6 ms·

Does anyone know if her star earrings are a reference to her rank? Or is it just a coincidence?

by jkaptur 4y ago

kodah 4y ago
That would be very against military tradition, so I doubt it.
- JoeAltmaier 4y ago
  Hm. Not a lot of earrings in the military? So, maybe against men's military tradition...
  - DoreenMichele 4y ago
    She was in the Navy. The Simpsons had a joke about Bart getting an earring to be all rebellious and his dad saying something about "You're disrespecting our proud Navy heritage." Sailors have been known to wear earrings. I mean male sailors.
    - kodah 4y ago
      The only official earring I'm aware of that was actually written into a NavMC at some point was the Black Pearl for being the lone survivor of a ship wreck.
      - DoreenMichele 4y ago
        The question wasn't about officially sanctioned jewelry. But thank you for your informative comments.
  - kodah 4y ago
    This is an astonishingly bad faith take. She was in the Navy. The Navy and the Marine Corps have explicit policies about not representing your rank or using your rank for influence or gaining favor. As I said in another thread, I don't walk around calling myself by my former rank and I'd expect such a highly ranked officer not to as well. As I said, I doubt that's what the ear rings are.
    - thakoppno 4y ago
      Now I’m curious about your former rank. Is that something you would disclose when asked or is it more personal and private than that?
      - kodah 4y ago
        No, I just removed it because it's not super relevant. I was a Corporal if you're curious.
    - DoreenMichele 4y ago
      Before you edited your comments to say "my former rank," you listed a rank that in the Army would be too low to be a retiree. Granted, ranks are different in the Navy. First, they do call her by her rank in the video. Second, it's common in military culture for a retiree to be listed as [their rank] (RET) to indicate their Retired status. Third, the video is from 1986. Policies and culture can and typically do change over the course of several decades. If you served only a few years and did not reenlist, no, it's not appropriate to call yourself by your former rank. But retirees are free to use their rank so long as they don't misrepresent themselves as if they are still active duty, generally speaking.
      - kodah 4y ago
        > you listed a rank that in the Army I was in the Marines, both have the rank of Corporal. I asked a friend and he pointed me here: https://www.defense.gov/Contact/Help-Center/Article/Article/2746328/use-of-military-rank-by-retired-military-members/ https://www.defense.gov/Contact/Help-Center/Article/Article/... You are right about the use of rank by retirees. The example I gave is wrong or rather, more pertinent to active duty when operating in a civilian capacity. The Navy and Marines are the only branches that have specific rules about that. Wearing your insignia as an earring is what I was addressing and that is still very taboo. I served under Mattis and I'd be floored if I saw him wearing four star bars in a suit.
    - calderknight 4y ago
      Could you please explain to me what you think "bad faith" means in this context?
- chordalkeyboard 4y ago
  I'm not aware of a military tradition against retirees wearing jewelry that is a throwback to their service, quite the contrary in fact.
  - kodah 4y ago
    Generally speaking in the Navy and Marine Corps we're discouraged from representing or using our rank to influence the public or gain favor. I don't go around calling myself by my rank, I'd expect a former Rear Admiral not to as well.
    - garbagewoman 4y ago
      By mentioning that you have a rank, aren’t you representing it to gain favor?
    - chordalkeyboard 4y ago
      In the Marine Corps, honorably separated Marines are entitled to use their rank as a courtesy title in civilian life. Wearing jewelry to celebrate and pay homage to one's service is hardly influencing the public.
      - kodah 4y ago
        I've seen pendants with an EGA, spearheads, and whatnot but not insignia. I kind of diluted this thread by talking about rank instead of insignia at first. Very different things.
chordalkeyboard 4y ago
I would infer that it is likely that there is a connection.
DoreenMichele 4y ago
I have no idea. Googling it gets "Grace Hopper Nanosecond Earrings." FWIW, when I became STAR Student in high school, my mother bought me a necklace with a starfish on it to mark the occasion. She was looking for a "star" of some sort and the starfish was all she could find. So maybe someone else bought them because of her rank and she wore them in part to honor that memory and that relationship-- family, friend, whatever. That's something people sometimes do.

Does anyone know if her star earrings are a reference to her rank? Or is it just a coincidence?

kodah 4y ago

That would be very against military tradition, so I doubt it.

JoeAltmaier 4y ago
Hm. Not a lot of earrings in the military? So, maybe against men's military tradition...
- DoreenMichele 4y ago
  She was in the Navy. The Simpsons had a joke about Bart getting an earring to be all rebellious and his dad saying something about "You're disrespecting our proud Navy heritage." Sailors have been known to wear earrings. I mean male sailors.
  - kodah 4y ago
    The only official earring I'm aware of that was actually written into a NavMC at some point was the Black Pearl for being the lone survivor of a ship wreck.
    - DoreenMichele 4y ago
      The question wasn't about officially sanctioned jewelry. But thank you for your informative comments.
- kodah 4y ago
  This is an astonishingly bad faith take. She was in the Navy. The Navy and the Marine Corps have explicit policies about not representing your rank or using your rank for influence or gaining favor. As I said in another thread, I don't walk around calling myself by my former rank and I'd expect such a highly ranked officer not to as well. As I said, I doubt that's what the ear rings are.
  - thakoppno 4y ago
    Now I’m curious about your former rank. Is that something you would disclose when asked or is it more personal and private than that?
    - kodah 4y ago
      No, I just removed it because it's not super relevant. I was a Corporal if you're curious.
  - DoreenMichele 4y ago
    Before you edited your comments to say "my former rank," you listed a rank that in the Army would be too low to be a retiree. Granted, ranks are different in the Navy. First, they do call her by her rank in the video. Second, it's common in military culture for a retiree to be listed as [their rank] (RET) to indicate their Retired status. Third, the video is from 1986. Policies and culture can and typically do change over the course of several decades. If you served only a few years and did not reenlist, no, it's not appropriate to call yourself by your former rank. But retirees are free to use their rank so long as they don't misrepresent themselves as if they are still active duty, generally speaking.
    - kodah 4y ago
      > you listed a rank that in the Army I was in the Marines, both have the rank of Corporal. I asked a friend and he pointed me here: https://www.defense.gov/Contact/Help-Center/Article/Article/2746328/use-of-military-rank-by-retired-military-members/ https://www.defense.gov/Contact/Help-Center/Article/Article/... You are right about the use of rank by retirees. The example I gave is wrong or rather, more pertinent to active duty when operating in a civilian capacity. The Navy and Marines are the only branches that have specific rules about that. Wearing your insignia as an earring is what I was addressing and that is still very taboo. I served under Mattis and I'd be floored if I saw him wearing four star bars in a suit.
  - calderknight 4y ago
    Could you please explain to me what you think "bad faith" means in this context?
chordalkeyboard 4y ago
I'm not aware of a military tradition against retirees wearing jewelry that is a throwback to their service, quite the contrary in fact.
- kodah 4y ago
  Generally speaking in the Navy and Marine Corps we're discouraged from representing or using our rank to influence the public or gain favor. I don't go around calling myself by my rank, I'd expect a former Rear Admiral not to as well.
  - garbagewoman 4y ago
    By mentioning that you have a rank, aren’t you representing it to gain favor?
  - chordalkeyboard 4y ago
    In the Marine Corps, honorably separated Marines are entitled to use their rank as a courtesy title in civilian life. Wearing jewelry to celebrate and pay homage to one's service is hardly influencing the public.
    - kodah 4y ago
      I've seen pendants with an EGA, spearheads, and whatnot but not insignia. I kind of diluted this thread by talking about rank instead of insignia at first. Very different things.

chordalkeyboard 4y ago

I would infer that it is likely that there is a connection.

DoreenMichele 4y ago

I have no idea. Googling it gets "Grace Hopper Nanosecond Earrings." FWIW, when I became STAR Student in high school, my mother bought me a necklace with a starfish on it to mark the occasion. She was looking for a "star" of some sort and the starfish was all she could find. So maybe someone else bought them because of her rank and she wore them in part to honor that memory and that relationship-- family, friend, whatever. That's something people sometimes do.