Kestrel
Flashaholic
I just wanted to send a quick 'thank you' to all the servicemembers and veterans here on the forum; your efforts are greatly appreciated. :thanks:
It helps being able to delete the prior threads on this today so I could be the first, lol. <- I am so kidding on that one.I just came here to start a thread like this. [...]
Woo!
You're welcome. It's also my birthday. Kinda funny. I was sitting at a table of "operators" in a chow hall in the sandbox and the topic of the monthly mass birthday party came up. Apparently, trying to get your info changed is a thing for some of these guys. They asked me how I got my birthday changed to Veteran's day. I smiled and said "I've got connections." Pulled out the dog tag (which I'd recently gotten changed to say that "Norse" was my preferred religion.)I just wanted to send a quick 'thank you' to all the servicemembers and veterans here on the forum; your efforts are greatly appreciated. :thanks:
Oh wow, I had no idea. Don't hold being in the "Chair Force" against me.Indeed! It's been a long time since I was in the Marines, and I have a huge amount of respect for those currently serving! For the most part, it's not glamorous and doesn't get much press. It is important work, though, and you have my gratitude.
I think PTSD cost me my first marriage.I also want to remember the Vets who still battle their war experience every day. I have lost the friendship of some of vets due to the aftermath of their service.
Combat veterans usually pay a life time with their memories and what they had been witness too. Today veterans have a suicide rate 50% higher than the general public.I think PTSD cost me my first marriage.
It's like a circular trap where you can't stop thinking about certain things. I got to the point where it doesn't bother me anymore, but it never stopped happening. I just got used to it.
Like the brother of a girl I took to a high school prom got blown up in Iraq. I think about him sometimes and what a nice person he was. A shame it happened to Taylor. I'm sad he's gone.
PTSD is no joke, no laughing matter. The biggest problem is most people who've got it either don't realize it or can't/won't reach out for help. Time helps, but sometimes that's not enough. No one should have to live their life waking up on cold sweat in the middle of the night, full of adrenaline, clutching a weapon.
Some people just wouldn't believe the things that have happened and will happen, it's like you can't communicate what's wrong.
We did it for the greater good. We tried to be the good guys. It ain't easy, friends. Most burn out, there's very few lifers in that gig.
Shell shock.no wonder he had PTSD, although they did not call it that back then.
I've been thinking lately about the protesters spitting on veterans returning from war. All I can do is shake my head and bow my head. I think those who most vocally and violently protest are those with the least idea of what it means to serve.I was instructed not to wear a uniform except on duty in the US and was dis-encouraged from wearing it in Germany off-duty for several reasons. The most obvious was that between the aggressive VN protesters in US/Germany as well as the R.A.F. or Baader-Meinhoff gang in Germany bombing US installations, we had no interest in irritating the locals.
Don't forget substance abuse and a tendency to take needless risks. The risk-taking thing stems from a kind of numbness inside. Maybe some veterans subconsciously lost the notion that they're doing something that can be fatal. This feeling happened to me.Combat veterans usually pay a life time with their memories and what they had been witness too. Today veterans have a suicide rate 50% higher than the general public.
We need to better take care and remember our veterans. A single day to remember is never enough.
I am 71 years old and the average age of Vietnam War death was 19 or the same age I am now. There is not a day that goes by that this does not enter my mind.Don't forget substance abuse and a tendency to take needless risks. The risk-taking thing stems from a kind of numbness inside. Maybe some veterans subconsciously lost the notion that they're doing something that can be fatal. This feeling happened to me.
I drank very heavily while in the service, even getting a case of jaundice from it at one point. I wasn't an abnormal case. Alcoholism was kind of swept under the rug. Silent problems.
Unfortunately, it's supposed to be nasty and horrific. This way nobody in their right mind would want to go to war and once started, no one in the right mind would want to continue.The label of PTSD has only been in use since 1980, but the trauma and cost of war is as old as war itself.
Yes, and what you wrote is so true.Nothing but respect for those who served in the 'Nam. A deceased relative of mine served as an Army Artillery colonel in that theater. He made it through, bought a farm and lived a nice retirement. He passed in '92 in his 70s. Now there was a man who should have written an autobiography, but he felt he didn't have time for that. I miss him dearly.
Unfortunately, it's supposed to be nasty and horrific. This way nobody in their right mind would want to go to war and once started, no one in the right mind would want to continue.
Peace through deterrence. In the words of an old general, Sun Tzu, "The highest ideal of a warrior is to win without fighting." I really believe that. I used to quote this guy while in the service.
I think the greatest danger of being a combat veteran is losing one's humanity and conscience. It's frighteningly easy to do.