Search This Blog

24 Steak Burgers FREE with your order of $119+ Use Promo Code 2LOB8B12 to receive 2 Lobster Tails + 8 Steak Burgers

Active Warrants: Erie County Sheriff's Department

Monday, November 8, 2010

Veterans' Reflections: Service Was 'Rite of Passage'

Veterans' Reflections: Service Was 'Rite of Passage'


By Ian Graham

Emerging Media, Defense Media Activity



WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2010 - Ralph Cupper enlisted in the Army at age 17 in 1944, preferring not to wait until he was drafted to serve his country.







Army World War II veteran Ralph Cupper stands at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., July 21, 2010. Cupper discussed his time in service and what it means to be a World War II veteran. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class William Selby

(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.



The Brecksville, Ohio, resident recently visited the National World War II Memorial with other veterans and reflected on his time in the war.



"Everybody was patriotic at that time," he said. "I didn't even finish high school. I went straight into the service ... and I got shipped off to the Pacific."



The cultural environment back then was very different from today's, he said. The military wasn't just a way to pay for school or get a career jumpstart – it was a rite of passage for people who considered themselves patriotic. It was a duty to serve when called, he said, and when Japanese bombs hit Pearl Harbor, that was more than enough of a call.



"At that time, everybody wanted to serve their country," he said. "We were attacked. It's different today. I don't think people realize what we went through, or what our thinking was at that time."



Cupper called himself a "young buck," eager to get into the fight and immature about a lot of things when he joined the service. But after a few weeks on a boat to Okinawa with the 7th Infantry Division and the ensuing fight he lived to tell about, he said, he was changed.



The war helped to mature him, Cupper said, noting that he saw a lot of gory things, was wounded, and lost friends during the campaign in the Pacific.



"It matured me. It scared the hell out of me," he said. "I think you just grow up a little in the service."



It's important for young servicemembers to get to know "the older fellas" when in combat, he said. They've lived through more, he explained, and can help younger servicemembers stay safe under fire, especially in modern asymmetrical combat.



"It's a different world. It's different combat. It's a different [type of] war altogether," Cupper said. "Basically, if you're in the infantry, you need to keep your [rear end] down. You have to listen to the older fellas. When I went in, the older fellas had been in a lot more combat than I had. You learn how to survive."



Though he was wounded in combat, he said, he counts himself lucky that he wasn't hurt worse or killed, but he added that's a small price to serve the greater cause. His reward, he said, is the appreciation he's shown to this day, some 64 years after he left the Army.



"I didn't realize [the National World War II Memorial] was as great a thing as it is," he said. "I think it's a great tribute to the men and women who served in World War II. "They're honoring what we've done. I didn't realize that so many people would honor you the way people have today. I've been crying almost all day since we left Cleveland."



("Veterans' Reflections" is a collection of stories of men and women who served their country in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and the present-day conflicts. They will be posted throughout November in honor of Veterans Day.)

No comments:

Advertiser

Technology Headlines

The TSA Blog

FEMA Blog

White House.gov Video Feed

NYSDOT Recent Press Releases

Indian Point Press Releases

Erie County RSS Feed

The Weather Channel: Your Local Weather Outlook--Niagara Falls, NY (14304)

Niagara County RSS Feed

National Weather Service

Albany County RSS Feed

Allegany County RSS Feed

Bronx County RSS Feed

Broome County RSS Feed

Cattaraugus County RSS Feed

Chemung County RSS Feed

City of Toronto News Releases

US Consumer Product Safety Commission - Recent Recalls and Product Safety News

Center for Missing & Exploited Children: NY Missing

Lead Photos - U.S. Dept. of Defense

Contract - U.S. Dept. of Defense

Speech - U.S. Dept. of Defense

Transcript - U.S. Dept. of Defense

FBI Extra

NASA Breaking News

NASACast Video

City of Toronto news releases, Emergency Medical Services

City of Toronto news releases, Fire Services

Speeches

Advertiser

City of Toronto news releases, Fire Services

RoyaltyFreeMusic.com Music Reviews

Automobile RSS Feed

Speed and Accuracy Statement

The information you find here is in the form of raw data, usually delivered via RSS feeds. The information is delivered via website in the most rapid manner possible. Usually this is the manner of delivery of information to media. Therefore, this service gets the audience information to the public more rapidly then any media outlet that has to re-write the information for their email club or SMS feeds.

In some cases, cases, from time to time, updates and correctons are offered by the authors of this information, Motioncenter.info is not responisble for the content of RSS feeds, press releases, or any other content. The content of the information presented is the responsiblity of the producer of the content.

There are many reasons for presenting the information as the page does. The public really never has had a view of the raw data before now. Most cases we see news packaged, polished and prioritized. This blog network offers a wide audience a variety of news, some of it is produced by Motioncenter and some by the government or other sources.

Read what you like, ignore what doesn't interest you, but at least Motioncenter doesn;t tell you what the news is, you choose.

Material Connection Disclosure

You should assume that the owner of this website has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the providers of goods and services mentioned on this site and may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the internet or offline. THIS IS A BLOG. A NON-COMMERCIAL WEBPAGE At no time does commerce transact on this site. If it had then it would require a Secure Sockets Layer certificate and a merchant account. Being a non-commercial site there are some licensing privledges that this site will participate in. Mystuffnow is an online radio station broadcasting twenty four hours daily. This station can be bet described as a hybrid format of adult contemporary, international and ad popular music. In a sense it may, be compared to compared random radio format, but mystuffnow has three dedicated day parts. These day parts include a morning, evening and overnight separate music selection. The morning and afternoon have a selection of classic rock and current hot hits. To make the station more unique a new track, or tracks from the overnight day part have been added to make the station stand out from traditional stations that broadcast locally. The overnight day part is called “After Hours” and mimics the general principals of a quiet storm programming style where as there are fewer commercials and the music is more adult in nature, not just in lyrics but the music is more unique, offering international and slower tracks. This is meant for relaxation or whatever you may be doing in the late night hours. This station is run by computerized traffic software. At any moment a live deejay can broadcast and a morning show or news programming is possible, all playlists are run automatically. One positive of this is the fact that the software ensures that all artists get paid their royalties and this station avoids any fines for digital media issues. Update: Mystuffnow is currently off the air.

No Endorsement Statement

No endorsement is implied nor should it be inferred. No government agency, or organization has endorsed Motioncenter.Info. Motioncenter.info is a media organization with a mission of offering unbiased information as it becomes available, without any form of bias.

Privacy Policy

This is a website run by Group Speeddog Results Marketing, L.L.C... We take our readers privacy very seriously. Promotions through Third Party Merchants While this site is not endorsed or owned by any of the third party merchants appearing on this site, this site may at times receive various types of compensation when a viewer makes a purchase or clicks on a link appearing on this site. This site is not responsible for any claims or warranties associated with any third-party merchant link or website. This site does not directly collect any information regarding its viewers without your prior knowledge and permission; nor does it share their information with third-party vendors or merchants . It is not now, nor ever will be, our practice to sell your information to any third-party under any circumstance. We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. Google Advertising Cookie and Privacy Policies What is the DoubleClick DART cookie? The DoubleClick DART cookie is used by Google in the ads served on the websites of its partners, such as websites displaying AdSense ads or participating in Google certified ad networks. When users visit a partner’s website and either view or click on an ad, a cookie may be dropped on that end user’s browser. The data gathered from these cookies will be used to help better serve and manage ads on the publisher’s site(s) and across the web. *Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site. *Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet. *Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
Add to The Free DictionaryAdd to Excite MIXAdd to netomat HubAdd to fwicki