While in San Diego for the Obesity Society conference a bunch of us decided to take a tour of the USS Midway aircraft carrier.
Decommissioned in 1992, the Midway saw action in both the Vietnam and Korean wars and the ship has burned turned into a huge museum.
Walking through the ship I came across a preserved crew notice board. I took a picture of it and posted it up above.
It was dated March 23rd, 1990 and the last item of business was the announcement of the ship's Overeaters Anonymous meeting.
While I know I shouldn't have been surprised, weight's a struggle everywhere, somehow I didn't expect to see such an open and safe invitation in a warship and found it heartening that the military offered some support.
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One of my really close friends graduated from basic training recently and apparently anyone who shows any sign of laziness, regardless of body size, is called a fatass or fat. Now before going into the military, this friend would NEVER criticize anyone for anything. If I criticized myself when he was around or called myself fat, he would look at me and say, "You're not fat" and I would feel stupid for even saying anything negative about myself. Now, this friend is critical about everyone. He actually calls my boyfriend fat and calls him a fatass. He used to tease my boyfriend all the time and they used to insult eachother, because they both found it funny, but now it's not so funny. Now, I'm wondering, is this what people in the military really think of everyone? When I'm sitting on a public bus on the way to work, surrounded by men and women in uniform, am I silently being judged so harshly? I have spoken to my friend about the way he speaks to my boyfriend and his criticism, but I can tell that my friend is having trouble holding his tongue. It's like it's engrained in his brain. It's very upsetting to see such a sweet person lose some of his personality that made him such a special person.
ReplyDeleteFrom the military point of view fat soldiers don't kill as well. If the military needs you to run 20 miles carrying a machine gun, bullets, food, water, and other gear to go kill people, it's a lot more likely that you'll be able to if you're not over weight.
ReplyDeleteThe Marine Corps takes food and fitness very seriously.