Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 9, 2015 - 11:34am PT
|
I was raised in the 60's.
I come from a long line of military veterans.
My father was a WWII pilot. My uncles were sailors and Marines. My grandfather was a Marine in France in WWI. My brother and sister are Army and Air Force veterans. My brother-in-law served in Vietnam.
But as I said, I was raised in the 60's and 70's by parents who didn't try to control my every thought. I was listening to The Beatles and Led Zeppelin before I was out of grade school. I became a hippy rock climber peacenik by the time I was 15 years old. I was a full time hippy rock climber until I was 21 years old.
When a particular expedition to Peru fell through, I was thrown into a real quandary. I had no money to go to college and didn't really want to anyway, I was a man of action.
When I joined the military, I wanted to be something really good! I ended up at the elite SERE Instructor school. I honored my family, served my country, and did something bad ass all at the same time.
But the long haired rock climber was too deeply embedded, and I had no desire to lose that side of me either. Some guys join up when they're 17, and don't really have an identity. The military becomes their identity. I was a full blown professional climber who couldn't get paid much for it. Many long haired climber friends thought I'd lost my mind. With my family history it didn't really seem much of a stretch at all. The commitment to a new life was the hard part.
It all worked out just fine, and being with another group of people who were as bad ass as hard core rock climbers, just in a different way, suited me perfectly. That is not to say that there aren't differences in attitude or opinion, or that there was never conflict between my two worlds. There was.
So here I am these many years later, a Deadhead rock'n'roll rock climber peacenik who is still fiercely proud to be a veteran, the great unit that I served in, and the life long brothers I earned there. And yes, there are still conflicts between the two sides of my heart. The duality of man? Yes indeed ladies and gentlemen, yes indeed.....
[Click to View YouTube Video]
The Duality Sandwich.
|
|
pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
|
|
Kool!
Grow ur hair long again...
|
|
jogill
climber
Colorado
|
|
Congratulations on a well-balanced life, Bruce. And thank you for your military service.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
I have a similar duality as regards service in the military. The lessons I learned and the friendships I established in the military were very formative in who i am now.
Service in the military doesn't necessarily make you conservative, pro war and pro gun. It had the opposite effect with me.
Thanks for posting this.
|
|
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
|
|
You forgot something Bruce.
I think I know you well enough to say that you should be talking not about the duality of your life, but the triality. (Is that even a word?)
Proud warrior. Hippie climber. But also dedicated father & husband.
Rock On.
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
It sucks being a "leg." Might as well try to be special.
Mighty glad you decided to jump on the team, Bruce.
And let me remind the Colonel, there's no winning in war...only surviving.
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 9, 2015 - 12:16pm PT
|
Thanks you guys. I think everyone understands this concept on some level. They just don't necessarily get the struggles inside my heart, as I don't know theirs.
Triality, my new favorite word!!
It sucks being a "leg."
Ain't that the truth brutha??
|
|
Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
|
|
Here's to a life well lived Bruce!
You are a good man , sir!
|
|
guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
|
|
Thank you for your service.
I to come from a Military Family.... my grand father was the PAYMASTER on Guadalcanal... Father in Law was in New Guinea.. My Dad Air-force Lt. Colonel, his brother was a Marine Warrant Officer who flew choppers, 9 tours in Nam... and my Kid Sister just retired from the Army as a Lt. Colonel.
My Duality is sort of like yours, but in 1971 when I was eligible for the draft, my Dad and Uncle sat me down and told me to "stay out of that F%KN war... at all cost" .... they had both seen enuf of a "political war with no end in sight"
But I got very lucky, the two years I was eligible for the draft I pulled some real hi numbers in the lottery and skated by with my life. I had two friends from my HS graduating class die in that shithole in the next year....... for no reason.
Then I became a Hippy Rockclimber.
So again, thank you for standing up to defend your country. Its people like you who allow the rest of us to live in peace without the fear that grips most people in the world.
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
|
|
Gneiss Post Survival! You stand out on ST as a straight-shooter that likes to have some fun!
And when the hell are we going hunting for pre-historic cave-women?
I've got some new clues!
|
|
Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
|
|
I read this thread as "The Vanity Of Man. My Personal Pride. The Struggle."-thread. The struggle is hard to detect, the pride is easy. Still I find Survival to be both humble and reflected.
The values "be humble" and "be proud" are possibly a struggle... lol...
Great thread, carry on...
|
|
GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
|
|
I read this thread as
I think you need a snack, you're getting grumpy.
|
|
Studly
Trad climber
WA
|
|
Salute!
|
|
L
climber
California dreamin' on the farside of the world..
|
|
This life is all about duality.
And living by a personal code of ethics that goes beyond it.
Good job, Bruce.
|
|
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
|
|
Ms. L says:
This life is all about duality.
But I'm not sure you and she are talking about quite the same duality. After all, she's the one who first posted this photo to Supertopo...
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 9, 2015 - 04:47pm PT
|
Ghost....oh gawd.....
I read this thread as "The Vanity Of Man. My Personal Pride. The Struggle."-thread. Marlow, that's not an unfair assessment.
I am indeed proud of both, so I'll take that hit, no worries.
I guess we wouldn't post if we didn't want a little attention once in a while?
|
|
the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
|
|
To me I don't see much dichotomy in being a peacenik and a warrior. For many people, including some of the most badass folks I've ever met, they are they most humble, violence adverse people you can meet. But when the sh#t hits the fan they have the skills and killer instinct to protect their friends and family at all costs. All martial artists I know are like this. They will smile and talk down an aggressor until a line is crossed, usually a punch is thrown, then watch out because they will kick some ass.
Conversely the guy who is always acting tough is usually doing it out of fear and don't have the skills to back it up. Once in a while you'll get a real ass who is strong or skilled and wants to fight, but it's usually just a matter of time until he picks a fight with the wrong guy and gets his ass kicked.
On the other hand I do see a dichotomy in following orders vs. being a free spirit. I have no problem being a team player and doing my part when I agree with the mission. But if I'm against the mission I have a hard time putting my personal feelings aside and doing something I don't believe in.
My uncle was a prisoner of war under the Nazi's in WWII. My dad and many other relatives were military. But when I was in High School and I told me parents I was thinking about joining up they said hell no. All it takes is some idiot president invading the wrong country and you get sent off to a war, that may be fought just to earn some campaign contributor money. They said if we are invaded and go to war, by all means join up and fight for our country.
It's kind of funny. Many military and police tend right politically but there's always a percentage on the left as well. It's kind of like rock climbers tend left politically but there's always a percentage on the right as well.
|
|
hotlum
climber
Oregon
|
|
Sounds like you're the best kind of hippie. Someone who has taken their licks and might commit to what they feel is at times BS, but know where they stand on the inside. I work in the woods cruising timber for a mill. I'm definitely a peace loving earth hippie too. I know it sound BS, but someone has to do it right? Best kind of hippies in my region are the logger/ forester hippies. A person who might lay down a few dozen acres of big timber, but jams to the Dead on the drive back into town.
|
|
MikeL
Social climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
Those are some very handsome pictures, my friend.
Be well. You've done well.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!