Freepers Ask Their Vet Members to Check in. GET 16 RESPONSES!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1411112/posts

This is rich. As Memorial Day is approaching, some Freeker started a thread for all Freaker members that had served in the military to check-in. They got 16 responses. And 6 or 7 of those were "thank you for your service post" :wtf:

I thought they were all "gungho" types that had single-handedly sacrificed for this country.

How about if we show them that Democrats and Liberals not only "talk the talk", but that we "walk the walk".

I'll start:

United States Navy.
21 years so far.
Most memorable experience: when turret 2 on USS IOWA blew up killing 47 of my Shipmates.
Started as an E1 and earned a commission through the LDO/CWO program.
Currently serving in a Fighter Attack Squadron.

"I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC".

quite a few, both wartime and peacetime veterans, including myself (Army and National Guard).

Who else?

USMC 1965-1967

1966-1970. Protested in the anti-war efforts when I got back from Nam:dem:

:hi:

I lucked out, didn't get drafted into Vietnam, used a II-S deferement til the lottery, got hi number and never joined up. Thanks for you service axe2grind.

Welcome to DU! Glad you're here! Your help is sorely needed! Now get to work.

Thank you for your service.
:hi:

1983-1986

Semper Fi

Ann Arbor

This memorial day will bring back memories of my uncle Fred who survived WWII only to die in Korea, my friend from H.S., Don Kipp killed in '68 in Vietnam, and the war goes on.

Your service and sacrifice are greatly appreciated.

Korean Vet 1954 - 1956

Freeper vets have lost their minds.

Husband served from 1952 - 19556

service earned him medals, in the Phillipines, and he re-upped for the Korean conflict only to die bravely for our country.

Purple Heart too. Ambushed in 1969. Mom and Dad WWII vets.


:yourock:

2 years Active Duty Army (1976 - 1978)
21.3 years Department of the Army Civilian (1984 - present)

:patriot:

USAF Veteran, 1973-1979, and a card carrying DEMOCRAT.

And her mother was a nurse in Army, in France. Both survived.
But my uncle fred Ramos lived through WWII, served in the Philipines and re-upped during the Korean conflict where he bravely fought and was killed by hostiles.

We're glad to have you!

:hi:

Cheers! Thank you for your service!

1982-1994.

"I'm being all I can be sir!"
'And what are you being?'
"I'm sorry, that's classified."

84-88 Pilot Rescue Swimmer & Shellback x4


http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/python/132/afs4.htm

sup shipmates :toast:

peace

Toast back at cha' P-B formally of the USS Barney DDG-6

Harold was from small town Pennsylvania. He was a very popular, athletic and talented young man. According to my father, Harold was always the first picked for sports competitions, and was certainly one of the most popular and gregarious young men in his high school. Harold is now 70 years old and lives alone in NYC. I met him about twenty years ago and remember a gentle, quiet, softspoken man with a tender smile and warm handshake. He is now a shell of a man who is afraid to speak with others. Harold was brutalized by the Korean War and returned home without a job and without the motivation to pick up his life where it had left off before going to war. As a veteran, Harold is at risk of losing his benefits if he accepts monetary gifts. Therefore he absolutely refuses any money from my father. All the while he has seen his veteran's benefits whittled away. He does not have a phone and prefers it that way. Harold is one of the thousands who though they lived through a war, are actually some of its most tragic victims. Every year when I put my flag for out the veterans, I put my flag out especially for my Uncle Harold.

Glad you are one of us. I feel so sad as I read your post--your Uncle Harold deserves so much more. Bless you and your father for caring for him. And bless him for fighting for his country and each one of us privileged to live here. May our freedom continue to ring.

Peace.

A completely wretched shame what has happened to too many of our veterans.

Served on USS Enterprise (CVN-65). No NOT the Starship, the big Flattop stationed in Alameda, CA at the time. Never wanted to be political active but the last 4+ years have pissed me off enough to become so. The armed forces are to be used to PROTECT the USA, not to wage colonial wars. The Lies from the current administration finally got to me...:mad:

And thank you for your service to our country...It WILL be ours once again!

I'm just sorry we're all stuck in this God-forsaken sinking ship with its "leaders" busy shitting on everything that made service to country, like yours, something worthy of honor and respect. They've coated it with lies. Only difference: YOU can still stand tall. They never can, or will.

Vietnam Vet 72-73 Shellback Dec72

Out of curiosity?

I have more to fear from our domestic (bush admin) than from anyone else.
USAF 1970-73

...the military pledge, then that makes me nervous. Because what you're swearing is to "defend" against "enemies" using deadly force, by definition. Yes, of course, the Bush Admin is an enemy. But the Freepers are not.

I have nothing but unending respect for the jobs you are all ordered to do in service to our country. Never forget that we at DU who are anti-war are never anti-warrior.

Same here! My grandfather was in the navy and thinks Bush is such a moron. :P :patriot: (To you guys. Thanks for doing what I don't have to)

That's a campaign slogan with legs...

I think this is even better. You know, for the children.

It IS a good slogan, isn't it? Specially since it just happens to be true.

I'm not really anti-war IF all other possibilities are exhausted and/or we are legitimately attacked first. But I truly believe in appropriate response --not the killing of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in scorched earth policies.

BUT I AM ANTI-EMPIRE.

Here are some other favorites I've made and used:

I am much more concerned about people in this country who thinks it's a good idea to terrorize our judges, blow up clinics and target doctors who perform abortions than I am of any foreign terrorist organization.

I salute those who have served and have many friends and family who have done or are doing so now. And I salute those who are brave enough to recognize that threats to our democracy, safety and freedom can come equally from those inside our country as from those outside.

"I am much more concerned about people in this country who thinks it's a good idea to terrorize our judges, blow up clinics and target doctors who perform abortions than I am of any foreign terrorist organization."

So am I. Which doesn't mean that these kinds of sentiments don't concern me at all nor does it mean I don't find that concern not worth expressing.

Do you know fundies? I am afraid they have a head start in the "domestic arms" race? I am a fairly new subsciber to liberal politics being as I come from a fundie family. So, your puzzlement to the word 'domestic' being capitalized is a bit puzzling to me. For I would have to ignore the fact that civil war was only 145 or so years ago. Maybe I am just paranoid. So, do you know a fundie? Please do not take my inquiry as malicious. I am just curious, as you were. Peace.

mpyle27

This kind of binary thinking is more typical of conservatives -- also, no offense. Of course fundies worry me a million times more than liberals who make implicit calls to arms. Did I say that they don't?

Friend, I have been reading your previous posts and there seems to be a failure of communication. If my question, "Do you know a fundie?" is considered to be too personal, I apologize. I have a very slow computer but I am curious to check out www.jeffgannon.org. Peace!

The Bush* Administration and all it's little brain dead followers. I was Army 11Bravo and took a burst of three, then became 67November. Spent 1968 and 1969 in Vietnam 1970 in Germany. I have many memories on this memorial day. Many friends on the Wall.

if you think that they consitute "domestic enemies", does that mean you would support taking a rifle and popping a few freepers?

What I meant by my statement was to emphasize that the enemies to our Constitution don't always come from the outside.

You can support and defend the Constitution against domestic enemies in a whole of a lot of ways short of picking up a rifle.

You can logically, and quite legally VOTE them out of office, or work for their defeat. That is what I plan to do

and the reason I said what I said isn't because I think that you're the next McVeigh, but because I think that you should be aware of what that rhetoric suggests.

The context of your remark was your military pledge. The military doesn't fight its battles by "voting against" or benignly "working for the defeat" of its enemies. I know that's what YOU plan to do. But the "domestic enemies" in your military pledge doesn't refer to political opponents that you plan on "fighting" by voting against them.

Yes, of course the Constitution warns us that enemies don't always come from the outside. It's also a piece of consitutional rhetoric that has been misused more than probably any other. If there is ever true-blue fascism in America, its justification will be that exact rhetoric (not to mention McCarthy, etc). So invoking this "domestic enemy" phrase in general makes me nervous, whoever does it; it only makes me truly un-chill when conservatives do it, because they're the only ones around here with fascist tendencies... But liberals shouldn't adopt or associate with that rhetoric either -- because in a back-handed way that gives it life.

The founding fathers were right to have that phrase included. Take a look at this:

http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/fdtcards/Butler.html

Goldmund, I do not believe you understand the meaning of the oath of service. Yes, people can and do use words and phrases as political rhetoric. Words such as "patriotic" and "liberal" are being used by the right in a much different manner than what their true definitions are. When I took my military oath as an 18 year old kid, it didn't mean much more than that I would do my job in the Army. But reciting it now means so much more. If we are to survive this current attack on our Constitution by a group of self-serving, traitorous oligarchics, we must unite under such "rhetoric" as "defending the Constitution from domestic enemies". It has been a long time since I carried an M16, and you and I both know that defending the Constitution from "domestic enemies" does not mean taking up arms. What it does mean is contained in the following words:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

I do not believe we need to either abolish, alter or institute new government. I believe we need to remove from office and authority those individuals, and the groups behind them that ARE trying to abolish and alter OUR Constitution and the nation that so many have fought and died to protect.

What an eloquent post.
Welcome to DU. I see, you see, clearly, where we stand. This cancer in our government is truly bipartisan in nature. Our parasitic 'representatives' all feed from the same vein. The fact that Nancy Pelosi spoke at the recent AIPAC function tells me all I need to know about the democrats. They are never going to rock the boat hard enough to make a difference. The contrast between Galloway and any democrat in Washington was eye opening and inspiring! True change has to come from us. Nobody is going to save us from Dracula, we have to rise up and light the torches ourselves. This September in DC promises to be a massive civil repudiation of the lies, the torture and the greed. Bring some garlic!
Think American Tiananmen...

Welcome to DU!!!

:hi:

I give your reply a "10", and look forward to many more! :toast:

Career Prole, RoyGBiv and Algomas,

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm glad to be here, and I look forward to joining in on many more disscussions. This Memorial Day veterans thread has been awesome. It confirms what I've known all along - Liberals have got our nation's back!

and Welcome to DU! Glad you're here. Thanks for the wonderful post! Now get to work.

In a Civil War

Four in Reserve.

FTN.

My son is in now. A bubblehead. FTN from him as well.

Yep. I know what that means.

Used to see those tugs labeled YFTB

Your "effing" Tug Boat

Never Again Volunteer Yourself!

we are shaving with all my old boats with one exception...lol

USS James K. Polk ssbn645
USS Billfish ssn676
USS Woodrow Wilson(the woodfish) ssn624
USS Hunley as31
USS Tucson ssn770(plankowner)

subs are the best ride in the navy....small crews, good people, lots of travel and the best food on any class of navy ship...it had to be, the zeros ate the same food as the enlisted crew!!!

i'm an army brat...dad was a no-shit green beret who was in both korea('54) and 'nam('64-'66). my oldest brother was army too...82nd airborne in 'nam('68-'72). second oldest brother was also a paratrooper in the reagan era. i also have a niece and a nephew currently in Germany...my niece has already "toured" iraq once...she is regular army...my nephew is a reservist and a Houston firefighter on his first tour. we are very much a military family.....

thanks to all the other vets here and a special thanks to all those military wives, kids, family and friends who support them...

...well, "shore story" to be more accurate.

Back about 15 years ago, when I was in school in Orlando, one of the lead stories of the local news station was that a convenience store had been robbed. The anchor described the robber as a white male with short hair, and they thought that his initials were "FTN", since that was written on the toes of both his sneakers. At that moment, a person rushed over from off camera, whispered something into her ear and ran off. The news caster blushed and said that she was just told that "FTN" was probably not his initials, because they stood for a phrase that she couldn't repeat over the air...

(For the non squids out there, "FTN" is an abbreviation for "F- The Navy", where "F" is a versatile word that rhymes with "duck"...)

Was also nominated for both the U.S. Military and Naval Academies by none other than Dick (Head) Cheney.

Thank you very very much for serving this country. You guys are the best of us.

That goes for current military, vets and peace activists alike. I know a lot of people, like my dad, are both military vets and peace activists!

Avionics tech on B-52

Extra Cleanup Man.

RC-135V recon birds.

It had about 300 replies, and 40-50 percent were all service members.

one will be as well. :toast:

that those who talk the loudest and are all too ready to sacrifice other people's children for war are the biggest chicken shits when it comes to fighting them.
The freeps talk a good game, but a majority have never tasted battle, never lost a family member or good friend, seen a man killed before their eyes and have or know someone with deep rooted psychological damage from the ravages of war. Those are the most sobering aspects of battle and until you experience them you're hardly qualified to bang the drums of war.
My Dad used to tell me, "an empty drum makes the most noise" and in the case of war at least, he was 100% correct.
My hat is off to ALL veterans this weekend, no matter what their political persuasion, and let's all vow to never send another soldier into war needlessly. A human life for a tank of gas is NOT a good deal.
America's warriors, I salute you. :patriot:

...recently shared a story about a gun-ho republican (old high school) friend of hers.

An ex-high school cheerleader who was destine to be voted home coming queen her senior year (only she came in second to one of her best friends in a stunning upset). Couple of marriages, single now and like a half-dozen kids by 3 different fathers. Good Christian.

Rabid Bush-e who is constantly repeating the daily talking points. she "wholeheartedly supports the war and the president".

My friend (total progressive) asks at a party (regarding her 2 oldest who will be 18 soon) when are they signing up? And her reaction is so telling because she was so completely shocked, surprised by the question and said "Never! Oh my god!" this is the killer... "we'll go ahead and leave that up to someone else's kids." From the account I got she then sipped her Margarita and asked my friend how she liked her new house.

:puke:

:hi:

:patriot:

I too would like to add my thanks to all of you veterans for taking it upon yourselves to keep this country safe at (sadly these days, more often than not) personal costs to yourselves.

the soldier - a life so precious it must NEVER be squandered so some lazy, spoiled, greedy, chicken-shit fat-cat can get richer, or more powerful, or own more of somebody else's country and/or resources.

Thank you for your service! Honored to have you among us.

Now get to work. We especially need folks like YOU! :toast:

I would ask them all why that they are wasting there time posting things when they could be out there serving for old glory. To this day it boggles my mind that the people who want this war the most wont fight in it or pay for it with thier own money.
Ah Frack it repugs are disgusting.

It's interesting to me that the guys who get painted as softest on defense, Jimmy Carter and George McGovern, were both vets with one of them an actual war hero.

Active duty from 1993-1999, inactive reserves from 1999-2001. Both my children were born on a military base (Ft. Riley).

let me be the first to say the military spouses and children sacrifice a LOT - INDEED THEY DO.

No not those Special Services, the kind that entertain the troops. My mos was "Pianist" but, still, I did my time. Also, a Browns fan since the beginning.

Thanks for your service and (love the orange helmet!)

RD

What a great thread.

:eyes:

I'm the wife of a veteran who voted for Kerry in 2004, Gore in 2000, Clinton before that, etc.

He served in the US Army, active duty, from 1985 to 1997. His MOS was 11M. SSG (P) when he got out.

Got lucky with an assignment in the States.

:wow:

That is a great thread! Freepazoids are fuming with jealousy!

Recommended!!

Apparently, we DO love America, and are willing to sacrifice everything to protect this nation and our Constitution against all enemies foreign AND domestic.

from Jul 1991 - May 2003.

I've NEVER voted for a repuke and I never will!

...O...

1962 to 1965. One year in Colo., 2 years Germany. Vietnam was just starting. I remember some of the guys were talking about it.

Or exaggerating.

He said he was a U.S. Marine on his website.

Oh, wait... :evilgrin:

U.S. Navy
1970-1980
Aviation Fire Control Technician 2nd Class
Fighter Squadron Twenty-One aboard U.S.S. Ranger
A proud "Phantom Phixer"!

"I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC".

F4=Flying Brick!

I was in VF-171, the last F4 squadron in the Navy. Avionics. I still have dreams about climbing around on those "turtle backs"

Flying bricks is right...and that smoke trail! They could spell out messages to Dorothy over Oz! :D :toast:

Flying bricks is right...and that smoke trail! They could spell out messages to Dorothy over Oz! :D :toast:

USN homeported out of Rotten Groton.

My wife grew up in New London. I was raised in Bridgeport. That base is important.

But the 'rotten Groton' moniker ... just abour right :)

He thinks that the Navy has dumped so much toxic crap around the base that it would be more expensive to clean it up and abandon it than to continue to operate it.

had the best ice cold 15-cent draft beers back in the day. We would get gassed there for $1.50 then drive to the clubs for a night out of debauchery.

When I was there we had a lot of fun. I would speed run home to Boston on weekends, but during the week the nightclubs rocked.

And the pizza trucks outside the barracks.

-Hoot

OnEdit:

MarBar: He who enters covered here, shall buy the bar a round of cheer.

There are men working in the sail
Do not raise, lower, rotate or radiate from any mast or antenna
There are men working in the sail

Everyday at the start of the 4.00 watch .........

Sweepers, Sweepers.
Man your brooms
Clean all decks, ladders and passageways
Give the Ship a clean sweepdown fore and aft
Sweepers, man your Brooms

It was almost like a Gregorian Chant, but from a guy with a cigar-muddled voice that sounded like 80-grit sandpaper on steel.

with a "thick" New York accent. He sometimes got flustered on the 1MC.

Here's how he passed "sweepers" one day.

"Sweepers, sweepers, man yo' brooms,...ah fuckit man"

next words you heard over the 1MC were from the XO.

"CDR ______ lay to XO's cabin"

.....i had been in long enough at that point to avoid staying on base that first weekend, so myself and some buds from san diego ment to misquamicut beach in rhode island to spend the weekend. i am from the gulf coast area of texas, so when i saw all the people having fun in the water, i jumped right in......and then right back out again after realizing the water temp...on april 29th...was 51 degrees....

i can not count the times i staggered away from the marbar after a few hundred rounds of darts and pool......

1 word for the groton base bars....groto-potamus...if you were there, you know what i'm talking about......

My dad's family was in Bridgeport. All I remember is Seaview Avenue and a bar they used to go to called the Red Mill : )

Yup, that was in the East End. That's where I grew up. Seaview Ave was pretty much the western edge of the area, the city line where Bridgeport met Stratford being the opposite side. All in all, about 10 or so blocks.

Not in for long though, got out before the Gulf War.

Screaming Eagles

56-59 I'm impressed

on behalf of my brother in loving memory. He got killed in Viet Nam at Hamburger Hill in '69. He was a humantarian who did not believe in shooting people even if they were the enemies (he wrote that in one of his last letters from Viet Nam.)

I joined the Army for college money during the recession caused by the OPEC Oil Embargo.

It was a very different Army then - most of the folks I knew smoked marijuana or, in Germany, hashish. Post Vietnam, very little drug testing was done and if you were unlucky enough to get caught, you just went into rehab for a few weeks and then went back to duty. Let's call it the All-High-All-Volunteer Army.
:hippie:

Germany
Panama
Korea
Saudi Arabia

but since I was in the Band there was a pretty small chance I would ever see any action, and I'm not about to put myself in the same category as those who actually put their lives on the line.

To those Vets, I salute you and thank you for your service!

You were a rifleman first and a bandmember second. I salute you as well!

Semper Fi
Ann Arbor

:)

Survivor 2/12 Inf. 25th Inf. Div 65-6 sun and fun capitol SE asia.

:hi:

from an Army brat.

Captain, AUS, Retired (for partial disability after 4 1/2 yrs. in)

I was the medical NCO from Feb-July, 1970 at Camp Eagle. I also regularly spent weeks at a time on Firebases Jack and Ripcord during that period. Did I ever treat you, sir?

Second, none of that "sir" stuff -- been a long time, plus I started as an enlisted draftee (volunteered for the draft).

You probably didn't treat me, but you may have treated others from my unit (2/501 Inf.), as that Feb-July period was one of heavy casualties, and my company was overrun 3 times during those months.

I got hit in early Feb and was dusted off to 85th Evac at Phu Bai. My little brother was a personnel clerk at Division HQ; they pulled him off bunker guard that evening, read him the army telegram to my family, and drove him to the 85th to see me. I spent 2 days there, 3 days at 95th Evac, a week in ICU in Japan, then 18 months at Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco.

You might have known my platoon medic, "Doc" Wolfe. He was new in-country when I was wounded. When I got back to Letterman I wanted to let my platoon know I'd survived. I don't know where I got the wisdom, but instead of writing to one of the guys i knew best, I addressed my letter to my "cherry" medic, Doc Wolfe. Good thing, as they'd been told I had died -- and Doc was already blaming himself. My letter to Doc closed with, "P.S.: Your 'bedside manner' sucks!"

Twenty years later, Doc Wolfe located me. He still had my letter, and told me it probably saved his life. I understood exactly what he meant. You guys -- men and women who served as medics, cospsmen, nurses and doctors -- have a special place in my heart. Not just for taking care of me, though there is that (and it was a medic or nurse at Phu Bai that literally saved my life). But for bearing that burden of exposure to horrendous carnage, of awesome responsibility, an often, the burden of undeserved guilt that comes with it.

Doc and I continue to stay in touch. He works in the prosthetics unit of a VA hospital, these days working with a lot of casualties coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. And, I should add, Doc is another liberal dem who supported John Kerry.

I too volunteered for the draft and the Army decided I'd make a good combat medic. While going through the two month AIT at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, I was pulled aside and offered the opp of an additional year of med training as Clinical Specialist, but I would have to re-enlist for an additional one year and four months. I did so, figuring the longer I could stay in U.S. the better (the Paris peace talks were then just starting).

I spent all of 1969 at Fort Bragg being trained as what was then the Army's version of a physician's assistant earning the MOS of 91C. Combat medics from Fort Sam were MOS 91B which is what I'm thinking Wolfe must have been. No, don't think I knew him, but I only remember faces now.

Arrived at Camp Eagle in Feb of 1970. Part of my job was keeping the 91B's of 2nd, 506th equipped with med supplies and running the daily sick call at the dispensary. The one doctor and I took turns rotating each week out to the firebases to work with the two 91B's assigned to FB Jack and FB Ripcord.

Like both doctors and nurses (and unlike you and the 91B's) my 91C MOS excluded me from ever venturing beyond secured perimeters with a squad of infantry assigned to directly engage the enemy. Went through quite a few mortor attacks out on the firebases and several rocket attacks at Camp Eagle, but never the horror of an actual firefight.

Six months into my tour, the M.D. comes back from his week at firebase and tells me field sanitation ain't up to par at Ripcord. We'd been losing medics at record rate then and two newly transferred-in seasoned medics, both close to end of their year duty, weren't keeping up with burning out the shit cans. Understandable, I guess, not one of us in the medical corps enjoyed field sanitation, but you had to do it.

I fly out there two days later for my week rotation, specifically to check they have properly burned out the shitters as the M.D. had ordered. Of course, they hadn't. ("Hell, we only got two more weeks and there's four more inches of space in each can!!) Well, we get to laughing and joking around and the going-away gift I decide to give these two short-timers is NOT one last shit-burning job. I tell 'em I'll do it to save their military careers (which was, I'll bet you remember, Pinboy, a howling funny joke back then).

Anyways, three of us truck over to the 'ole two-holer on the farside of Ripcord, laughing and joking the whole way. At six months in-country, I'd helped in more than a few of these field sanitation exercises, but had never confronted two cans as full as these were - true to rumor, just inches from overflowing. After roundly cursing my new buds, I hauled the cans out from under the seating structure and begin mixing in the diesel and gasoline to ignite and burn the waste.

The mix wouldn't light. Added more fuel, tried again, still no light off. This went on for a little while, adding more fuel to the mix each time. Finally decide to drag both cans over to concertina perimeter and dump them down the slope... Charlie can crawl through the stuff if he wants to sneak in. Now the cans were finally empty, but the smell coming up from the slope was a little potent to say the least.

I then decided to light toilet paper balls and throw them down on the lava flow of shit, diesel and gasoline I'd created on that slope. Sure enough, the TP balls sparked a burn in each area of the flow where they landed, but the fire just wouldn't spread over the whole flow.

That's when I made the good-faith, fateful decision that probably saved my life. Shirtless on that hot, sunny day, I decided to throw a little gasoline over the concertina wire, onto the flow and its several burning pockets to definitively catch the whole damn mess on fire.

I knew full well throwing gasoline on several small fires would result in a hell of a flash-back and I was prepared for that. I didn't expect the explosion that resulted. I was immediately engulfed in wind-driven flames and even though I was already running away from the fire I burned off all my hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. Almost immediately when I got out of the flames, the blisters starting forming over my back, arms and face. Deep second-degree burns over 35% of my body. Luckily, my pants and boots didn't catch.

The two B's immediately hustled me up to our aid station, they started the IV and we began going over how to surgically open an airway. Severe burns to the face, neck and upper torso can close off an airway with the same fluid that fills the blisters. All the tissues begin swelling. Part of my advanced training was a week working in a burn ward and learning advanced treatment of burn patients. I was giving my two buds the fastest course in burn treatment they'd ever have. They called in the Medevac and while we waited, we kept talking until I slipped into shock. Kind of a blur from there, but knew I needed some doctors real fast.

Was flown to 18th Surgical unit at Phu Bai. Later evac-ed to Da Nang, then burn ward at Camp Zama, Japan (that's the hospital you went to) and then also, like you, to Letterman General. Was in the burn ward of Letterman for couple of months till I finally healed up into these huge scabs which took months more to eventually slough off.

That's my less-than-heroic story, but, yeah, I was there.

Final side note to this whole story. Having returned from 'Nam unassigned to another duty station, I was hence assigned, naturally, to Letterman General. I was barracked at the Presidio in the enlisted barracks with the guys who worked in personnel. They didn't have room for me (unexpected assignee) in the medical corps barracks.

In another fateful break, my personnel clerk roommate did a routine pull of my military record and discovered that when I had re-upped for that extra year and four months there was a glitch... a big glitch. While I had, indeed, signed all the papers for my re-up in 1968, the Army neglected to swear me in for that additional re-enlistment. Hence, I was only legally required to serve my original two year enlistment and was already four months past that obligation.

Oh, yeah. The CO called me in and they tried to talk me into staying, but, by then, I had had enough of the military life. I was discharged from active duty to active reserve a couple of weeks later and served out the rest of my time on active and inactive reserve uneventfully.

Like me, I'm sure you must look back sometimes and wonder at the vagaries of fate. Why you, me and Doc Wolfe came out alive and so many others are now honored on The Wall. Makes me shake my head sometimes and sometimes too, drink myself to sleep.

Best at ya, Pinboy.

Marine from 74-76. Saw no combat - just stationed in S. Calif, Oki, and S. Calif again.

3 years and out. But never regretted the time.

Aerographers Mate 3rd Class
2 years Active, pursuing LDO status or STA-21

Stationed aboard the USS Worden (CG-18) out of Pearl Harbor 1985-1988

Stationed SIMA S.F. (Alameda NAS) 1988-1990

and a full-time Army civilian from 91-99.

98C (Russian), retrained as a 96B in the Reserves. I was an E5 when I got out, and a GS-13 as a civilian. All stateside - I was lucky to be strategic, not tactical.

I'll be marching with the Veterans for Peace in our local Memorial Day parade.

Stationed in Germany and Libya. I grew up quick those four years.

The number of vets on their list has gone up by a huge amount. They've got 40+ odd folks on their list now. :rofl:

...should outnumber DUs 100 to 1. And that really pisses me off. They have hijacked "patriotism" and led America to believe Dems/liberals are all wussy "hate-America" devils.

And frankly, I never cared what those bottom-feeders think.

these numbers shouldn't be surpising--Kerry versus Bush pretty much summed it up.

:hi:

our fathers around the world, or stayed home praying for mail during VietNam, served also.

MOS 72E20 (Communications Center Specialist -- AKA "Flying Fingers of Death"), United States Army Communications Command (now 9th Signal Command), Fort Monroe, VA, 1974-76.
John
It is now 22 days, 18 hours and 47 minutes to FUNDAY. All are invited.

Over 250 air combat missions, most over the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night in Laos.

Sorry, friend, couldn't resist. :hi:

........ just pointing out the lies that were spewed against our brother, John Kerry. Goes to show whch side truly supports the troops.

Don't forget they did a little bit to Mr. Clark as well. A four-star general. And now they're getting on McCain. :eyes: I may not be a McCain fan but why do that to someone? It's heartbreaking.

McCain, Cleland, Clark, Gore, Kerry, and maybe Hagel will come in for some of it, too.

Yeah, different sides of the spectrum, but all vets and deserve to **at least** have that honored.

I was at a forward base 100 meters inside Cambodia. (I think it was near the Parrot's Beak.)

19kilo
M1A1 Tanker (Armor Crewman)
Germany
E1-E4
HONORABLE DISCHARGE

fuck you sorry assed redneck freepers. bring.it.on.

here in San Diego.
Can I call you "Shipmate"?

Shitin' Kitten ;-) :toast:

You have served this country with honor and distinction.

My thanks and my deepest respect are yours.

:patriot:

Thank you for the job you do, and Thank you for posting on DU!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1081070

BOSSHOG
Tue Feb-03-04 12:12 PM
A Question for my Fellow Veterans

I knew it was there somewhere but had no idea where.

I loved that thread.

PBR (patrol boat- river) pilot.

:hi:

I lucked out with a student deferement til '70, then lucked out with a hi number in the lottery. My best friend wrecked his knee on his one and only ski trip to Mt. Baldy, with me, and when he volunteered to Pendleton, a DI fucked him up and popped out his knee. Dan got discharged for the bad knee, and no Vietnam
Another friend, Don Kipp, was killed right off in Vietnam, what a waste.
My uncle Fred Ramos survived the Phillipines in WWII, and re-upped during the Korean conflict and was killed. He was the oldest, and bravest.
My wifes' dad was a paratrooper in WWII, her mom Army Nurse stationed in France. Both survived.
Thanks again, for your service, TomInTib!

:dem: :hi: :) :kick:

You do us proud.

The chicken hawks should be ashamed.

:toast:

My son served in Afghanistan and my DIL in Iraq. Every generation of my family has served as far back as the War of Independence. So Freeps, "KISS MY ASS!"

He and most of his unit - he's a CO HATE * et al. Why freeps think they "own" the military is beyond me.

the military is beyond me as well, since it appears none of them are in it. Isn't there a name for people like that? People who want other people to go to war at the drop of a hat, but are afraid to fight it themselves? I can't think of the word right now, but Cheney's one with all his draft-dodging, Bush is one, for the same reason and the Freeps seem to follow in the footsteps of their leaders. I guess rotten apples don't fall far from the tree after all.

Your son is a far greater American than Cheney or Bush could ever be.

And, thanks, I know my son puts Bush and Cheney to shame!

I figured you knew your son put those two to shame, but I wanted you to know how highly others regard him, as well.

Dumbest thing I ever did was to join up.

Got out in '65 when I refused to extend my enlistment to go and kill people in Vietnam.

But, the experience woke me up, made me a socialist, anti-military, anti-war activist.

one that I know quite well too, my friend. ;-)

US Army Reserve, 1996-2004
Conscientious Objector
member, Iraq Veterans Against the War
co-founder www.peace-out.com conscientious objector support network

USAF 1979 -1983 Plus Reserve Time.

Sat in the dorm watching Ronnie Ray-gun pimp his Star Wars program while the dozens of dozens of nuclear missiles hissed in their silos and wondered... what the hell am I doing here, A personnel specialist and what, can't we kill the world fast enough as it is?

Enlisted to see the world, was stuck in Missouri for a full four year enlistment.

Chris Perry

We still have many young, scared looking kids coming in everyday. Some look like they are questioning their enlistment.

I lost an uncle in Korea, he survived the Philipines and Malaria in WWII. A school friend, Don Kipp was killed in '68 in Vietnam.
My wifes dad was a paratooper in WWII, her mom an army lieutent nurse in France, both survived. I went to Cal Poly on a student deferrment until they stopped, and got a hi draft lottery number, and never joined.
Thank you for your sacrafice.

Both served as NCO's active duty. Both of us are proud of our service to the country. MKJ

Active Army in 1972 Reserves/Guard since then.
Desert Storm 1991
post 9-11 guarding the border (what a joke)
Iraq 2003

Son-in-law's Army Cpt serving in Iraq now.

n/t

1985-1991

United States Air Force
3 Years, 3 Months
Medical Discharge, -> Later Hon Discharge
Disabled Vet

Most memorable experience: I road on Air Force One, well kinda, Clinton was not on it, we were taking it somewhere to pick it up...

My husband served in the U.S. Army from 1963-1966. He was a photographer for a military intelligence unit (yes, I know--an oxymoron!), stationed in Germany at Oberusel near Frankfort, Spec-5 at discharge from active duty. He was a Vietnam-era vet but just missed actual Vietnam service by a few months, a fact for which he was grateful for the rest of his life.

Journalist, photographer, base newspaper editor

Now deceased, he headed the AFVN in Saigon. Home of the “Good Morning, Vietnam” DJ. I found a web page yesterday with pix!

http://www.geocities.com/genewentz2003/

from another page with this pic:

Ray Nash on the USS New Jersey.

and Alabama National Guard 95-96

:thumbsup:

US Army
10 years (so far)
Iraq War veteran

Infantry, then Medical Corps.

Scwabach, West Germany. (When there was such a thing)
Shariden Tank crewman, 74-76.

Me too.... I had just left before you got there. I was a turret mech on those same Sheridans! What a small world!

I remember them trying the old "Go get a track pad tightener" on me...
That happened to another guy at knox, so I just went over to the service club for a couple of hours...
Pretty country though.

....bubble extractors for the gunners quadrent.... but then I bought them a beer and/or a Cognac downtown. (Now I am the newbie here at DU be kind please). What a beautifully town Schwabach, I bicycled everywhere around that area. :) I posted elsewhere in this thread how I still get pangs when I read about someone from the 1st. A.D. getting hit over in Iraq....btw I was in both Hq. and Alpha companies from 72 to 73.

Stationed everywhere from New Jersey to Japan.

Anybody cruising around the SF Valley on Friday nights, give my dad and his crew a honk at Ventura & Laurel Canyon.

along with another DUer, "Kerrygoddess". I'll look for your dad next time I'm out on the corner.

Love & Peace, Pinboy

Grandfather served in WWI
Uncle served in WWII... submariner

Dad was Air Force from 1960 to 1981. Grandfather served in WWII : )

I think DU has hundreds, if not thousands, of Veterans.

Tahiti Nut sticks in my mind because his handle is so, well, colorful.

Also--obviously--Saigon68. (Haven't seen him posting for a while.)

:shrug:

And my hero.

75th Ranger Regiment :headbang:

I love our military and would fight myself for a just cause.:patriot:

Freepers are posers....:scared:

He's in C company, 1st bat.

Had the mindset of a diehard lifer, but now can't wait to leave in his first term.

and I think we have the same syndrome happening but I won't speak for him.

A lot of good kids have been screwed by the military they once revered. A lot of good kids have seen their buddies die for greed.

Rangers are well armed and outfitted. My heart goes out to the kids and others over there who are scrounging for armor. How can those people ever trust their country after being forgotten and left to die?

US AirForce Minot AFB ND E-3 got out in 1985

after a couple of years in the Army, was there late 1971-73. Saw the asshole who did that to me on TV lately. His name is Montgomery, C. Meigs. He is now a retired General who gives war evaluations in the news now and then. His great grand-pa started the U.S Army Corps of Engineers. My first job after this character got me booted was with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. I found out later how "happy" that made him. BTW: I still feel the pain when I read about someone from the 1st. Armored Division getting killed over in Iraq, even after all these years....

He had a bad knee from one trip to Mt. Baldy skiing! In Pendleton a di fucked him up and popped out the knee, so DISCHARGE and no Vietnam.
I got a student deferment til '70, then lucked out with a hi lottery number. A friend Don Kipp got killed in Vietnam in '68, right off the bat, what a great loss.
Wife's dad was a paratrooper in Pacific, her mom an Army Lietenant Nurse in France and both survived, obviously. My Uncle Fred Ramos survived the Phillipines (WWII), malaria and then re-upped for Korea and got killed by hostles.
I am so done with war and killing.
Thanks for your service! what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

USS Yosemite AD 19 1969 to 1971
USS Albany CG10 1971 to 1973

veteran and yes they vote democratic like myself..

:patriot:

Did not go to Viet Nam but was in on the mission Bold Shot Brimfire, the name of the mission to evacuate Viet Nam. Joined the AF before being drafted,(#15). Don`t regret it.

#26.

Took oath the day before the draft notice arrived in the mail.

Closest I got to VN was TDY at Hickam for 2 weeks when they were bringing the C-5's with orphans over. Put them on cots in the base gym and it put a crimp in my basketball.

anymore, I'll do it for him. He was in the Navy and Reserves.

Airborne, Ranger, CIB

Still in the IRR and will probably get called up because the chickenshits that voted for Bush are too yellow to join up.

USS Pandemus - ARL 15
USS Adroit - MSO-509

MineLant
Wooden Ships and Iron Men

I posted the following a while ago in another, similar, thread ... around Veteran's day:

I'm a Navy Vet - regular and reserve - from 1967 to 1975. Vietnam era, but I fortunate not to have been to Nam. E-6 (Second Class Petty Officer) when I got out.

I get proud and weepy on Veteran's Day. Proud because I went when it seemed the right thing to do. Weepy because of all the shit the vets have had to take. Some even on this board seem to want to criticize today's active duty military - for voting for Bush and even for simply being in Iraq.

Treating vets shitty is nothing new. When they came back from Vietnam, they came home by commercial carrier in onesies and twosies. No welcome. No warmth. No thanks. (The notion that they were spit upon appears to have long ago been debunked). Then they were pushed aside by the VA. It took Max Cleland and Jimmy Carter (both vets) to fix that.

My Dad was a WWII vet. North Africa, Italy, France, then Germany at the end. He came home, and like all the rest of his generation of vet, married, got a job, had kids, and lived his life. But now, where he's buried, we can't even get permission for a plaque on his grave to signify his service. Catholic cemetery in CT. My mother, before she died, too, worked hard to get that changed. The Diocese of Bridgeport. The city. The state. Nada. Finger pointing. Call this one. Call that one. I'm sorry, ma'am, we can't help you here. Try there.

Bullshit.

Do you realize that Vietnam Vets got a memorial before the WWII vets did? Greatest Generation? Yeah, whatever. Now move along ...... no loitering.

And so I hold my head proud.

And I weep (quite literally, even as I am typing this).

The current AWOL fucker occupying MY government's house is just like the assholes my mother dealt with to her death. Disrespectful, ungrateful, uncaring, unconcerned.

God Bless you all, My Brothers and Sisters!]/]

<edit to add earlier post>

Mine was drafted into WWII, too. The military is something he wouldn't have chosen (and he hated basic training, he said) but he served his time and never questioned his duty to country. He was orphaned as a child and had no money, but the G.I. bill was a blessing.

After being away from the piano for years, he auditioned at Yale school of music in his uniform (having no money even money for a suit), and got in. He got a Master's there, he met my Mom there, he won fellowships and other awards there, and it launched the rest of his life.

(We have another friend who, out of a sense of duty, enlisted as a Marine during Vietnam, and looks the part -- 6'+ tall and muscular -- and he used his G.I. bill to go to ballet school! He became a successful professional ballet dancer, and is proud to be "probably the only Marine who went straight to ballet school." He was also quite the ladies' man, so he loved his career.)

It's chilling to think of what BushCo have done to the military, in what he's commanded them to do.

What have they done to that sense of "duty to country" that my father and our friend felt, when we now have a war that's not about our country?

What have they done to the trust that the military is sent into war only as a last resort?

What have they done to the trust that their country would stand behind them, when their Commander in Chief proposes cuts in veterans' benefits to afford tax cuts for the rich?

What have they done to the idea that the nation would be behind them, waging the battle through sacrifice at home (not yellow magnets)?

What have they done to the trust that the US military adheres to international law and Geneva Conventions, and thus its soldiers aren't routinely ordered to commit acts that are morally and legally wrong?

What have they done to the belief that the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs will stand behind the soldiers as long as they carry out orders, when the blame for Abu Ghraib is laid at the feet of the lowest levels possible?

Sorry... tangent. :rant:

no not what they do.