What's the difference between War Stories and Fairy Tales? Has the answer changed over the years?

2017-06-01T01:58:01-04:00

In my day the answer was "A fairy tale begins with Once upon a time" and War Stories began with "No $#*@, there I was, Knee deep in grenade pins and butt deep to a tall giraffe in empty shell casings.... "

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jun 1 at 2017 2:00 AM

2017-06-01T02:00:14-04:00

Oh Yeah!

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2017 2:01 AM

2017-06-01T02:01:39-04:00

at a Dining-Out, we have to begin our stories with...."there I was..." or we get fined by Mr. Vice.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2017 2:05 AM

2017-06-01T02:05:35-04:00

In my time it was a fairy tale was "Once upon a time..." and a war story was "men, this ain't no bullshit..."

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2017 6:58 AM

2017-06-01T06:58:34-04:00

"Knee deep in grenade pins and butt deep to a tall giraffe in empty shell casings" now that is part of the stories I've never heard. Must have taken place on the majestic safaris of Africa.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Jun 1 at 2017 7:43 AM

2017-06-01T07:43:48-04:00

Depends on the person telling the tale.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2017 8:15 AM

2017-06-01T08:15:36-04:00

No kidding, there I was, fingers embedded in the keyboard, mouse whipping around like a madman, reading and posting on Social Media when I found myself in a one way discourse with another Social Media hacker, intent on my individual and total destruction. With mouse and keyboard in hand I waded into the melee and started typing such amazing prose and witty responses that all trolls around were in awe and disappeared with nary a whimper or a post worth the electrons used to compile it...

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2017 9:35 AM

2017-06-01T09:35:44-04:00

What I find best about this pic is that the combat patch is the 11th ACR Blackhorse. ALLONS!!!!

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Jun 1 at 2017 10:00 AM

2017-06-01T10:00:46-04:00

SSG David Fetty War stories start out mostly truth, and evolve into fairy tales over time with retelling. It goes from no shit there I was, guard duty where a man with a rusty bolt action rifle tried to take a pot shot at the gate, and suffered a misfire to three men with AK-47s, to a swarm of heavily armed insurgents. It has grown from war story to fairy tale. That or when a part of a unit does something epic, suddenly everyone in the unit was there and participated in the epic event. The further it is from the day the event occur, the more likely it is that it evolves from War Story to Fairy Tale.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 2 at 2017 1:46 AM

2017-06-02T01:46:16-04:00

You mean like how Sergeant Major was so bad ass that he qualified Expert at the Grenade Range with a Bayonet lol

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 18 at 2019 4:01 PM

2019-03-18T16:01:48-04:00

My Finance Unit executed a support by fire as the squads conducted alternating bounds on a movement to contact.