Veterans Day - November 11, 2014
- Thread starter SeaBreeze
- Start date
Don M.
SF VIP
- Location
- central Missouri
Veterans Day
Here is a beautiful video, with inspiring music, that shows how much we owe those who have served.
http://worriersanonymous.org/Share/Mansions.htm
Here is a beautiful video, with inspiring music, that shows how much we owe those who have served.
http://worriersanonymous.org/Share/Mansions.htm
I was at my sister's house last night and she is the family's archivist. We were going through all of the old pictures and documents and I pulled out my Dad's discharge papers that he had mounted at one time. I thought that he had 32 years of military service and was surprised to find out that he had 34 years of service. He was discharged from Fort Lewis in Washington. I don't know how that happened because when he retired he was an E-8, 1SG, which is a First Sergeant and stationed at the war supply depot in Mechanicsburg, PA and also was an aide to a Colonel at the War College in Carlisle, PA. He wanted to be a Sergeant Major, but he messed up a few times and got busted back a notch or two twice. I only know why of the one incident and it was alcohol related and that's all he or Mom would say about it. The second time he was busted, I have no idea, but he never spent any brig time for either of the offenses.
I loved my Dad dearly. He was always my best friend. I thought he would be hurt when I told him that I wanted to enlist in the Marines, but he was behind me 100%. I never remember my Dad telling me that I disappointed him. We lost our Dad in a fire a few years after he retired. He fell asleep in a chair with a lit cigarette that fell between the cushions and smoldered causing him to become unconscious. After that he was burned pretty bad and also suffered coronary thrombosis, which I believe is the same thing as a heart attack. I thought my world had ended that day.
I want to thank all of you that served in the military. I did four years, 14 months of which were in Vietnam before being injured and sent to Okinawa and then Germany and then home. Things are different today. I wasn't called a hero when I came home, or did anyone ever thank me for serving. I wore my Vietnam cap and jacket to breakfast with the family on Sunday morning and we had a group of people sitting across from us that paid our bill as a random act of kindness, but they were gone before we could thank them. It wasn't expected, but very much appreciated. Some people have come around and now understand that it wasn't like we had a choice whether to serve or not back then. With the draft, you only had a few choices; get drafted, get a college or hardship deferment or become a CO. Oh, yeah there was one other choice. Run to Canada.
Thanks again Vets. For those of you that didn't serve, I am sure that you had your reasons and I understand completely. It wasn't a place where anyone wanted to be. I think in the 14 months that I spent over there, I aged more like 14 years.
Semper Fi!
Hoo-Rah!
I loved my Dad dearly. He was always my best friend. I thought he would be hurt when I told him that I wanted to enlist in the Marines, but he was behind me 100%. I never remember my Dad telling me that I disappointed him. We lost our Dad in a fire a few years after he retired. He fell asleep in a chair with a lit cigarette that fell between the cushions and smoldered causing him to become unconscious. After that he was burned pretty bad and also suffered coronary thrombosis, which I believe is the same thing as a heart attack. I thought my world had ended that day.
I want to thank all of you that served in the military. I did four years, 14 months of which were in Vietnam before being injured and sent to Okinawa and then Germany and then home. Things are different today. I wasn't called a hero when I came home, or did anyone ever thank me for serving. I wore my Vietnam cap and jacket to breakfast with the family on Sunday morning and we had a group of people sitting across from us that paid our bill as a random act of kindness, but they were gone before we could thank them. It wasn't expected, but very much appreciated. Some people have come around and now understand that it wasn't like we had a choice whether to serve or not back then. With the draft, you only had a few choices; get drafted, get a college or hardship deferment or become a CO. Oh, yeah there was one other choice. Run to Canada.
Thanks again Vets. For those of you that didn't serve, I am sure that you had your reasons and I understand completely. It wasn't a place where anyone wanted to be. I think in the 14 months that I spent over there, I aged more like 14 years.
Semper Fi!
Hoo-Rah!
Last edited:
AprilT
Well-known Member
- Location
- A galaxy far far away
Thank you for your service may this day and all days to come continue to honor you and all you represent. :encouragement::loyal::thankyou::thankyou::thankyou:
JustBonee
SF VIP
- Location
- Texas Gulf Coast
Beautiful video. Thank you Vets!
I had many family military members, going back to WWII and the Korean War, in every branch ... my father and many uncles... all deceased now.
I had many family military members, going back to WWII and the Korean War, in every branch ... my father and many uncles... all deceased now.
Happy Vets Day fellow soldiers. Great video. Very inspirational. I like that kind of stuff.
I served on a few honor guards for fallen soldiers when I returned home from Vietnam. Our Captain asked for volunteers to do it and I gladly did so. It was so sad, but being part of such a ceremony and then speaking with the families helped me heal as much as it helped them. I think today it is done differently. I was first at LeJeune and then Quantico when I came home, so we covered a lot of area.
I served on a few honor guards for fallen soldiers when I returned home from Vietnam. Our Captain asked for volunteers to do it and I gladly did so. It was so sad, but being part of such a ceremony and then speaking with the families helped me heal as much as it helped them. I think today it is done differently. I was first at LeJeune and then Quantico when I came home, so we covered a lot of area.
When I was a kid, Veterans Day was a big deal. We had off school and some, in fact a lot, had off work.Towns had parades and the cemeteries were busy with parades to the Veterans section and playing taps and raising and lowering flags. Then came Vietnam and this holiday sort of got pushed aside When we came home from Vietnam, we were called a lot of names, but HERO wasn't among them. Today, we get free meals and treats everywhere we go by showing our DD-214. I am surprised they don't say, "except for those that served in Vietnam."
I think for the most part, everyone's wounds (emotions) have healed and we all look at things a little differently than we did some 50 years ago. I still haven't made up my mind yet if the men that were protesting that war was actually against it or were just too damned afraid to serve, so they thought they could stay home by being a student or a conscientious objector or whatever they were called. I guess some where into that peace and love stuff, but I knew if and when I got called, I was going to go. I depended on my fear of being killed to keep me alive. Does that sound stupid?
I think for the most part, everyone's wounds (emotions) have healed and we all look at things a little differently than we did some 50 years ago. I still haven't made up my mind yet if the men that were protesting that war was actually against it or were just too damned afraid to serve, so they thought they could stay home by being a student or a conscientious objector or whatever they were called. I guess some where into that peace and love stuff, but I knew if and when I got called, I was going to go. I depended on my fear of being killed to keep me alive. Does that sound stupid?
drifter
Well-known Member
On Veterans Day I usually think of the guys I met and served with, wondering how they fared and what they became when they got out. One probably stayed in the service. I make a comment on him, a guy named Jasper White, in Diaries. Happy Veterans Day to all you vets and another in Communities, Speakers Corner. Take a look if you're interested.
Grumpy Ol' Man
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas, U.S.
Grumpy Ol' Man
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas, U.S.
jujube
SF VIP
On this Veteran's Day, I'd like to honor my own personal war hero....my late father.
He was a veteran of many wars, both foreign and domestic. After a distinguished stint with the Navy in World War II (distinguished, according to him, by not having actually to shoot at anyone), he came home to marry, attend college and rear five daughters. Thus began his life-long War on Poverty....unfortunately, Poverty was aided and abetted by those five daughters and put up a hearty fight. Pop put up a bigger fight, though, working until retirement in the labs of a large pharmaceutical firm, doing his part in the War on Disease. During those years, Pop participated in numerous miniwars on termites, failing furnaces, rampant crabgrass, malfunctioning septic tanks, leaky roofs, elderly automobiles, young men with dubious intentions toward his daughters and other domestic enemies. After retirement, he fought the War on Boredom by taking on new careers, such as running an art gallery and selling ice cream on the beach.
Ultimately, though, there was one enemy my father couldn't overcome. After many years of doing combat with a faulty heart, he lost the final battle and moved on to that place reserved for those who have "fought the good fight".
Rest in Peace, Pop. You will always be our hero.
He was a veteran of many wars, both foreign and domestic. After a distinguished stint with the Navy in World War II (distinguished, according to him, by not having actually to shoot at anyone), he came home to marry, attend college and rear five daughters. Thus began his life-long War on Poverty....unfortunately, Poverty was aided and abetted by those five daughters and put up a hearty fight. Pop put up a bigger fight, though, working until retirement in the labs of a large pharmaceutical firm, doing his part in the War on Disease. During those years, Pop participated in numerous miniwars on termites, failing furnaces, rampant crabgrass, malfunctioning septic tanks, leaky roofs, elderly automobiles, young men with dubious intentions toward his daughters and other domestic enemies. After retirement, he fought the War on Boredom by taking on new careers, such as running an art gallery and selling ice cream on the beach.
Ultimately, though, there was one enemy my father couldn't overcome. After many years of doing combat with a faulty heart, he lost the final battle and moved on to that place reserved for those who have "fought the good fight".
Rest in Peace, Pop. You will always be our hero.
Meanderer
Supreme Member
What a heart warming tribute to your Father jujube! Domestic wars....I would think raising five Daughters would top them all! 
My Dad, who died 11 years ago at the age of 90, had a Brother, Harry, who up and left his five young Daughters, and never communicated with his Family, until as adults, they got word he died in Alaska. So, I know your Dad deserved five Medals for the fine job he did raising you all! Thanks for telling his story.
My Dad, who died 11 years ago at the age of 90, had a Brother, Harry, who up and left his five young Daughters, and never communicated with his Family, until as adults, they got word he died in Alaska. So, I know your Dad deserved five Medals for the fine job he did raising you all! Thanks for telling his story.