Before your read anything further, take a gander at the pictures of Generals Petraeus and Eisenhower.
Look closely. Notice anything different?
I don’t mean to be a hard-ass. Really, I don’t. But I can remember a word I first learned in the Navy, and it stayed with me: Geedunk.
Here’s a brief definition:
“To most sailors the word geedunk means ice cream, candy, potato chips and other assorted snacks, or even the place where they can be purchased.”
Anyway, geedunk is, basically, junk food. No value. A geedunk machine or store is where you buy the all that worthless, non-nutritious stuff.
Well, guess what? The Navy has (or had) another term: Geedunk Ribbon. And you guessed it; it’s a ribbon that has little or no value. But it splashes up the uniform and impresses people who don’t actually know that the ribbon was awarded because you, the sailor:
1. Didn’t fall overboard.
2. Showed up for work.
3. Passed a test that everybody else also passed.
4. Or served in a unit that — decades or wars before you showed up for work without falling overboard — earned honorable distinction doing something that merited recognition, and that you are now allowed to wear because you are now a member of that unit.
Get the idea? Geedunk ribbons are junk. They aren’t like real ribbons that are given for valor or courage or getting wounded in combat.
Here’s the deal: If you are qualified to wear a chest-full of ribbons, (at least half of which are guaranteed geedunk), but choose only those that were given for something honorable that you personally earned, I think that says something about your character, dignity and sense of honor.
But then again, I’m probably just a hard-ass.
