The Army replaced all of Mr. Bouncy's medals. He got them today.

He only requested his Purple Heart. When he got it, in Desert Storm, he was in an Army hospital in Germany, barely conscious, when it was pinned onto his hospital gown. He knew what it was, but couldn't really speak.

Several hours later, he woke up to a tugging on his gown. He saw a medic taking the Purple Heart off and walking off with it. He tried to yell out, but he could only grunt.

They never found out who took it.

He finally got around to asking the Army for a replacement when all the vile Smearies were lying about Kerry. It bothered him immensely.

So they showed up tonight. And they replaced ALL of them, even the ones he already has. But it was the first time I ever saw his Purple Heart. It has a little oak leaf pin on the ribbon, because he got it twice.

He was showing all of them to our daughter, explaining what each of them was for. But I noticed he was careful not to glorify the military or anything he did. Later he told me it's because he really doesn't want her to ever serve in the military.

Sorry this is kind of serious for the lounge, but just wanted to share. He put them away in a closet. I think it was kind of anti-climactic.

:patriot:

and please tell Mr. BB this vet thanks him for his service and sacrifice. :thumbsup:

I want to have my grandfather's medals that he earned in WWII replaced. I would love to have them in time for his interment (late June) but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Mine are mostly pukes that I have already sent rather hateful letters. Maybe I will ask my brother (former Army) to contact them instead.

Have your brother CALL the congressmen/senator's office. Ask immediately if the representative has a staffer who specializes in military affairs (if they sit on the HASC or SASC, or any of the subcomittees--Mil appropriations, eg--they do, guaranteed). Tell your brother to identify himself by his rank, and state, right out of the box, that he isn't calling about the war, he is calling about legislative assistance to appropriately honor a deceased "greatest generation" veteran, and time is of the essence. Write down names of anyone he talks to. Immediately follow up with an email, because they'll want something in writing, so have him get all the email addresses he might need during the phone call, and also a fax number so he can fax any required documentation to the Congressman's office.

The request will get trotted over to OLA, and it is off to the races from there--but get a move on. It will jump through five hoops at least, with a three day lag minimum, not counting weekends, at each stop.

If they arrive on time and in good order, have him send a thank you note to both the legislator and the people who delivered the goods. Makes their day, and if he has to go to the well again for any other reason, they just might remember him.

Edit, sorry, took longer than I thought. I just asked him for clarification.

it should be plenty of time. My grandfather passed away in January. He was cremated and will have his ashes interred next to his wife at the end of June. I would love to have his medals there at the service.

Maybe they can since they have already been contacted about the service.

It looks like pretty simple, but it says it can take up to a year to get them.

All my grandpa's medals from WWII and Korea have been misplaced. But he's not really interested in getting replacements. He said he'd just order them from some Veteran's magazine instead of getting the free replacement from the Navy.

He served in N. Africa and the European fronts as a Ranger and he earned quite a few medals, according to his discharge papers. But he never would talk about war. The only thing he ever said was that war was awful. He did state about two weeks before he passed away that he was proud to serve his country then but would be repulsed to serve it now under this presidency.

This is the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal--Saudi Arabia. It's much prettier in person, too.

That is stunning. That just brought a tear to my eye.

I really want to see my grandfather's medals now. I hope that we can get them sooner or later. Last time I tried the request was "lost" (at least that's what they told me).

justice AT all.

I hope you get to see your grandfather's. Request was lost??? I would ask again and tell them a funeral service is coming up.

He served in the 90's-maybe it would help if it came from another person that was former military (might take it more seriously).

I know that he has a few purple hearts (before the war everyone thought that he would become a professional baseball player but he almost lost his feet d/t gangrene) and I think a Silver Star (if I remember properly-I need to look it up). Also something about multiple campaigns and he had some marksmen awards. Plus, he was a POW.

Most of it was from discharge records. I did find his name mentioned a few books about Rangers as a part of the Third Battalion rolls. I think that he was taken as a POW at Anzio-he mentioned it once or twice but would never get into details. He always said that he didn't want to talk about it-he had enough killing to last ten lifetimes and he just wanted to live now, not in the past.

and would never talk about it, except for one time when he was drunk and he told me he would fly so low he could SEE the people he was about to bomb. That was the only time I ever saw him cry.

His gunner was killed, as was another member of his crew. His gunner was his best friend.

have been in combat do not want to talk about it.

my father-in-law earned his Purple Heart at Heartbreak Ridge in Korea. MrMatt & I were married over 6 years before I found out that little tid-bit. He's never talked about it; and has no desire to. I've asked a few questions, just because I'm interested in documenting the family history, but he's not very forthcoming. So, I respect his wishes and don't bring it up any more.

we gather their stories. The Library of Congress has a program to collect them.

-Hoot

He's got some serious stuff, then. Let us know if and when you get them. That will be really cool for your family.

We contacted them already for his service. I think that they said that it is called a "Lone Eagle" or something like that. I will look around for the link sometime. It was the saddest thing that I have ever read. I know that they will do a rollcall at the funeral and that they will say his name last.
It's going to be pretty hard to handle.

...and make sure that he states the honors are for a FORMER POW/Purple Heart Veteran who needs the Congressman's help, in addition to the rest of it all.

Let him know to lay in on REAL THICK. If he gets the least bit of static or insufficient enthusiasm, he should tell them he will contact Senator McCain, whose POW bona fides are well established.

No one wants to be shamed into moving their ass by McCain, trust me. McCain used to work at OLA, there may be a few old fuckers over there who still tremble when they hear his name!

him this post.

in this part of his life. I've thought, though it seems a little morose, that I would like to have them after he passes on.

He doesn't answer my questions with any detail. He joined the Navy before Pearl Harbor was attacked, when he was just 17. He served in the Pacific. He talks about how he was at all the battles. He says, "we always knew when we were going to invade, because the night before we were served the Christmas dinner."

He talks about being called up for the Korean war. They called one morning and said to be in Houston by 4pm. He says, "Guess where I ate supper?" "San Diego."

He'll talk about how cold it was in Korea. About the cheap clothes he got in China. The souvenirs he picked up right before his discharge.

This is one area of my grandpa that's all mine. I'm the only one that's interested, that asks questions.

He had one semester left of school and never went back. He would joke about how he could maneuver any type of land. He also used to joke about how he became a Ranger. He was at Jump School and hated it. He said that they were asking for volunteers to join the Rangers. He thought that they were talking about forest rangers and he gladly volunteered, just to get out of jump school. He always said that he was in for the rudest awakening of his life when he found out what he got himself into.

I asked him why he went into the Navy as opposed to the Army or Marines. The Navy guy came by the house first. He was dirt poor. Lived on a rice farm in south Louisiana. He'd never heard English until he went to school. They all spoke French. He dropped out after the 3rd grade, because he was needed on the farm.

He really just joined the Navy "see the world."

It only took a few months. I had to send them copies of his separation papers.
Edited to add:
They even engraved his name on the back of some of them.

My grandpa still has his original discharge papers.

But I don't think he realizes that they're not just for him, they're for the family.

Karma's gonna get him. He's probably gonna earn the one he stole this time round in the sandbox. What a shameful thief.

I'm appalled at that sort of behavior, frankly.

all people in the military and I was aghast that ANY service member would do that. But he assured me the Army has its share of sleazoids just like any other organization.

:-(

Wannabees are like vampires.

Reality is, war should never be glorified... every so often the kids ask (not ours, we don't have any, and the parrots don't ask), so when we tell our stories we never glorify them

From a military household, a sharp salute

You have the coolest personal stories. :hug:

thank you, Mr. Bouncy.

how did you feel about seeing them, BB?

seen it. But he told me not to touch the ribbon, because oils in your skin turns it gray over time. So I got to look, not touch. ;-)

I mentioned having them put in a shadow box for display and he said no. He just wants to tuck them away. :shrug:

I only wish we could get more liberals in the professional officer corps.

I've watched & read Seven Days in May too many times I guess.

But yeah, THAT would be nice, wouldn't it?

He knew a lot of Democrats who were NCOs and lower rank.

College, and 1/2 the liberal media for one branch of the armed forces.

on edit...Dems in the NCO ranks might keeep the line troops from enforcing illegal orders.(tinfoil hat off)

Good trade, I agree!

BlueCollar is at work but I think he'd like this story, I'll pass it on. Thanks so much for sharing! :hi:

I didn't know BlueCollar is a vet. :hi:

He's a Cold War Veteran, the eary 80's, he showed me his honorable discharge. We both wonder why "W" can't seem to find his.... LOL

I mean who doesn't have their honorable discharge certificate? Or their DD 214? Damn, that's like the Holy Grail of your service.

BlueCollar only had to hunt around his office for a few minutes. This guy running our country can't find his papers? Whata dipshit... Anyway, so happy that Mr. Bouncy could get his Purple Heart... When I saw those idiots at the RNC wearing purple hearts on band-aids, it really made my blood boil. Thank you to Mr. Bouncy....

Angry crying. I remember the day after I saw those convention goers with those band-aids, I screamed all the way to work in my car. I just couldn't take that, it felt like a personal slap to everyone who ever got one, including my father in law (three in Vietnam) and my grandfather in WWII.

I don't think I've ever been so angry. So disgusted. And I'll NEVER forget that, never.

Who the real traitors of this country are. Who really has absolutely no values and morals. Who's not supporting are troops and considers their lives "just a casualty of war". God, it makes me furious!!!

I rage even today. They so demeaned those who served and who were wounded and they diminished the valorous soldier and tried to make him (the collective 'him')a fool. Disgusting. Yet, I say, hail, hail to your heroes! Dana ; )

Nothing that has happened in the last five years of national shame and degradation has made me angrier than the sight of those smug privileged bastards and their bandaids. My father has a Purple Heart that he earned somewhere in Lorraine in 1944. Those venomous pigfuckers demean his service and the sacrifice of everyone who has defended our country. They are what he was fighting against. I only wish I could adequately express my contempt for that pool of human sewage.

What a sweet story. He sounds like a great dad. And husband. :hug:

He is. :blush: I'm blushing on his behalf, LOL!

I said I wanted to hold it (the Purple Heart), asked permission. He took it out and said "there's a place on the back where you can get your name engraved."

I held it (it's heavier than I thought) turned it over, and saw "For Military Merit" and then it has his name already engraved on there.

I said "Hey, it's already on there."

When I handed it back to him, he got a bit choked up and stared at it a long time.

Then put it back away. I think he's truly happy now.

But he better never run for office as a Democrat. ;-)

I am so happy that Mr. BB's medals were replaced. Whoever took his Purple Heart deserves.....I won't say it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

But we long ago stopped being angry over that. It's done. The guy has a medal he never earned.

Thanks for your post....

Thanks him for me please!!!!! For his service

because you obviously are happy when he's happy.

And I'm glad to hear you're happy, with Oak Leaf Cluster.

Redstone

When I posted this thread, I thought "eh, it really won't get much notice."

Then I almost deleted it, because I thought it was boring and no one would really be interested and I felt slightly embarrassed for posting it.

And then look at this. Y'all are just completely fantastic people, all of you.

Ouch. Make that double ouch.

My dad has all of his in a shadow box, but then he served 30 years. No purple heart though. Dad had a non-combat job.

You know what's really weird?

And I'm whispering now: he's NEVER told me what happened to get that second Purple Heart. It bothered me for a long time that he wouldn't talk about it (he recovered in Germany and then in Walter Reed and I couldn't afford to fly out to see him in all that time).

But nowdays, it's been so long, I figure he'll tell me someday if he wants to and if he doesn't, I guess I have to respect that.

Remember when all that stuff happened? The ground war? And Schwartzkopf (however you spell that) went on TV and showed what all the different divisions were doing, where they were going?

Well, he NEVER talked about the 1st Cav. Never. They didn't even have a little symbol on the map he was using. I watched the whole thing and yelled out "WHAT ABOUT THE FIRST CAV?"

Turns out the 1st Cav was in southern Iraq, in an area they weren't exactly "supposed" to be. They were fighting Iraqis. I know he was the driver in a Bradley.

That's it. :shrug: I guess he just doesn't ever want to talk about it.

I'm wondering if there's even a mention on the official write-up. Hmmm. I know tactical nuclear artillery shells were flown into the area. A friend of mine was on the plane that carried them in.

I'm still pissed about that whole war for a selfish reason. It caused the friend referenced above to miss my college graduation. I graduated August 10, 1990. Fucking Saddam! x(

He invaded Kuwait on me and Mr. Bouncy's first date. We were in the car and he heard something on the radio and turned it up and I was so stupid, I was sitting there saying "What's Kuwait?" But he knew it wasn't good news for him, potentially.

You know, I never thought about finding the official write-up. I'm sure it's described there. But on thinking about it, it would feel kinda creepy, like going behind his back. I think I'll leave it alone. I honestly think I know about the SECOND injury, the one that landed him in a hospital in Germany for a while. I think the first one must have been something else.

Eh. I don't think about it much. He's in one piece. :-) And thankfully, doesn't seem to have that Gulf War Syndrome thing.

You'll do more harm than good if you go pokin' around. I think Mr. B either feels he's protecting you or he was wounded in the ass or something. ;-)

It could be classified I guess.

I'd have seen a scar there, no?
:rofl:

Meaning a vehicle accident or something preventable. It could just be embarrassing to him is my point I guess.

Yeah, I suppose you would have seen a scar on his butt.

a Purple Heart. It has to somehow involve "the enemy."

Based on the very obscure things he has said, I think he shot one or more Iraqis and that bothers him very much. I think that might have been when it happened. And talking about that incident would make him remember shooting them (which he was trained to do, but he said that doesn't make it any easier). And he doesn't want to remember it.

I couldn't think about having taken a life, training or no. :-(

Thank him for his service for me!:hi:

and i showed it to all the kids on my block and said it was mine (it is) one kid really pissed me off saying it wasn't mine and i told my first lie saying i won it in a spelling bee. (well, i had just won a spelling bee, so...)
somehow, i wasn't willing to confess this a month later at my first confession, keeping me on the path of screwing up every sacrament (don't even ask about my first communion). by the time i was eight i was an atheist anyway.
and my dad always jokingly blamed his war wound on me. he swore to everyone it was just that i had bit a really big chunk out of his leg. some people believed him. i love that medal. i thought it was so amazing for him to trust me with it when i was still such a kid.

I'm assuming you still have it? What a cool thing.

he loved telling the story about how i bit a chunk out of his leg better than any war stories, and he had plenty of those.

When he came home on the schoolbus one day and began unpacking his bookbag, I was surprised to see him take out the medal. (It had been hidden away with the rest of my Vietnam stuff in a footlocker in the attic.)

When I asked my son why he had it, he said, "We had show-and-tell today, dad, so I showed it to the kids and I told them you got shot in the war. I couldn't remember if it was World War I or World War II or World War III you were in, but I figured it was WWII and that's what I told them."

"No," I said. "It was the Vietnam War." He went out to play, and I thought that was that.

It was late that night when my wife told me about the question our son had saved to ask her, as she tucked him in bed. "Mom," he asked, "was the Vietnam War a good war or a bad war?"

I really felt for my son when I heard that, realizing that what he really wanted to know was whether his dad was a good guy or a bad guy.

i'm sure he's very proud of you, and he worries the war was bad and that might have been harder on you, but not that you ever were.

As long as he's proud, but not gloating he'll be OK. He has all my best wishes.


http://www.kliljedahl.net

Just sort of like "yeah." :shrug:

Thanks.

:patriot:

Good story with hopefully a happy ending thanks for sharing.

It is really important that children understand this, I know veterans do not like to discuss what they experienced. Mr Bouncy gave your daughter an important gift

My Uncle had a drawer full medals from World War II he never really explained them but I found them fascinating. When I was 12 he gave me his most prized possession (I found this out years later) his bomber jacket with emblem. I noticed there was a small hole under one sleeve. A brown line ran down the jacket. He explained what happened a bullet or possibly shrapnel entered the jacket ran down his leg and exited his boot. When my mother heard the story she made me give it back. Next to my Great Great Grandfather's Civil War Kepi it was the most awesome thing I have ever had or will ever have in my possession. When my Mother died several years ago my uncle explained he was one of three survivors from that plane. He was offered a Purple Heart for that action but refused it because of what he called the real wounds of the many he saw die. This Uncle cheated death many times was one of the highest decorated enlisted men in the Eighth Air-force. To this day he says wars are thought up by old men and cowards in order to kill young men.

thanks to Mr. Bouncy, as well.

Our family cherish my father's medals, though they are no where near the level of a Purple Heart.

What kind of jerk steals a medal off a soldier in a hospital bed? Jeez.

Too bad they never caught the scum sucking weasel who stole his purple heart in the first place.

Many thanks to your husband for his brave service.

My s/o just found out he is no longer eligible for VA benefits even tho he was a Vietnam Vet. So, he makes over $12,000 per year (the new earnings cap for vets), he still served this country in wartime.

Now he has some med issues and the VA cut him off with NO notice. He tried to renew his scripts (VA written) and was told he is no longer in their system. WTF is wrong with this country that our vets are no longer being given even minimal health care?

Grrrr. And they wonder why recruiting isn't going well...

And a big thanks to BouncyBall -- so glad you didn't delete this. And what a nice surprise to hear they took the trouble to engrave his name, too! These days, with the way this Administration treats the troops and veterans, a little thing like that means a lot.

It's a very touching story.

My grandfather fought in WWII, aboard a Royal Navy destroyer protecting transatlantic convoys. I'm grateful that a member of my family hasn't been required to go to war since then. He did have medals, but when he died they went to a cousin of mine (who eventually sold them!!!) and I never got to appreciate them.

:hug: Thanks for sharing your story.

been in wars and it's about time that stopped.

:-)

I agreed.

commemorate his courage and valor.