We NEED more of this!

Why do so many combat Veterans take their stories to the grave, without sharing them?

-- Einstein: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." I'm Poopiekat!!

... my guess…

Because it was SO MUCH HELL, they try very hard to just FORGET it…

I remember when the movie “Platoon” was in the theaters…
... I told a veteran friend of mine that I thought he would like it…
He told me… “I really don’t want to see it… I’d like to forget all about it.”

That taught me a lot!

BUT, that shouldn’t stop us from Thanking them for their service…

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Great Video Joe.
So many lost, all for nothing.
Like you said ””SO MUCH HELL”“

They might tell their stories, if they believed that people would learn from them, but as history has proved
too many times, we just keep making the same mistakes, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and what will
the new one be? When we leave Iraq & Afghanistan in the middle of their newest civil war and all the
deaths and injuries, can we really say that it is better than when we went in for the majority of the people?
All three of my sons have served in the military, and I thank them and the others who have served, but
there should be a better way.

-- As ever, Gus-the 74 yr young apprentice carpenter

When it comes to Afghanistan, we should have learned something from Russia who spent several years there… and finally Gave Up & went home…
... but, we with our superior EGO, have to go in there and try to do something Russia couldn’t do…
Well… I don’t think we have accomplished much… (we’re giving up)
When we leave, the Taliban will just walk in and take it over… and all that work and lost lives will have been for NOTHING!
The Taliban, etc. is just sitting on their hands waiting for us to leave… we were SO SMART to TELL the world when we were going be OUT, (big stupid move!) (but we just NEED to KNOW about it!) they can just wait until we’re gone… They aren’t so dumb!
We will have found out that the Russians were right when they left… we have to ignore History… “we can do that” attitude! What pure WASTE!

A damn shame!

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Don’t know about others – but – the memories I have of Vietnam is the combat for which I want to forget. The thing is, it’s not only the combat, but all the negativity it had here in the USA, i.e., calling us baby killers, father stabbers, mother rapers and other names that were/still are inferred at us by the indifferent anti-war protesters of the time. The agitaters who met us at San Francisco International and spat at us, threw things that were found in the local dumpster. Are these proud Americans still around? When will we, the veterans of the “other war” be welcomed home? I’m not talking about a parade down main street, just to be recognized as the present heros are, for someone to tell us we are not nobody and are part of the same society as all others. Does anybody take pause to think maybe this is one of the reasons why so many of us have PTSD from that time frame, myself included – because we are looked down upon as the dregs of humanity in an “unjust” war through no fault of our own?

-- *Arachnoleptic*: The frantic dance performed just after you've accidently walked through a spider web.

... and Jane Fonda should have been strung-up for TREASON! IMHO

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

rosebudjim,

The week before last, my sister and her husband spent the weekend with us at our getaway house which is in northeastern PA. My brother-in-law did two tours as a Huey door gunner in the 101st Airborne. In a town near us, the local VFW has a Dustoff Slick (medevac UH-1 helicopter). I made a point of bringing him to see it. He hadn’t been that close to one since the 1970s. He told me a whole bunch of stuff I didn’t know and it clearly was an emotional experience for him. He was wearing a 101st Viet Nam ball cap. Later, in that same town while stopping for lunch, a younger man (I’d guess 35 or so) stopped him to thank him for his service. It was clearly heartfelt. I make the point because I think that things have changed and that what you and others gave is now really appreciated or, at least, understood by many Americans.

-- Altruism is, ultimately, self-serving

bunkie, Thank you.

Numerous veterans tell me I should go and be in the presence of the Wall, it will bring peace of mind. I think about it often, but not sure if I could. To many friends are on that black slab.

-- *Arachnoleptic*: The frantic dance performed just after you've accidently walked through a spider web.