Quote: It doesn't mean he hasn't. As far as being irrelevant on how one gets to see these places, it may be relevant when you're told to go, have the population not care for you, etc. versus on your own free will and blend in and make a unbiased opinion.

Many countries don't care for US military presence. Their treatment of you is different than from a typical tourist. It will form an opinion.

This I know as well. But maybe I'm just an anomaly .

 

First off, your quote(s) didn't look right.

 

I understand your point and see where you are coming from.  However, in many countries that I visited (not all), I took leave and took a train "out of town" to really "experience" the country.  Did the people that I interacted with know that I was military?  Maybe yes, maybe no.  For the most part I was welcomed warmly, and people were genuinely curious, especially when they found out that I was a "yank".  I had many conversations, shared many meals with them and had some beers with them.  Politics didn't come up often, and in some countries we were discouraged to discuss politics, Israel is one of them.

 

Discussions ranged from our guns, our diet, our cars and mostly our sports.

 

The only areas that were clearly "against" our presence were the port towns where we were docked or anchored.  I saw several "anti-U.S." and "anti-nuke" demonstrations and even a near riot around our fleet landing.  Once you got out of town, the sentiment was very much different.

 

Here's a story that I'll tell regarding one of my experiences just to give an example.

 

I traveled to a small town in Greece (I don't even remember the name).  We found a place to stay that had a bed, a "bathroom" that consisted of a sink and a toilet.  The showers were "community" type showers located down the hall.  We went out to a small (very small) local bar to have a couple of drinks.  At first, the only person in the place that would speak any English was the bartender, and it was kind of "broken English".  Everyone was watching the TV in the bar which was playing a soccer match.  I wasn't paying attention, and actually picked up the guy's beer that was sitting next to me and took a sip.  He said something loud, and it was then that I realized my mistake.  I was embarrassed and offered to buy him a new beer.  Everyone was looking at us and broke out in laughter.  The bartender gave us both a fresh drink, and for the rest of the night I didn't buy another drink.  Suddenly, the other patrons in there were able to speak English and we talked.

 

My point of this story is, most of the people overseas don't "hate" us.  They are genuinely curious about us, and welcome us eagerly.

 

My other point is, visiting other countries via military experience is not always "not the same" as someone that does so "on their own dime".

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