get your Afghan ribbon here!

When I was in basic training at Fort Dix, there was a store in Bordentown nearby that sold any sort of U.S. Army decoration that might take a young man's fancy. Sharpshooter medals were in especial demand among the 'cruits. I'm glad to see that the internet has simplified this sort of credential-shopping. Want to tell the world that you served in Afghanistan? The medal is yours for ten bucks at Advanced Warfighting Solutions. If your wallet and your head are fatter, you can also buy a flak vest (without the bullet-resistant inserts, alas), a machine gun mount for your Humvee, and a two-thousand-dollar rope for abseiling down from your helicopter to a Gaza-bound blockade runner. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford