Jump to content
HybridZ

Vietnam Vets


datsun40146

Recommended Posts

My best bud just got home from Iraq in May. Got hit in a Bradley with an IDE... lost one ear and his hearing in that side, blast busted 3 vertebrae in his back and shattered a knee. He still doesn't sleep more than 2 hrs at a time. We need to do what we went for and get the hell out....

 

I thank all of the brave men and women who spend each and every night and day protecting our freedoms. I'm not crazy about my government but I love my country!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dad was in Vietnam, two tours, nasty service. He was a scout/sniper and there isnt a whole lot left of him mentally. He got worse and worse as time went by and eventually disappeared. He lives somewhere in Baltimore, havent spoken to him in 5 or 6 years, maybe a little longer. He never would talk about it. Wouldnt say a word.

 

This country flat let the Vietnam vets DOWN. Stupid hippie trash, Im sorry, but whenever I see some left-over yokel who claims he/she/it was a hippie I have to be pulled away from the idiot by force. Some of those assholes SPIT IN MY FATHERS FACE when he got off his plane to come home. No heros welcome or parade for him and his fellows.. Oh no. Just bullshit.

 

Sorry, a little bitter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dad was a combat medic in the 101st.... i dont know if anyone remember the movie called "Hamburger Hill" but my Dad was one of the survivors of that little snafu. first time i think ive ever seen him want to go to a movie about Vietnam but we went to that one... he would point out characters and tell me names and stuff that happened and at the end of the film they credited two of his buddies as advisors that he had mentioned in the film... was very odd and awkward to talk about... As a Vet myself he has opened up a lot more but still doesnt much talk about it. I called him and talked to him after my first tour in the first Desert Storm and ever since then he's been very open about it. Sometimes when i see the difference in how i was treated and even the troops over there now are treated by civilians (even the ones who dont like them over there) and how the Vietnam vets were treated after coming home... its unbelievable and heartrending .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dad was a combat medic in the 101st.... i dont know if anyone remember the movie called "Hamburger Hill" but my Dad was one of the survivors of that little snafu. first time i think ive ever seen him want to go to a movie about Vietnam but we went to that one... he would point out characters and tell me names and stuff that happened and at the end of the film they credited two of his buddies as advisors that he had mentioned in the film... was very odd and awkward to talk about... As a Vet myself he has opened up a lot more but still doesnt much talk about it. I called him and talked to him after my first tour in the first Desert Storm and ever since then he's been very open about it. Sometimes when i see the difference in how i was treated and even the troops over there now are treated by civilians (even the ones who dont like them over there) and how the Vietnam vets were treated after coming home... its unbelievable and heartrending .

 

Phantaz I was in Desert Shield and Storm, who were you with? I was with

11th Marines Cannon Cockers 1st Marine Division Artillery at the time. Must say Airforce did a bang up job over there too!! My dad was in Vietnam as well 67 68 with the Big Red One....my son goes in the Marines in February...

 

Terry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was drafted in that era and was supposed to go directly to Nam. I was trained as a combat field medic at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. A combat medic's life span in Nam at that time was supposedly two weeks. Out of 243 people in my class, all went to Nam except eight. I was sent to the Panama Canal Zone, and seven went to Germany. I, of course, was delighted with my luck. When my orders were announced, a training sergeant/lifer came directly over to me and told me that I received the best orders out of 3,000 men because there was nothing to do there but party and the women were wonderful. When I got there, my biggest daily problem (other than the two week recondo school) was figuring out which beach to lie around on. A quart of good rum was seventy five cents. If you had a $150 dollar car, the island girls thought you were a rich American and would actually fist fight each other over you. It was a MASH unit (601st - just like the sitcom) at Fort Clayton. I lost a few best friends from my old football team in Nam. I have since regretted that I was not sent over and have visited their names on the monument wall in Washington. I am a member of the American Legion now but have never felt I really belonged (because I really don't) and make that feeling clear. God bless them all, they were just kids. For the ones that did survive, what a crappy, life ruining return to their homeland. I know it was not my fault, as if I went to Canada or something; but also, I did not volunteer and I got very lucky. The guilt will always be there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oldest,

 

You responded to your call to duty, followed your orders and did what was asked of you in a time of war. You are as much an American hero as any soldier of that era. And they were all Heroes! Consider your service a priviledge that left you alive to help others understand the sadness of war...

I graduated High School in 84 with a 6 month delayed entry to the Air Force. I wanted to party one more summer and make sure I did my boot in San Antonio TX in the winter because of the heat. On July 25th I pulled a 36 hour drunk with a bunch of buddies and crashed into a tree at 80+ driving home at 5am. I crushed my right leg and spent 2 yrs in surgeries and rehab and 1 yr learning to use it again. I got a medical dischrge without one day of service because of my injuries. 2 of my best friends went in the Army that March 1985... They ended up in Desert Storm. James crashed in a Cobra chopper and died. Randy was hit by friendly fire and now speaks with a slurr and drags his left foot. I know how it feels to think your not worthy but I came to the reality I was left here to look after those left behind. I decorated James's grave last week. I see his folks everytime I'm in his town at least twice a year and call often to see how they are as theyre getting older. Randy has no family so I'm his family and he is always around to help me out and never more than a phone call away. We all have a place in this world, and a destiny...

I salute all Vets combat or not....peace or war.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dad was active USAF from '52-'56. I thought that was "it" until we were making future arrangements (he's very much alive, and not a procrastinator) at the Veterans' cemetery. Learned he was in the reserves until '66! also learned that rank held in '56 follows him to the grave, and determines where his plot is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my high school and college friends and boyfriends all went off to nam--very very few of them came back--we knew not the reason then we know not the real reason today--waste of intelligent human male persona--my brother was navy out of north island fron 69-72, flew in early warning planes and got a pic of a russian trawler hiding from us--the only pic of that trawler-

 

the way these men were treated upon return so sux, and so angers ----

 

and the way the hospitals in this country--when the guys came back--private hospitals had filipino nurses who spoke tagalog on duty--

men would wake up screaming because the language made them think they were still in pow camps or still in nam----rotten thing to do for no reason.

 

and for what earth saving reason are stayin in iraq???? same one????

at least the guys and gals are being welcomed back instead of beig treated like criminals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's keep the politics to a minimum people. This thread started on shaky ground, and is edging towards the tool shed.

 

My father enlisted at 16 and missed WWII by a couple months, was a Provost Marshal in Germany post war, then came back to the states and was responsible for decommissioning the Presidio just north of SF and destroying the weapons and ammo there. He had brothers who flew over the hump and did other cool (or should I say COLD) and dangerous jobs in WWII.

 

My brother was on a FFG, the USS Gary, as an EW in the Navy and was headed for Desert Storm, but it actually ended before he got there. Technically he was in the service at the time so he is a veteran of a war, but he didn't do much in the war itself. He also got to rescue Filipinos during the eruption of Mt Pinatubo, I think that was his biggest adventure.

 

I guess I just don't like people telling me when to eat, sleep, or ♥♥♥♥, so I never enlisted... :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...