Memorial Day

[WriterDom]

My brother was spit on a lot in airports. He was just a 20 year old redneck who dropped too many classes at Georgia Southern and got drafted. Went into OCS because he believed my father who said being an officer would be better. Sometimes it is, but not in Vietnam.

 

[Homburg]

It is extremely sad. I have the feeling I'll get a lot of backlash for this statement, but having lived, breathed, and observed this my entire life, please keep in mind I DO know what I'm talking about. I think that a lot of the poverty, homelessness, and broken lives we see in veterans has to do with the reaction of the population in general. Everyone in this thread has said how honorable and heroic the actions of the military are, but you would be surprised at how many people will publicly scorn soliders for what they do, and are honestly blatantly prejudiced against anything to do with the military.

I've seen this. Not around here, but this area has way too much military for that sort of attitude. MIS' uncle looked at her younger brother when he announced that he was going into the USAF, and said "Whatever they're paying you, I'll double it," and proceeded to lambast him for the decision to go into AFROTC.

That's not to say that public reaction forms everyone's fate, but there's only so much you can fight. If you've already given everything you can to defend a nation, but then all you hear is the voice of that nation saying they think you're evil, it takes all will to live a proper life right out of you.

There are other issues involved, sure, such as lingering PTSD/TBI/behavioral issues that came from things seem or done in war, but I don't think these things are to take the total blame for the statistics of homeless veterans.

It is certainly a factor though. Too many soldiers, marines, etc coming back badly damaged inside. Viet Nam hasn't been gone so long that people have forgotten what those poor souls were like upon their return. While I don't think it is necessarily a primary motivator, I have heard people express worries about the stability of returning troops.

It pissed me off to hear it too.

The Army at least is doing quite a bit in preparation of a solider leaving the service. You have to go through one year of counselling and training, resume writing and job interviewing, before you can leave. Then, it's many times very, very easy to get a civilian job with the military because of the prior service preferance rules. Even if you want to get away completely, the Army Career and Alumni Program does a very good job of trying to place and care for any solider leaving the Army.

This is something I am glad to see. My dad retired in peacetime, sure, but almost nothing was done to help him transition to civilian life after 24 years in service. The situation was changing as he got out, and the Army was doing more for young soldiers, but it still bothered me that he was basically patted on the back and thanked perfunctorily.

(The fact that the civilian govt employees were getting the same sort of fanfare during the ceremony as a senior NCO likewise bothered me. Nothing against govt employees, but, damn, some paper-pusher just does not warrant the same treatment as a 24 year career vet.)

 

[Shankara20]

called Map The Fallen

great link - thanks

"There'll be two dates on your tombstone
And all your friends will read 'em
But all that's gonna matter is that little dash between 'em..."

well said...

 

[intothewoods]

I'm not doubting anyone's experience, but I was raised by two people involved in the anti-(Vietnam) war movement who were never disrespectful to soldiers and never would have let me express anything like that. I'm just posting to say that it's possible to be anti-war and be respectful of and grateful for the army.

 

[Netzach]

I'm not doubting anyone's experience, but I was raised by two people involved in the anti-(Vietnam) war movement who were never disrespectful to soldiers and never would have let me express anything like that. I'm just posting to say that it's possible to be anti-war and be respectful of and grateful for the army.

H was involved in the services and the anti-war movement at different times and would agree with that. The "babykiller" thing is also overplayed thanks to Jane Fonda, there's a lot of history of vets participating in the anti-war movement of every war including Vietnam and people against war *because* they care about the forces, not because they hate them.

 

[ecstaticsub]

There are other issues involved, sure, such as lingering PTSD/TBI/behavioral issues that came from things seem or done in war, but I don't think these things are to take the total blame for the statistics of homeless veterans. The Army at least is doing quite a bit in preparation of a solider leaving the service. You have to go through one year of counselling and training, resume writing and job interviewing, before you can leave. Then, it's many times very, very easy to get a civilian job with the military because of the prior service preferance rules. Even if you want to get away completely, the Army Career and Alumni Program does a very good job of trying to place and care for any solider leaving the Army.

I suppose it would depend on your rank and career field while active duty. My husband recently retired as a senior officer. His pension is not even close to enough for us to live on so he has been looking for work. Because of his rank he does not qualify for veteran's preference. His job search has been rather demoralizing and depressing. The military does offer transition assistance but it is not enough to get him that first interview.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I'm not doubting anyone's experience, but I was raised by two people involved in the anti-(Vietnam) war movement who were never disrespectful to soldiers and never would have let me express anything like that. I'm just posting to say that it's possible to be anti-war and be respectful of and grateful for the army.

Most of the anti-war folks I knew after I got out of the navy (Nam era) were not disrespectful of individual servicemen. Of course, I lived primarily in heavily military-related cities... and I marched and demonstrated against the VN "war" in 1971-72 as a college student. *Not* against service folk.

However, there were a few. In 1968, as a 19-year-old uniformed seaman, I boarded a civilian flight from San Francisco to Hawaii en route to the Philippines and then Yankee Station, 14 miles off the coast of Viet Nam. The lady assigned to the seat next to me imperiously summoned the stewardess and loudly demanded to be moved to another seat, since she couldn't sit next to "a warmongering neanderthal." The stewardess gave her a disgusted look, but summoned the pilot.

The pilot came out of the cockpit, listened to the stewardess' whispered explanation, and stalked down the aisle to where we sat, near the tail. (Not verbatim, but close) "Madam," he said in a voice that carried the length of the plane, "I'm informed you can't sit next to a 'warmongering neanderthal.' In that case, you'll need to leave the plane, as I, the first officer, the navigator, and the communications officer of this craft are *all* 'warmongering neanderthals!' Either that, or stand up right now and apologize to all the servicemen and veterans on this plane, who fought to give you the right to be the ignorant ... fool ... you are."

The rest of the passengers had been quiet until now... and broke out into a spontaneous, thundering ovation. The woman looked around, saw no support, and started down the aisle toward the exit, where another stewardess was pointedly holding the door open. Someone among the passengers started clapping once for each step she took, and by the time she was halfway to the exit (at the front of the plane, naturally ), everyone was keeping time.

*I* got free drinks all the way to Hawaii... and a date with a 23-year-old stewardess, since we both had a layover before our next flights.

. . . . . . . . . .

By the way, I'm anti-war. Have been since childhood, despite (because of?) my father's 24-year military career and my own voluntary enlistment. I learned early that most professional military men and women are. I think Major General Charles P. Brown, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Field Artillery Center and Fort Sill Commandant, U.S. Army Field Artillery School, expressed it best at my high school graduation (Lawton High School, Lawton, OK, where Ft. Sill is located) in 1966: "We train hard, and we train to be the best, most effective military force in the world... and pray each night that *because* we are the best, the day will soon come when our skills will not be needed."

 

[Yasashii_Kaze]

http://photos.upi.com/Photos_of_the_Day/4ca35b06596cbfa7e15f0d4f53ef69c5/May-25-2009.jpg