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The Water Cooler
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Got reminded why our flag is so important again today
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<blockquote data-quote="steelfingers" data-source="post: 3612687" data-attributes="member: 38658"><p>Once again, my apologies for creating a post that falls off the edge. I'll leave this up till this weekend then I'll remove it. Thanks to all that honored PFC Leaird. I'll add that my Dad told me that Harley would have never bragged about the Silver Star if he had lived. He was just a kid that did his job and he wasn't the only one that put the flag up under fire or died for his country.</p><p>I saw a picture of him and we look like twins at his young age. But my Dad and I did as well. They have a few of the dates wrong on the obit of his family. My Dad's first wife died of Cancer during the war and he married my Mom and had his second family. Actually he had 3 families as Mom and Dad had my brother and sister right out of the gate, then years later had the three of us other kids.</p><p>Dad was in the coast guard but never made any rank because he kept slugging his superiors. Spent a lot of time in the brig. But like he said, Navy guys don't take crap from anyone. My oldest Brother that served in Nam, came home finished his degree and then went back in the military for 30, couldn't quite adjust to civilian life. He wasn't crazy or anything, but a lot of the men that lived through Tet had a hard time adjusting. I always wondered why he didn't use his degree to advance into officers ranks and he said he liked to work for a living....Ha...heard that a few times from members of First Air Cav. </p><p>He didn't do anything remarkable in Nam or his time in the service. He never really talked about it except to other vets. He would tell you he didn't do anything to receive recognition other than living through it.</p><p>After he came home and was a civilian for a short time, a Ranger he made friends with came and stayed with us for a while when he came home on leave. This man was the real deal. I would beg him for stories but he just wanted to talk about places he'd been and the beauty of parts of Nam. Humble is a word that should be next to his name. I found out about him from my brother in law's brother (another poor as hell enlisted from my home town) that had met him when they both were in the hospital recovering from wounds. This guy was super man according to Larry. This is from a guy (Larry) who served as a tunnel rat (don't be small in Nam) and had his foot blown off stepping on a land mine while on patrol. He too would never talk about HIS service or brag. No Nam vet ever did, but with my limited knowledge of Rangers, they were more than human and the guy that my bro brought home was real hero.</p><p>Lastly, Larry, bro in laws bro, never talked about losing his leg, crawling into holes to kill the enemy, laying in a rice field where his unit was killed and he lay on his face with no foot as he was stripped of his boots, clothes and everything else because they thought he was dead. Had to find this out from his brother that was my age. Nope, he never talked about it and like so many of his era, he had PTSD no doubt but back then they just called it, serving your country so get over it. He did what he could which was drink every day and night as each year a bit more of his leg was removed.</p><p>This is why that "LOGO, Symbol" or whatever you called it, is so important t me. I graduated HS in 1973. I wanted to join the AF and fly (yep....pretty silly) but my lifer brother talked me out of it. The draft was over as was the war. Carter was gutting the military and rats in the barracks were bigger than the off base hookers (ha). He loved the service (truth he was more at home in the military) but thought that was a bad time to do it. He said to go to college and get your degree, join ROTC (which was still hated on campus) and join when you get out for rank. Also said the Navy had the best food and the AF had the best bases. But I didn't and have regretted not serving my country. I also apologize for using Nam when talking about Vietnam. Not a big thing now but back in the day it was for people that served and not for civilians like me that did nothing.</p><p>For those too young to remember draft boards, if you were poor, regardless of the draft lottery number, you were going. I can't think of a single poor male in my home town, of draft age during the war, that didn't serve. You would have to have two heads to be 4F and no one wanted that. Plus the army might think two heads was a good thing. I also can't remember but a tiny few of the rick folks kids not getting exemptions for college or medical.</p><p>I'm proud of my brother/half bro/bro in-laws bro and all that have ever served. I also take great pride in our flag, anthem, constitution and pledge.</p><p>If you don't, its not ok or your right. Screw you.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="steelfingers, post: 3612687, member: 38658"] Once again, my apologies for creating a post that falls off the edge. I'll leave this up till this weekend then I'll remove it. Thanks to all that honored PFC Leaird. I'll add that my Dad told me that Harley would have never bragged about the Silver Star if he had lived. He was just a kid that did his job and he wasn't the only one that put the flag up under fire or died for his country. I saw a picture of him and we look like twins at his young age. But my Dad and I did as well. They have a few of the dates wrong on the obit of his family. My Dad's first wife died of Cancer during the war and he married my Mom and had his second family. Actually he had 3 families as Mom and Dad had my brother and sister right out of the gate, then years later had the three of us other kids. Dad was in the coast guard but never made any rank because he kept slugging his superiors. Spent a lot of time in the brig. But like he said, Navy guys don't take crap from anyone. My oldest Brother that served in Nam, came home finished his degree and then went back in the military for 30, couldn't quite adjust to civilian life. He wasn't crazy or anything, but a lot of the men that lived through Tet had a hard time adjusting. I always wondered why he didn't use his degree to advance into officers ranks and he said he liked to work for a living....Ha...heard that a few times from members of First Air Cav. He didn't do anything remarkable in Nam or his time in the service. He never really talked about it except to other vets. He would tell you he didn't do anything to receive recognition other than living through it. After he came home and was a civilian for a short time, a Ranger he made friends with came and stayed with us for a while when he came home on leave. This man was the real deal. I would beg him for stories but he just wanted to talk about places he'd been and the beauty of parts of Nam. Humble is a word that should be next to his name. I found out about him from my brother in law's brother (another poor as hell enlisted from my home town) that had met him when they both were in the hospital recovering from wounds. This guy was super man according to Larry. This is from a guy (Larry) who served as a tunnel rat (don't be small in Nam) and had his foot blown off stepping on a land mine while on patrol. He too would never talk about HIS service or brag. No Nam vet ever did, but with my limited knowledge of Rangers, they were more than human and the guy that my bro brought home was real hero. Lastly, Larry, bro in laws bro, never talked about losing his leg, crawling into holes to kill the enemy, laying in a rice field where his unit was killed and he lay on his face with no foot as he was stripped of his boots, clothes and everything else because they thought he was dead. Had to find this out from his brother that was my age. Nope, he never talked about it and like so many of his era, he had PTSD no doubt but back then they just called it, serving your country so get over it. He did what he could which was drink every day and night as each year a bit more of his leg was removed. This is why that "LOGO, Symbol" or whatever you called it, is so important t me. I graduated HS in 1973. I wanted to join the AF and fly (yep....pretty silly) but my lifer brother talked me out of it. The draft was over as was the war. Carter was gutting the military and rats in the barracks were bigger than the off base hookers (ha). He loved the service (truth he was more at home in the military) but thought that was a bad time to do it. He said to go to college and get your degree, join ROTC (which was still hated on campus) and join when you get out for rank. Also said the Navy had the best food and the AF had the best bases. But I didn't and have regretted not serving my country. I also apologize for using Nam when talking about Vietnam. Not a big thing now but back in the day it was for people that served and not for civilians like me that did nothing. For those too young to remember draft boards, if you were poor, regardless of the draft lottery number, you were going. I can't think of a single poor male in my home town, of draft age during the war, that didn't serve. You would have to have two heads to be 4F and no one wanted that. Plus the army might think two heads was a good thing. I also can't remember but a tiny few of the rick folks kids not getting exemptions for college or medical. I'm proud of my brother/half bro/bro in-laws bro and all that have ever served. I also take great pride in our flag, anthem, constitution and pledge. If you don't, its not ok or your right. Screw you. [/QUOTE]
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