 1812</TD><TD align=middle width=123>100 (?)</TD><TD align=middle width=121>0</TD><TD align=middle width=79>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=125>unknown</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Mexican War</TD><TD align=middle width=123>71 officers</TD><TD align=middle width=121>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=79>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=125>unknown</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Civil War</TD><TD align=middle width=123>219 officers</TD><TD align=middle width=121>1</TD><TD align=middle width=79>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=125>unknown</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Spanish-American War </TD><TD align=middle width=123>660</TD><TD align=middle width=121>0</TD><TD align=middle width=79>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=125>unknown </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>World War I</TD><TD align=middle width=123>8,835</TD><TD align=middle width=121>111*</TD><TD align=middle width=79>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=125>unknown</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>World War II</TD><TD align=middle width=123>241,093</TD><TD align=middle width=121>574 **</TD><TD align=middle width=79>unknown</TD><TD align=middle width=125>1,917</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Korean War</TD><TD align=middle width=123>8,500***</TD><TD align=middle width=121>0</TD><TD align=middle width=79>0</TD><TD align=middle width=125>0</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Vietnam War</TD><TD align=middle width=123>8,000</TD><TD align=middle width=121>7</TD><TD align=middle width=79>60</TD><TD align=middle width=125>67</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Mayaguez Incident</TD><TD align=middle width=123>7**** </TD><TD align=middle width=121>0</TD><TD align=middle width=79>0</TD><TD align=middle width=125>0</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Grenada: Operation Urgent Fury</TD><TD align=middle width=123>162</TD><TD align=middle width=121>0</TD><TD align=middle width=79>0</TD><TD align=middle width=125>0</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Panama: Operation Just Cause</TD><TD align=middle width=123>0</TD><TD align=middle width=121>0</TD><TD align=middle width=79>0</TD><TD align=middle width=125>0</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Operations Desert Shield / Storm</TD><TD align=middle width=123>400</TD><TD align=middle width=121>0</TD><TD align=middle width=79>0</TD><TD align=middle width=125>0</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle width=215>Operation Iraqi Freedom</TD><TD align=middle width=123>1,250*****</TD><TD align=middle width=121>1</TD><TD align=middle width=79>1</TD><TD align=middle width=125>2</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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