Veteran's Day

[RobertN]

Re: Veteran\'s Day

Gary,
That's good to hear. I'm really proud of our Veterans! The parade we were in in Folsom was great(about 15 minutes outside of Sacramento), and I think the focus remained on the Veterans, where it should be.

I would have thought the State Capital would really do something up for the day. Gray Davis is a decorated Vietnam Veteran. I respect that greatly. But, as the Governor of a State like this, you would think he would appear in the Capital and at least say something. This is especially so, considering the way he worked his Veteran staus into his recent reelection. I have not heard a word about him on any of the local stations, or any of the tidbits we've gotten from the San Francisco bay area channels.

Oh well, my wife, son, and I paid tribute. I'm glad my 8 year old boy has an idea about what our Vet's really mean to this great country.

 

[Mosey]

Re: Veteran\'s Day

Gary - Unfortunately, I wouldn't be any help in your situation. I don't know anyone in on highway truck engine area. I'm in the high horsepower area (mining haul trucks with 3500+ HP). It sure is disappointing to find out how they are handling their customers!

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Re: Veteran\'s Day

In October of 68 I was going back from a stay at Camp Zama in Japan. Since I was a senior enlisted man they gave me four men to make sure they got on the plane for the trip back to "in country".

I was there because I was sitting in the back of a truck with eleven other guys when it rolled on top of us in the middle of nowhere and we were the only vehicle.

One of the guys was a very very very young eighteen year old grunt. He'd been in country for only a couple of weeks when they assigned him to guard duty on the perimeter. His very first watch Charlie over ran them. The satchel charge blew him out of the bunker. He laid there playing dead as the Viet Cong stripped him of his gear.

I'd been in the same ward with him in the hospital. I'd played pool with him in rehab. We'd talked about what it was like home.

In the airport I sat down on a bench and cried with him. You see I was going back to work. I only had three months until I was done with the army. Yeah, I was ticked that everyone else was getting out five months early and I was going back with only a hundred and nine days of my committment left. I had a critical job to do and the needs of the Army was a priority.

He was going back as a grunt. He was going back to fight and maybe die.

When you're twenty and you've spent two tours in Nam you're very old. I landed in country two weeks after my eighteenth birthday. But this kid was a kid. And I had to sit there on that bench beside him and explain that he really had no choice. He had to go. There was no other option that he could realistically live with in this lifetime.

That event has weighed heavy on me ever since. When it comes to Veterans Day I often wonder if he celebrates it or if even gets the chance. A couple of years ago I filed some search paperwork and got some copies of orders and stuff from the Department of the Army. In them was the orders sending back from Japan. There are five names in the orders, mine and four others. One of those names is on the Wall. The age is right. The MOS is correct. He died about six to eight weeks later in combat.

I don't know.

Yeah, I guess I should contact the family and find out.

But I haven't got there yet.

For me Veteran's Day is all about that. The doing your job if you were there. If you were not there then you can't be held to the standards of those that were. Nor can you expect to get the respect earned by those that did their job under the worst of circumstances.

For awhile after learning about the young man dying over there I tried to carry some of the blame. It didn't fit. I did my job. I encouraged him to do his.

But I will never forgive the politicians for putting us in that position. Him to die and me to insure him being put in harm's way.

 

[Boondox]

Re: Veteran\'s Day

Harv -- My heart really went out to you upon reading your post! My best friend died on Koh Tang in 75, and I never felt comfortable around his family again. We eventually broke off contact. Survivors' guilt, therapists called it. I haven't been to the wall. Not sure I could take it, seeing the names of my friends in granite.

Semper fi, Pete