I know how to respond. It may not be exactly politically correct, but you can explain to your shipmate (squad mate, whatever) that it is both stunning and brave, and it shows commitment. Plus: it saves the government money, so they may just get a NAMCOM or ARCOM or something. Legion of Merit. Something.
You guys had hot water!? Son-of-a...!
And in the laundry.
Unless you did the overboard laundry bag drag. You still had to rinse off the salt water, but we quickly realized that you really only need to rinse your skivvies, so we'd wear them into the rain locker and use our time during water hours to rinse our freshly-dragged under clothing so we wouldn't chafe. Only showering once a week and lots of talcum powder was a thing. That, and Marine Corps showers - aka Right Guard, which is basically the only brand they sold in the ship's store.
He's legally where the chicks are, so maybe he's smarter than we are.
It was a decade before that, and I'm pretty sure we were better off, which is something I never thought I'd say.
Yeah, I remember being a young whipper-snapper and saying that to my elders. Sadly, I'm running out of old people I can say that to.
