Originally Posted By: beck123
Just in case it's my turn (and before the subject matter turns stale) here's one:

“So it’s Veterans’ Day, is it?” said the old man in the retirement home after spitting his quid into a potted plant.

“Yes, it is,” replied the nurse, “and I told you not to spit all over the place. That’s why I gave you that jar.”

Headstrong as ever, the old man grunted his disdain. “In my day,” he said, “I was a warrior. Whenever I wanted to, I just let fly. Boys looked up to me in that uniform; men stepped aside when I walked by. And the women! Some gal would wink at me, I’d sidle over and nibble at her neck, and before you knew it we’d... well, I’m sure you get the picture.”

“Don’t start! I get the picture, ok, but today we have professional soldiers and sailors, marines and airmen. Nobody calls them warriors anymore.”

“Well, I was a warrior, dammit, and we were called a lot worse than that.”

In fact , there are six slang names for GI’s in this puzzle in honor of our veterans, who were and are warriors in the ancient tradition no matter what we may call them.


Hmm.

So far I have
- grunt
- flyboy (though strictly speaking that's Air Force, not ground as in Ground Infantryman = GI).
- jarhead - a Marine. You decide whether that's a GI or not. Warrior, certainly.
- leatherneck - ditto

That leaves two.

Plus the incidental Theo, there, squid (??), ninth, Otto, Thom, tall, youth, dwell, recalled, Seth, and Ethan. Didn't find any tunnel rats or poilu or Tommie or Limey or even Joe.

Nice theme. And warm feelings for HP-WOW; they also serve...