Veteran offers food for reminiscing
Published 8:21 am Sunday, November 11, 2012
BY MARCELLE HANEMANN
The Daily News
As the national day of remembering military veterans and their sacrifices drew near Rayfus Martin, of Franklinton, who served with the U.S. Army in Korea, found himself thinking about his experiences.
While they certainly included uncommon fear and hardship, Martin was distracted by something else and it gave him an idea for a quiz.
“I wanted to sort of help veterans reminisce with some of the old terms, to see if they can remember where they were when some of them were said,” he said. “Some of the guys may have forgotten the old terms and I want to try to jog their memory, wake some of the old vets up.”
Martin said that, despite everything else, there was a certain camaraderie in the ranks.
“There were some good times in the barracks when we laughed, and a lot of these expressions came up,” he said.
Although lifelong civilians might recognize some of the terms, thanks to written or film accounts of various conflicts, they will resonate most deeply with veterans who experienced their use in dramatic and foreign environments, Martin said.
“Most people who use these terms today are former military guys,” he said. “Other people can’t relate to them like me and many other veterans.”
Martin provided the following Military Expressions Quiz in honor of Veterans Day. Although it is offered for everyone, it comes with a challenge for his military veteran peers.
“Let’s see how many you can get right,” he said.
The answers will follow.