The Things They Carried

My father used to describe certain stories as "true in the way that only fiction can be."  He was referring to the depth of emotional truth that can rarely be gleaned from documentary histories and such.  The fact that Hamlet or Romeo never lived does not make their stories any less true in terms of their connection to the human heart and spirit.

Greetings:  DreadPirateRoberts   We discussed the movie Secondhand Lions the other day.  "Is it true,  are the stories true?".  "It doesn't matter....If you believe it...it's true".   Personally, I find a lot of meaning, comfort and peace in those lines.   If you believe it, it's true.  Makes me think about my boys, what they believe, whats true.  Simple, if you believe.   

Truth is the first casualty of war.

Hemmingway, WWI vet wrote a short story in which his character tried to tell the truth about his experiences in combat.  he eventually started to tell lies because no one wanted to hear the truth.  He would tell them how terrible it all was, but that was the lie, because he really enjoyed it.  After awhile all the veterans lied, it was the thing to do.

I'm a Vietnam vet.....and I don't plan on telling any stories....but, I will tell you about my two favorite things to carry into combat.  First, you need a good "John Wayne" can opener, a small devise that can open a can very quickly...I still have the one I carried in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.  It's still sharp and I still open cans with it.  Second, you need a small bottle of Tabasco sauce....oh, and don't forget the rifle...you'll need that from time to time!

I was in the Air Force and I spent my one year (1972) in Southeast Asia in Thailand.  I left a week before the Christmas Bombings.  I am glad that I was not in the Army (or the Marine Corps) in Vietnam. I know guys who were, and -- well, let's move on.

I do tell stories about my times 'over there' but, out of respect for the fallen, I'll tell none today.  (Thanks, ExPat!).  One saying we had, however, still rings true: 'Don't believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see.'  It sums up what the human mind can record about trauma.

For those who want to know what wars are all about from an Air Force point of view (and if you don't I can understand that), you have to go back before the 1960s.  Preferably, read Joseph Heller's 'Catch-22'.  You don't need to read all the chapters, and you don't need to read them in any order.  The timeline is really unimportant.  And if you are not into reading, see the 1970 film version, one of the few times film has come close to equalling a book.  It has been several years since I've read Catch-22, and I need to find my dog-eared copy and read it again.... as for wars in general, I tell the few who care, see Richard Attenborough's 1969 classic film, 'Oh What a Lovely War!'  It's about World War I.

I will make a political statement here and now.  Politicians should be required either to serve in combat units (or have their kids serve in combat units) before they pass 'war resolutions' or order troops into combat.  I will say no more. 

ExPat,

I was wondering. Do you refer to the P-38 or some variant as the John Wayne Can opener, or is that what you call your Kabar knife?

I was "too young" for Viet Nam and, frankly, too old for everything since. I grew up next door to a man who volunteered in WWI along with his sons, but I expect I am now even older than he was when he did that. O'Brien's GOING AFTER CACCIATO is also quite good. 

ExPat,

Times haven't changed too much. My son, a Marine, carried the exact same essential items with him in Iraq. (although, his can opener is a P-51, a slightly larger version of the John Wayne). He did add one more item and that's what he calls his "duty spoon"...ideal for eating anything, anywhere, don't leave your rack without it...he even recommends that I carry one around in my purse.

He doesn't want to talk about many of his experiences - especially how he received his Combat Action Ribbon. I have great respect for him and will not press him for details; however, I hope he knows, if he ever does want to tell his story someday, that I'm always available to listen...and believe. 

Doc Nolan,

I second your political statement!

Willie a p38 is an actual can opener (well sort of, if you've ever used one you know.  Kind of like an e-tool is a shovel, but its not a great shovel), a Ka-Bar knife is an actual knife.

KA-BAR http://www.thompsonoutdoors.com/images/kabarusmcseveninch.jpg

I read the book Lone Survivor, then I saw the guys interviews...he doesn't remember whats real or whats a lie anymore.  Good book, very harrowing, wouldn't trust any of his first person POV information in it.

Want a good military service memoir for the "now" generation is Jarhead.  Swafford could be crude at times (that at least was honest), but his memoirs clearly define the love-hate relationship that many Gen-x Marines have with the Corps.  The thing that struck me was how uncomfortable I felt while reading it, because it was too close to the truth to be comfortable.

There is a very good reason most true war stories go untold, I've learned to respect that and simply not ask the painful questions.  I need to be accountable to every veteran for what I do, not the other way around.  They served our country and each of us, they did what we could not or would not.

ALL veterans deserve our utmost respect!  My Father and brother both served and I am very proud of that fact.  However, I like Nachista, saw the pain in their faces whenever they spoke about their time in the military.  My Father had horrific nightmares reliving the deaths of his comrades even up until his own death.  I am forever grateful to them and to all who have and those who will serve. I don't think it is possible to fathom what they actually experence, but I try to undertand the best I can.  I proudly display two purple hearts, one belonged to my Father, the other belongs to my brother.  My Daddy did speak of the items he carried with him into combat.  Heart wrenching!  The tears are flowing uncontrollably, gotta go. 

Gob Bless All!   

Doc Nolan, hear hear!  For years, I have said that the commander in chief of the U.S. military should be required to know first-hand what it feels like to be the guy in the trenches.

I agree that the Commander In Chief, should in fact have had some military service...how can you command without a knowledge of who you are commanding and what you are ordering them to do.

The one thing that no soldier/Marine ever wants in his pack...The cheese omelet MRE, or any MRE with Charms in it.

To comment on the above comments about Presidents: Other than Bush Sr., who was the last president to see active combat duty?  Reagan never left the states due to his eyesight; Carter served between War II and Korea; Ford was in the Navy during War II, but the only damage to his ship was from a typhoon, not combat; Nixon was in supply and didn't see combat; Johnson's record is so confused that it is thought to be fake.  You have to go all the way back to Kennedy to see an active combat officer become president.  So while it is true that military service can help a Commander In Chief, I think there are other qualifications that are just as or more neccessary.

Now, on to the actual original article:

It is fascinating to me, the shift that happened a few centuries ago.  Now, people care about the low ranking soldiers, and every military combat service has meaning far beyond the battle.

But what about those who came before?  What about the peasants who were sacrificed to their own side's arrows because they drew the enemy within range?  What did the everyday Roman soldier carry with him to remind him of home?  The question only becomes relevent in history once battle changes from personal fights for survival between two small groups and becomes part of politics.  Once soldiers stopped fighting for something personal and started fighting because they owed something to someone else (fealty, money, whatever). 

It all just makes me wonder: how would I feel if I were told I was being sent out first to be "arrow fodder" and I knew my commander wasn't expecting me to survive?  Or, how would it be to have been one of those (I think they were Russian) soldiers who was issued ammunition but no gun because there weren't enough, and was told to pick up a gun from one of the dead men from the first wave?  Or, worse yet, how would it feel to be IN that first wave, and know the guys behind me were keeping me in sight, not out of concern, but to see where my rifle would fall.

What would I carry with me if I were told I was going to die . . . ?

Thanks, Nachista,

 I have a p38 and I probably have a decent Kabar copy. I have used a p38 and know what you mean. An e Tool is a whole lot closer to the ideal shovel than a p38 is to the ideal can opener ( My manual Swing Away is a Retro Dream, by the way), though I know what you mean there. There are camping tricks with an etool that a big shovel can't do:

a dakota hole is a fireplace trick that involves digging a hole one shovel wide and about a shovel handle deep. Then you dig a second slanting hole to allow air to the bottom of the first one. You build your fire in the bottom and you can put your pot directly on top of the fire.  This probably doesn't work in sand. Or mud.

For those who don't know, an e(ntrenching) tool  is a small shovel that  has been around for a long time ( at least WWII). It could be much worse. The alleged Russian throwing shovel ( yeah, right, that's what all catalogue copy writing should aspire to is about the size of a decent pancake turner. Try digging a foxhole with THAT.

I just wondered if a "John Wayne" was a euphemism. There are tons of them in any serviceman's vocabulary, though it is getting harder and harder to find a sailor who knows why they call it a Mae West Vest.  I seem to remember some term for grenades that included the phrase "can opener".

I can't say that my life has had too much personal experience when it comes to knowing a Vietnam Vet within the immedidate family ~  My father has said he was unfit for serivce as he's allergic to wool I'm not sure about why the middle brother wasn't drafted but the youngest in the family would have been too young .... I am aware that many of my parents friends were there & that it rarely talked about in any of their families.  

About 20 years ago though we took a family Trip to Washington D.C. ( LOVE that PLACE) on the list of "must see" was the wall. Now I was little when the wall was built but I do remember there was a HUGE controversy about building it.  We were in D.C. over 4th of July & that wall was AMAZING ~ Even at the age of 12 you could feel & tell that it was just much more than a monument, There were letters & flowers & flags all along it & people just looking at it, not talking just there in reverance, or making the etchings....  I remember going to this little booth to find out were a name was listed.  That was the first time I think I ever saw my dad kind of cry ~ it was when he found this guys name etched on this black granite amongst to what  it seemed like millions of others. this young man from some little po-dunk farming town in Wisconsin was someone both my parents had known from their earlist years. My sister & I happen to also know the nieces & nephews of this young man, who never came back from further away than what anyone else in that whole commnity had ever traveld in thier lives. I guess until that point My sister & I thought that this war was far removed from our own history, it took tha tmoment to realize thatmost of the kids we were in school with had parents who where in actual combat & who didn't talk about it ever.

I don't know & wonder if the not talking about any of it has to do with the political climate of the country when it comes to Vietnam or if it has to do more with what Mr. Peterman writes in today's blog?...... The unbelieveable sometimes has to be the most believeable for everyone.         

The title of today's post just made my heart sink. 

 The soundtrack to Amelie is all I heard while I read this book. Now those beautiful french instrumentals just bring back a pick-up.

Like Norman, I could just drive around the lake unti the sun sets.

CoyoteMike, would you hire a restaurant manager who had no previous experience in food service, other than dining in a restaurant?  Would you hire a retail sales manager who had no retail experience except as a consumer?  Its like hiring a lifeguard who never learned to swim.  There are a lot of jobs where you can learn on the job and no one is the worse for it...commanding the joint armed forces of a major world power isn't one of them.

Kindlee.
Thank you.

Sorry for barging in without introduction. As a house/pet sitter, it has been interesting to go places online that my hosts have gone and read what they have
evidently read.

Nice people who set up a guest email account for me before leaving on a "five Alice trip Up North." One Alice being, the time it takes to listen to Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" which they claim actually to do. If that makes you shudder, consider that they know Mt. Rushmore to be a seventy-four Alice.

They thoughtfully saw to having personal and business calls forwarded but my new friends Barack and John have been checking in a couple of times a day to see how things are going.

The fridge and freezer are stocked with meals, beer and wine much too nice for me

Just after seven Saturday morning, a tall, still beautiful woman of seventy-five came by to deliver a fresh pecan Danish kringle and a liter thermos of hot coffee. Just imagine.

We visited and I spent the rest of the day wishing to have said: If you would promise to wait, I will promise to hurry and catch up.

The 3 1/2" x 13" x 1/2" pastry proved to be a single serving.

They have "Witness For The Prosecution" on tape and "Miller's Crossing" on DVD.
Free long distance and a lot of downloadable paid for music.
Did I mention that this is a paying job?

An interesting sliding seat multi-hull rowing craft and nearby water, along with warm clothes for the job are an unexpected bonus.

Still, even after shutting down and cleaning up the basement dehumidifier, walking the dog, cleaning the three shotguns (they didn't really need it), walking the dog, getting the leaves off the top and bottom of the pool and walking the dog, a lot of hours remained to poke around in Peterman's Eye- so to speak.

I laughed, I cried, I admired and felt like an eavesdropper. Well, pick two.

Here's a poser for you: Noticing an active subscription to The Times online crossword service, I have, with permission, printed reams, on both sides, to use with my dad and his pals over- t'home. We use an overhead projector and have great fun solving them.

Yet, the presence of an ethical pirating dilemma is pretty clear and I was just wondering: What would you have done?

Regarding todays subject: On a fishing day trip with a well loved retired Army Colonel from our block, we had everything for a wonderful shore lunch but a way to open the giant can of surplus pork and beans.

It was stood up inside a clean galvanized wash tub and "opened" with one .44 caliber slug fired from a fold-up .410 shotgun. I thought they seemed a little zincy.
Looking back, It is likely that he carried both a can opener and a sense of fun.

Nachista,

Did you mean for your response to Coyote Mike to sound that versatile?

House Guest. Am giggling. Welcome.

"We use an overhead projector and have great fun solving them." Fantastic.

You said "pick two." I pick all four.  

I'm a little concerned about what happens when our current global acts of aggression come to an end and these servicepeople get sent home.  If you paid me $1 million per head, I would not have an ex-serviceperson on my payroll.  The military takes individuals and trains, then encourages them, to commit acts which would put them on death row in this country.  They even reward them with shiny medals and ribbons.  Once their tour of duty is up, the military takes away their rifles, and sends them home.  How, in good conscience, can an employer expose their staff and clients to someone ethically compromised in this manner?  All I see is a potential incident waiting to happen.  Put them in the postal service, perhaps, and they will fit right in. 

One Doc that is a very broad generalization you are making about our service men and women.  Military service in general instills discipline, respect for self and others, respect for leadership and country, and valuable skils in many areas of expertise.  Personally I am repulsed and offended by your blanket statement.  It is offensive to our men and women in uniform and it is offense to those in the employ of the USPS.  Your statement wasn't intellectual, funny, witty, cute, or enlightening.

Out of all the service members that I am related to, work with, am friends with, etc I have only ever met one who had violent tendencies (that were aggravated by a severe case of PTSD) and would be a danger to himself or others without someone watching him. 

Killers and sadists are few and far between and there is a good and there is a good reason for that, no one wants to get fragged by the guy behind him in the column.  Most active duty or retired service members are polite, well behaved, contributing members of our society and there is no one I would prefer as a neighbor so much as a former or active duty Marine, Gaurdsman, Soldier, or Sailor.

A list of dangerous former "killers" (read: Marines)

John Philip Sousa, Sell Miller, James Carville, Jim Webb, Tom Seavers, Ted Williams, Rod Carew, Roberto clemente, Eddie collins, Gene Tunney, Ken Norton, John Glenn, Steve McQeen, Tyrone Power, Gene Hackman, Drew Carey, The Everly Brothers, Eddie Adams, Bea Arthur, James Baker, Bob Bell (bozo the clown), Hugh Brannum (Mr. Gren Jeans), Art Buchwald, David Dinkins, R. Lee Ermey, David Eigenberg, Glenn ford, George Jones, Mills Lane, Jim Lehrer, Ed McMahon, Elizabeth Moon, Jimmy Murray, Sam Peckinpah, George Peppard, Pat Robertson, Bernard Shaw

5 years ago 16% of Fortune 500 company CEOs had served in the military...that's a pretty high percentage, seeing as how they are all unstable killing machines, funny that they could run a mult-million dollar company without fragging all their employees.

Nachista:

The current situations in Iraq and Afghanistan are not played by the rules of the wars of our predecessors.  They are putting entirely new stresses on those deployed, and are sending back severely damaged individuals.  Do a little research on the violent actions of these people against spouses, children and co-workers.  My state (NC) has seen four recent murders committed by servicepeople, and 15% of military deaths are by suicide.  (See http://ptsdcombat.blogspot.com/2008/09/oefoif-veteran-suicide-toll-15-of.html)  The US military is a severely broken machine, releasing accidents waiting to happen into our society.

My dad was a doctor in Japan at the end of WWII. He did not engage in combat, he fixed the results. At least, that was all he'd admit to. He considered his contribution minor compared to actual soldiers. He did learn a lot of Japanese, and save quite a few lives, especially in a hospital fire. I am still way proud of him. I had uncles and cousins who were soldiers, and gunners on B-17s over Europe, and I knew some people who went to Vietnam and didn't ever come home.

I cannot conceive of their sacrifice, what they experienced, but I am grateful beyond expression for what our vets have done for us, regardless of their politics. I am outraged at the way the military has been used lately.

One the best things that has been written about the current state of our nation is "Cold Turkey" by Kurt Vonnegut. He is one of my favorite authors. It is one of the best essays I've EVER read, and you should read it. You MUST, I'd say. Link follows:

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/cold_turkey

It always makes me cry. Every time. Miss ya, Kurt...

Willie, is that grenade you reference the German 'potato masher'? Or some other euphemism...

You've all contributed such amazing posts today.

Welcome House Guest-great post. Thanks!

Willie Trask,

The "John Wayne" is officially known as the "P38 Folding Pocket Can Opener, Key Type", go figure that one....

The Grenade as "can opener' refers to the fact that you can take the pin from the spent grenade and use it as a can opener...I never did.

Kindlee,

Your son will talk when he's ready...maybe he never will....time blunts the edges and makes it easier for him to either talk or at least be at ease within himself.

Nachista,

You can add my name "ExPat" to the list of former "killers"...I'd be happy to be included in such distinguished company!

Doc don't tell me about Irag/Afghanistan veterans, I live with one.  War is terrible, it always has been, the scenery changes but the violence never does.  You want damage you talk to my uncle who had to carry a flamethrower, you talk to him about what he did in the war and then look at what he did in the 60 years since, then get back to me.

Oh let's not forget our own J. Peterman in the list of Former Marines.

Do a little research on violence commited/suicides by peace officers, baliffs, security guards, bank tellers, drunken frat boys, dentists, and day-care workers.  Your comment is like someone saying "all wife-beater wearing mexicans are violent criminals who abuse their families".  It happens, especially with those suffering from mental trauma, but the military is far better now and addressing it and fighting it than they have been in the past. 

Considering the target demographic the recruiters are working with, I'm suprised the rate isn't higher, but take a look at what the violence rate is in the neighborhoods and families most of these guys come from and they look good by comparison.

Actually my husband is one of the most gentle guys I know...it was me that had to be pulled out of a fist fight after some FUBAR hippy called my husband a baby-killer and then tried to spit on him after seeing his haircuit and his USMC hoodie, in line at Disneyland...in front of small children. 

I've known ex-military men, and I know one right now, that I have the greatest respect for, and I'm pretty fond of them. Stepsons, good friends, co-workers, all wonderful people. No zombie killers or psychos among them. My stepson was totally turned around in life by taking his airframe maintenance skills to the Air Force. The AF literally 'made a man of him'. Before, he wore his cap backwards, baggy pants, arrogance, trouble with the law, driver's license suspension, looming jail time. After-he's married, got a cute kid, a good job, he's a sergeant with his own plane (he just lets the pilot fly it, if he's in a good mood).

I know there are some whom the endless war breaks, with tragic results. This administration has no time for them-they've served their purpose, been used up, and now discarded. One more sin to add to the LONG list these chickenhawks should answer for.

As a recently-divorced spouse of an Iraq War vet, I can tell you that OncDoc is right on the money!  My ex-husband and his friends left as decent young men and came back violent, vicious and brutal individuals.  I had to take out restraining orders (which were useless).  He committed acts of physcial abuse against our children, and I ended up hospitalized by this monster.  The army turned a blind eye to all of it.  One of his fellow unit members and friends is currently in prison for violent crime, and several of my army wife friends are in the same boat as me.  There is nothing noble about the military or what it turns people into, and you can bet that I will never let my children join the army. 

Ex-Pat, how could I forget?!? 

For the most part the poor kids or kids from troubled homes come out of military training/service the better for it.  There is a guy my husband is serving with that was considered a "bad egg" or a "loser" by everyone that knew him in high school, including the teachers and guidance counselors.  Now he is an ASL interpreter for deaf kids and is amazing with them.  The Corps really turned his life around and now he is giving back to the community.

You can't judge a book by its cover or even its "blurb".  We hired a former kindergarten teacher, who was leaving her job as a bank teller for more full-time work.  She was immaculately groomed, polite, perky, effecient.  She was amazing...until someone notified us that she had plead guilty to embezzlement and armed assault, she was stealing money from the bank she worked for and funnelling it to her gang and her drug dealing boyfriend.  She went to prison and everyone here was shocked.

Its easy to label people to make ourselves feel better or point fingers.  The better (harder) part is to find the good in each individual and nuture that.  Contribute where you see fault and problems.  Put your time, energy, and dollars where your mouth is and do some good for those that you feel so unsafe around.  Sometimes it is a good job offer that makes all the difference in the world.  I feel the same about ex-cons, I've worked with many ex-cons in the restaurant business...some were mightily changed and a few were not, but the best thing you can give someone is a bit of respect and a chance to make good.

Nachista it's not simple. Hippies aren't all ill-mannered boors like this one. Most want to support the troops by bringing them home. I know a lot of these kids, and their sense of right and wrong, or morality and ethics, gives me hope for our country. A lot of them are going into public service, going to the Clinton School. They have friends in harm's way too. Not all military people are noble and gentle. I've known a few that are messed up. What I've found overall is that the bad ones are the minority in all groups. Most people are decent individuals of good will. Some need help, and are ignored. Society pays...

I like hippies Olivia ;) my husband frequently calls me one.  Its just the closed minded ones that love jumping to conclusions without thought for feelings or common curtesy that get my goat.

Olivia you are right, it is never simple.  That's why I wanted to stand up for the ones that are trying and who are good people.  I still believe there is more good than bad in this world, if I didn't what would be the point in living?  There is black and white and a huge expanse of grey in the middle.

Hedorules, welcome.  Thank you for sharing, I am sorry for the pain and suffering you have gone through, I hope you are all safe and well now.  I agree that there needs to be more responsibility for the health care (mental and physical) of our returning troops.  In the early years of this war there were so many who "slipped through the cracks", it is shameful.  They are now pre-screening before deployments for those at risk for PTSD (which should be all of them, don't you think) and setting up ways and means for those suffering from PTSD to get help and treatment.

Hopefully the system will get better and hopefully we will be able to withdraw from those theatres of war and hopefully, someday we won't want to worry about brain trauma from IEDs and planning funerals for fallen friends and loved ones.  Hopefully.

I also feel that our government and the American people didn't just fail the Vietname era vets, we drop kicked them under the rug.

Nachista,

Everything you've said is right-on.   As a personal note, when I came back from Vietnam I was one of those spit on...not at the airport...but when I'd returned to college after my active duty time. I never acknowledged my service because I had a few professors who would have given me less then good grades...one a rabid anti-war character actually gave me a "D' in a subject I always got "A's" in.  After awhile you learn to stay quiet and suffer in silence.

But I found life to be too short for the bitterness and the best revenge is to live well and succeed. You have to keep moving or they'll step on you. (words of advise from a friend of mine)

Thanks for your service and your contributions here Ex-Pat.

This has been a very emotional topic for all of us and I will admit to being on the verge of tears several times during the day.

My son serves as a Marine. My husband served as a Naval Officer for over 20 years. My father, who received a purple heart, served as a B-24 tail-turret gunner, in the ETO, during WWII.

All I can think of to contribute at this point is Thank You!

Thank you to all the Veterans who have served. Thank you to all those currently serving. Thank you to all the families and friends, who are ever present for them. Thank you to everyone who cares.

All of you are in my thoughts and prayers.

nachista,
You go, girl!

ExPat,
Thank you.

You know, I scroll to the end and it always wants to know, "Willie Trask, What do you think?"

And I think, look at all of these thoughtful people who can't agree, despite their obvious respect for each other and their solid reasons for the opinions they express. And I think, what a horrible shame it is that good people get  messed up, however and wherever they do, and what a wonderful thing it is when messed up people become less so. I spent this afternoon, or part of it, with a child who has been in the mental hospital four times since Easter. She is 21, but she is a child, sorry. She may be bipolar, like her brother, or she may have schizoaffective or paranoid schizophrenia. Her mother is certainly contributing to her troubles, though they are presently on very good terms. That wasn't the case when she got home and stopped taking the medicine each time. I can't blame her, since it seems to have been about as bad as the symptoms
 And it seems a shame that she can't smoke a little pot like everybody else, but it also seems  she can't. 

There is a chance that  she might have gone into the military and who is to say whether some nasty lurking schizo-affective problem would have showed up at a bad time? Smarter people than I am on this forum can tell about how early adulthood (i.e., usual enlistment time) and  schizophrenia ( and other illnesses) seem to come around at the same time. And, for that matter, how young people with few other options do often choose the military.

And yes, Nachista, I know that the services are a lot more selective than they once were. And I will gladly praise the smart, decent people with plenty of other options who have enlisted and served  and distinguished themselves and our country. And I have to say now that I know PLENTY of people who serve in the Guard and have gone a lot of places they wouldn't have chosen to and I admire them, too.

But you have to ache for the wives and mamas and children of those people things haven't worked out for. And obviously for them. Especially if they are too screwed up to see how they are.

I know plenty of people find it in their hearts to blame the current administration and some people manage to blame the Majority Party for the last two years while others are sure they are blameless.

It's kind of like the original question, isn't it? How, in fact can some people actually have had the time of their lives, even when they were dodging bullets and seeing horrible death at close range? Didn't some of them? Could they possibly have? Well, they were young and their jobs were fairly well defined and some of the time they were properly equipped and some of the time, their cause was just and they met and came to love men ( and women) they would never have known and they had the chance to do all sorts of amazing things in the most unlikely places.

God bless us, every one. S.O.B.s, farmboys, losers, jackasses, smart-asses, ungrateful undeserving, unexpected, unappreciated, overweight, overconfident, lost, redeemed,...

Who have I left out? God Bless you, too.    

I think I ache for us all.

Today it was a privilege to just sit back and read all of your heartfelt, superbly written posts (except for the insensitive, mean spirited one that is. . . . You know I don't cotton well with blanket generalizations). You are an amazing group of very unique individuals united by a common bond of grace. Thought you should know that.

I am very grateful for all who have served and the sacrifices that have been made. If we as a society would treat our veterans with the honor and respect that they so richly deserve instead of wasting it on celebrities and sports heroes, we could become a great society indeed. It is a shame that we don't because it's already too late for too many.

Be well.

Mr. Peterman!

You're back. Am smiling.

M.I.

I'm so glad to be among you.

To the king (for today) of cynics,

God forbid that it ever happens, but should you find yourself in an extreme pickle: car hanging over a cliff; trapped by a live wire or rising water, when a couple of brave, fit and willing young people show up to risk their lives to save yours it might be best if you didn't inquire about prior military affiliations. They'll probably have them.

They'll be there because they are better than me and better than you think. They will do what needs to be done because of that and because they have learned to accept and apply training. Just like their dads and ours.

I feel like I may have offended or made light of other people in the forum today.  I am sorry that I take it so personally sometimes.  Never would I in good conscience attack or tear down someone else's opinions and it feels like I have done that today.  I forget that defending my own POV doesn't give me the right to step on someone else's or tell them that they are wrong, its an opinion, its a feeling...they aren't wrong, they just are.

To One Doc or anyone else that may have felt that I bullied or got carried away or overstepped the friendly bounds of this wonderful board...I am sorry, deeply sorry.  It was never my intention to hurt anyone, or incite unpleasant discord in the community.  Thank you all for being YOU and for putting up with me on my less than noble days (which are a many). 

My mother was in the Marine Corps during WWII. My father was a first class petty officer aboard the USS Shamrock. They were both serving in the Pacific and met at a roller rink in Hawaii. It was love at first sight. When my dad shipped out they stayed in touch somehow, and when the war was winding down my dads ship was sent back to Pearl Harbor. He couldn't wait to see my mom and as soon as he could get off the ship he jumped into a cab a raced to the Marine base to see her. When he got there they told him that she had left about an hour earlier to fly back to the States, but he might be able to still catch her at the airport. He got another cab and raced to the airport, jumped out of the cab and ran to the gate just in time to see her plane taking off down the runway. He said that he just broke down and cried right there as he watched her plane disappear into the sky. He would always tear up whenever he told us that story. I was always very proud of them both for their service.

My mother was a prolific letter writer, and constantly wrote home during her entire time away in the service. She was barely out of high school and had never really been out of Des Moines. Apparently my grandmother kept all of her letters and after my mother passed away we found all of them (about 100 in all) in a box. It was a fascinating read, and the letters were infused with newspaper articles, military bulletin-board items (No one will get liberty on Saturday night because.....blah blah), documents, photos, and even poems that were meaningful to her. She had many adventures and many heartbreaking and heartwarming moments from the time she went to boot-camp, until the time she was discharged. A genuine look into military life during WWII. There's even a couple of letters in there about when she met my dad and how in love she was. I'm so glad these letters were preserved. Maybe I can make a book out of them someday.

The amount of gear that a Corpsman has to carry in the field is unbelievable. I always left my gas mask under my bunk just so that I would have the empty case to carry my camera and cigarettes. Add to that a really heavy box of ammo and you are cursing the day you ever met your recruiter.

The MRE's with pork patties were so despised by the troops that they were eventually phased out, but they were my favorite. My second favorite was the ham and cheese omelette.

nachista, I think Sir Boyscout is very lucky to have you standing by his side.

Tiberius, I've never had the ham and cheese omelette but I had the regular Cheese Omelet one because I didn't believe my husband when he said everyone hated them.  It was gross, I think the only things that didn't make me sick was the gum and the hot chocolate mix.  He is issued more MREs than he can eat while they are in the field so he brings them home and puts them in our food storage. 

When my nieces and nephews come over to visit they ask for the MREs for dinner because they like opening all the little packages and trying the new meals and collecting the tiny tobassco bottles.  The only meal they haven't liked was one of the winter MREs that was supposed to be lasagna but turned out to be a sort of crunchy lasagna-ish soup thing.  One thing about those meals is for certain, they need to include fiber caplets with those things.

Tiberius, thank you!  I luff, LUFF corpsman, you guys are awesome.  You are our Marines lifeline and they couldn't do what they do without you guys taking care of them.  Just a question, is Ibuprofen-for-everything a local joke or do you guys do that everywhere.  "Sprained ankle?  Ibuprofen"  "Laceration?  Ibuprofen" "VD? Ibuprofen".  Its become a huge joke with Fox company, now the docs have the largest bottle of analgesics that I've ever seen, hung up outside the door to their office.