Happy Veterans Day

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:

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 just came here to start a thread like this.

bykfixer said:

I just came here to start a thread like this. [...]

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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.

bykfixer said:

I just came here to start a thread like this.

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Woo!

Kestrel said:

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:

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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.)

Whoa! Dude, why'd you do that?

I smiled bigger and replied, "So if I get killed out here, that's death in battle. Therefore, the military owes me a Viking funeral complete with burning wooden long ship."

Are you really Norse? I began talking about the age of Ragnarok, the day of Ragnarok, the gods of chaos and the gods of order. The more I explained, the more it started making sense to them, particularly in that time and environment. Guess I started kind of a miniature Norse movement. I wasn't the only one.

We were either really bored, really busy, or really scared out there. These were the kinds of things we thought about.

Besides, it's really cool yelling "ODIN!!!!" (Classical Viking battle cry.)

Steve K said:

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.

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Oh wow, I had no idea. Don't hold being in the "Chair Force" against me.

I wish to remember all the veterans for their service and my understanding about the many veterans, some I have worked with and have known, who still are waiting for the VA to fulfill their obligation. 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.

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.

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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. Vaughan had the same thing happen to him, leaving a friend of mine a widow. I remember them.

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.

A sincere thanks!

When I was in the military in the '60s, 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-Meinhof gang in Germany bombing US installations, we had no interest in irritating the locals. When I left, I put my uniform away and never wore it again.

Ref my WWII Airborne Ranger cousin, at the end in the nursing home, he woke up briefly and complained to the night nurse about war memories. He died later that night. He was in his '90s and still afflicted with PTSD from WWII. As he put it: "Rangers are always runnin' and artillerymen are always writin'" He was bored in artillery so volunteered for the Airborne Rangers. Serving as an airborne ranger was a life of intuitive survival! no wonder he had PTSD, although they did not call it that back then.

more_vampires said:

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.

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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.

no wonder he had PTSD, although they did not call it that back then.

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Shell shock.

George Carlin had a bit on that, concerning the wimpification of words... that the words we use form thoughts.

I don't miss my "thousand yard stare." It really unnerved people. Everyone wants to be the badass, but I didn't feel that way at all. I felt cut off, alone, isolated. The worse I felt, the worse my stare got. It really worried some people when I got back from a deployment one time, worse than ever. These people that were worried didn't get the same stick I got, they barely deployed. They couldn't understand me.

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.

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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.

It's like slapping someone who is trying to protect you.

Once, my outfit responded to a plane crash. Some of us were walking around with plastic bags, picking up pieces remains and marking the location on a map. Where were the protesters then? They'd have been more than welcome to take that task off our hands. Then, the news media showed up and tried to turn it into a gruesome circus. Instead of helping, they actively tried to interfere. Then, they fabricated a sensationalist story with an anti-military slant. Apparently these guys had no conscience or humanity. It makes me want to protest the protesters.

I don't see the logic of spitting on me for having a job that almost made me step on a land mine. To vilify those who are arguably heroes... that's plain crazy. It's also of questionable sanity to slap and spit on a combat veteran, they might not hold back. They've no obligation to do so.

sidecross said:

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.

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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.

more_vampires said:

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.

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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.

The label of PTSD has only been in use since 1980, but the trauma and cost of war is as old as war itself.

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.

The label of PTSD has only been in use since 1980, but the trauma and cost of war is as old as war itself.

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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.

more_vampires said:

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.

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Yes, and what you wrote is so true.