Welcome home yoteduster, and thank you for your sacrifice.Thanks for posting that eel..I can relate to all he said I came home in April of 68 and it's all pretty much still with me...
As a hopelessly garrulous old man, I completely understand why the last three minutes are the take away.The last two or three minutes were the takeaway.
Great acknowledgement for our vets! I too watched those same news feeds and was very sad as I had friends who lost brothers. Those news clips were a , dose of reality at an early age, never forgot them, Class of 75.God Bless all the Vets.
Vietnam Vets hold a special place for me. I grew up watching Walter Cronkite report on the war every night. I was 7 in 1964 & Graduated High School in 1975. I have Uncles, Cousins & Friends that have packed around a lot of pain from that war. It seems weird that all of them heroes are old men now. God Bless
As a hopelessly garrulous old man, I completely understand why the last three minutes are the take away.
Let me explain…….He was asked to speak on humor in Vietnam combat. First he said, to paraphase, are you kidding me, humor in 326 days of constant combat, the average in WWII was 38 days. He was having a hell of a time trying to figure out where there was any humor in that, and the only reason he was not there even longer was because his Dad die and his aged Mother was left without income or support, so he went home and went straight to work, 2 days after he got get there.
Further, he said, paraphrasing again, I need to give you enough back ground information, in my life’s experience (paint a picture for you) so you can understand why finding any humor in all was difficult for him.
He then went about painting that piture, and explained in vivid detail a most “holy ****, we’re going to die right here” event…… where his companions were yards away from North Vietnam’s best soldiers, with as good or better weapons the US troops and the point blank fire fight that ended up with he and his buddy laughing uncontrollably.
Then explained, in spite of how humorous that moment was, it dang sure took a full lifetime to reconcile those terrible 326 days, in the jungle.
I thought it was brilliant and as difficult as it was, he punted it out of the arena.
The most unappreciated American soldiers in the world are our Vietnam Vets, they all have my most humble admiration.
My personal opinion has always been they were done terribly wrong. The hippies and anti war movement did to the media and therefore the general public what the woke movement is doing today. That is demoralizing anyone that doesn’t support their misguided propaganda.Another friend of mine who I hunted with got drafted and went to Vietnam. When I heard he got discharged I called his mom's house and talked to him. I suggested we go up squirrel hunting for a day. He said he would never pick up another gun as long as he lived. I gave him a few months and called his house again. His mom said he took off for San Francisco and hadn't heard from him. She was worried said if I talk to him, let her know. I never did. I was always too afraid to call her again and I truly regret that. I hope he found peace. I tried to do a search for him but never found anything.
To be clear, I'm not a veteran. Somehow I avoided the war. I got drafted but before I reported for duty, I got a notice to not appear at this time, and that was the last I heard. After that they went to the lottery system based on your birthday and I always drew high numbers. I sometimes have guilt feelings about not going.That was great Eel. I'm grateful for men like yiu and Eric. That was a tough Tour.
Many of us aren’t veterans, so we may not be as able as them to understand and feel that pain and since of humor………… all the more reason to let them know how much we love and appreciate them.To be clear, I'm not a veteran. Somehow I avoided the war. I got drafted but before I reported for duty, I got a notice to not appear at this time, and that was the last I heard. After that they went to the lottery system based on your birthday and I always drew high numbers. I sometimes have guilt feelings about not going.
My number was 225.To be clear, I'm not a veteran. Somehow I avoided the war. I got drafted but before I reported for duty, I got a notice to not appear at this time, and that was the last I heard. After that they went to the lottery system based on your birthday and I always drew high numbers. I sometimes have guilt feelings about not going.