Veterans Day

Yes. I'm very grateful also. Seems as though there should be a word that's more heartfelt to convey this gratitude....but in lieu of knowing what that would be, I add my thank you.
 
Yes, you are welcome.

US Army 1971-72
Spec 4
MOS - 05C radio teletype operator
Stationed Camp Pelham Korea with many trips into the DMZ.

Volunteered for the draft to keep the commitment to two years and still do my duty. A low draft number, a girl I wanted to commit to, and no money for college may have played a part in that decision too. Luckily I saw no fighting but lost one classmate, one guy from the class ahead of me, and two others from my hometown that I really didnt know in Vietnam, plus a very good friend that spent a tour in Vietnam died young of cancer. You always wonder about Agent Orange in cases like that. A cousin was the normal point man for his squad. He grew up in the hills and knew how to handle himself. You wonder how many lives he saved and how stressful that was to him. Still, hes normal today, no stress syndromes.

I feel I benefited from my time in, more than the GI Bill and the girl deciding she couldnt wait for me so I avoided that mistake. But for some service comes with a very heavy price. For others, the price is still there, just not as heavy. I do appreciate them all.
 
Thank you Veterans, ONE and ALL ! I lost both of my grandfather and 4 of their brothers in WW1, 2 uncles in WW2. I was drafted while Viet Nam was hot and heavy ... Spent 3 days at the Presideo in SF for physicals, after which they said go home with a "4F". ( 5 months prior, I was driving to College when a draw bridge was going up and I had to stop for that. Then WHAM... I was rear ended by a stolen car driven by an illegal "wet back" who jumped out of his car and headed for places unknown. He was later caught about 2 blocks away . He had a brocken jaw and heavy bleeding from his forehead. I ended up with a severe back/ neck whiplash. During WW2 my wife's father joined the Navy at age 17, attached to Gen. Patton as his personal mechanic ( he was a mechanical genious ) / driver in N. Africa, then Sicely, then into Italy.
 
My FIL survived Vietnam, coming home with only a little schrapnel in one side of his body. But he was doused with Agent Orange while he was there and at age 51 suffered a brain stem stroke...something otherwise unheard of in that age group and even fewer survive, but he was one tough fella and the signs of stroke were caught early enough to make a difference. Over several years he made a good recovery, but had to take so many pills, coumadin and such and always had cluster headaches and dizziness. I learned a lot about gardening from him since he was retired on disability and had time to teach me. :) He had a second stroke at nearly age 58, in his sleep, and that one took him. My MIL gets widows' pension. On his death records the gov't conceeded that his strokes and also the diabetes were side-effects of Agent Orange.

They say when you join the military, you are writing the government a blank check, the price up to and including your life. That's the cost of freedom. Seriously, thank you...for everything you folks have sacrificed or paid for our freedom and way of life. Even just the time away from your families is a high cost itself.

My FIL's dad lived and breathed for military life. He had a rough life growing up and ran away from home at age 14, forged his birth certificate to make it look like he was 16 (the age of consent back then). They surely knew he wasn't 16, but gladly took him anyway. He served in the Army in the tail-end of WWII, and once he was out of that enlistment period went into the Navy...then home for a bit, then he went and signed up with the Marines! He also served in the Korean War, then came home and went into the Army Reserves for a bit. He's got some riveting war stories he loves to tell and the tattoos to go with it. ;)
 
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