Veteran's Day - Thank You

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11-11-21
Daboo

Veteran's Day - Thank You

Today is Veterans Day. My sincere thanks to everyone who signed up to protect our country from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Some got to serve during times of peace, and some were sent to places far from home where they had to see and do things people should never have to see or do. Many got to come home and work at re-assimilating themselves to normal life, but some did not. We have a day in May to pay our respects to them.

Too many who did get to come back home struggle with making peace with what they did and saw. An average of 22 a day decide they can’t do it anymore, and they find a way to die. If you know a Veteran who is struggling (or anyone else who is struggling with life), please give them this phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 800-273-8255

A life might be saved if you do so. I know more than one person who is happy they decided not to check out early.
11-12-21
Royce

Amen Chris. Well said and thank you. My war (Vietnam) was a lifetime ago and I returned unscathed on the outside. I was 24 when I went and about 45 when I returned a year later. I echo you thoughts above.
11-12-21
Richard230

I was really lucky. During the Vietnam War the Air Force sent me to Panama for my 18-month overseas tour, then to Hanscom Field, located outside Boston. After 18 months there they let me go due to budget considerations. I guess I was getting too expensive for them to keep around. [:)]
11-12-21
Royce

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard230

... I was really lucky. ... [:)]

Indeed you were very lucky.
11-13-21
Rev Ken

Here in the UK we 'celebrate' Remembrance day on 11/11 as you do. In out town we unveiled a wooden statue of a soldier to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of VE/VJ day, and of course many people throughout the United Kingdom stopped for a two minute silence on the 11th hour of the 11th day of November.

To raise funds to support our veterans The British Legion support veterans and their families and to raise funds they sell 'poppies'. It is their 100th year anniversary. I just wish we didn't need any of this - I am a veteran having served in the army for 18 years and been shot at, but just once, in Northern Ireland.

ps I spent some time in Frankfurt with the American army seeing their refurbishment of Willys Jeeps (I was in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers so was keen to compare methods and results) It was sad to see some of the soldiers who had just come from Vietnam, many of which were drinking themselves into oblivion. I can't imagine how they would ever handle the horror of war.
11-15-21
Dalesman

I always visit the cenotaph remembrance service in my local town on Remembrance Sunday. Lest we forget.
Some people object, saying it glorifies war. IMO it's what you make it. For me it's an opportunity every year to reflect on how lucky I am not to have been directly affected by war. Had I been born in the 1890s there is a high chance I would not have reached my 20th birthday.
11-15-21
Daboo

I got in at the tail end of the Vietnam War. A lot of people were brain-washed by the media to believe all military people were warmongers. They couldn't have been farther from the truth. Who is the first person to be facing the bullets? It's not the guy sitting in his comfortable armchair at home. It's the guy out there on the front lines.

I had a career in both the USAF and Boeing. At Boeing, probably the most danger I had was in getting a paper cut. In the USAF, two of the men under me lost their lives. And when the shift is over at Boeing, you went home. In the military, you were "on duty" 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I have the utmost respect for those who sacrifice to give me the freedoms I have.

Chris
11-16-21
Lighning

Veterans Day is a day to celebrate our honorable Soldiers. And to those who were Drafted for the War in Vietnam it is an especially sad remembrance.
11-16-21
Royce

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lighning

Veterans Day is a day to celebrate our honorable Soldiers. And to those who were Drafted for the War in Vietnam it is an especially sad remembrance.

I frequently think about guys I know/knew who went to Vietnam for their Senior Trip. Most of us went somewhere fun for our Senior Trip, but others were unlucky.
11-17-21
notacop

I was another "Lucky One". Instead of Tiger Land, light weapons...Grunt, at Ft Polk LA I got truck drivers training and ended up in Germany. I eventually got assigned an office job too so my military experience was total FUBAR. My 2 year draft entailed a visit to a friend in England and a trip to Pamplona when a stature to Hemingway was dedicated.
11-17-21
Richard230

All I got to see in Panama (when I wasn't in the engineering office or riding my motorcycle around the country) were pissed off Panamanians who were upset because if you were a local and could get a job with the U.S. military or the Canal Zone government, you would be paid 10 times the going rate for the same job in Panama. Needless to say the only ones getting those jobs were connected with Panamanian officials. Every now and then they would march on one of the military bases to protest us being there. I was once given a rifle, without any ammunition, and told to stand guard at one of the gates to Howard AFB where I was stationed. When I asked what I should do if the locals didn't pay any attention to me and started to enter the base, I was told to run away, head for the beach and let the 82nd Airborne, who shared the base with us (their section was called Fort Kobe), and let them deal with the issue. That seemed fine with me. Us Air Force types were more into pushing around papers than rioters. :rolleyes:
11-22-21
Rev Ken

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daboo

I got in at the tail end of the Vietnam War. A lot of people were brain-washed by the media to believe all military people were warmongers. They couldn't have been farther from the truth. Who is the first person to be facing the bullets? It's not the guy sitting in his comfortable armchair at home. It's the guy out there on the front lines.

I had a career in both the USAF and Boeing. At Boeing, probably the most danger I had was in getting a paper cut. In the USAF, two of the men under me lost their lives. And when the shift is over at Boeing, you went home. In the military, you were "on duty" 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I have the utmost respect for those who sacrifice to give me the freedoms I have.

Chris

The solution is simple.....Politicians of any country that declares war should lead the troops they deploy.... in the front line. (I'm a veteran)
11-22-21
Daboo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rev Ken

The solution is simple.....Politicians of any country that declares war should lead the troops they deploy.... in the front line. (I'm a veteran)

Your comment brought to mind a quote from Henry Kissinger.

Quote:

Military Men Are Just Dumb, Stupid Animals To Be Used As Pawns In Foreign Policy
11-22-21
Royce

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rev Ken

The solution is simple.....Politicians of any country that declares war should lead the troops they deploy.... in the front line. (I'm a veteran)

I sort of agree with you, but with one change: I propose that when they vote to deploy troops into combat they must first enlist their own children into uniform. That will make them really examine their own heart and conscience before taking the vote to declare war.