Were you a Grunt ? NOT me. wrote:
Few runners then and now served as a grunt (rifleman, mortarman, heavy weapons, sniper, recon, intel, underwater exposives, etc.) in a U.S. front-line ground offensive combat unit. I was against U.S. genocide in South East Asia and faked out a deferment. My siblings joined the National Guard, Air Force and Navy to get out of being a grunt.
I don't like the whole "only respect grunts" thing especially from someone who avoided any military service.
Two Olympians and contemporaries/friends of Shorter and Rodgers who served in the Vietnam era military were Jeff Galloway (Navy) and Kenny Moore (Army).
But back to the original topic -- Bill Rodgers is a great ambassador of our sport. Probably the best. I believe he hits retirement age this year and has spent the last 35+ years around the sport.