As a former Vet (66-70), I would like to thank our Vets for their service to our country. Hard to believe it's been 50 years since the Tet offensive.
Karl

Well done thou good and faithful servants

Mike

Thanks to all who served, and especially those who gave their all.

SRH

Read that "Charlie-Lima" and a "Semper Fi" to all my USMC brothers- here with us, or remembered forever on that Black Wall in DC--RWTF

I was Vietnam era, but never in country. Those who were deserve the recognition they never got.

Ditto here L. Brown. I signed up in "66 but never went "over there."

For those who went, I'm proud to know you and in case nobody ever told you guys - "Welcome Home!"

And to those who gave all - we are forever grateful for your service and your ultimate sacrifice.

Welcome Home Brothers
Mike

Yeah, me too. I didn't even know there was a Vietnam Veterans Day...Geo

Didn't realize it was VN Vet day...it was the day in 1968 that I arrived back in VN from the 10th Special Forces Group in Bad Tolz, Germany for my second tour. (hummm 29 April 1975, Saigon falls; 29 April 1978, Daud Khan overthrown in Kabul...not sure 29 is one of my favorite numbers)

Take care to all you guys... Photo below taken 40 years apart Spring 67, Spring 07 - latter photo I dressed in battle rattle because I didn't want to be the only civilian clothed guy on the mission down the Farah river to the Helmand Basin.

I am one of those to young for one to old for the other but thank you to all who serve and who have served!

It's been 49 years since I got out of the U.S. Army. Do we realize that when we went in, it was only 49 years since the end of World War 1? On the other hand, my father was born eight months before the first flight at Kitty Hawk. My grandfather was born five years before the first shots at Fort Sumter. Time flies.

Come November, it'll be 57 years since I enlisted. Just typing that makes me feel damn old!

Larry,
My admitting that I just turned 72 makes me feel old. Thinking that we are pushing 80 hurts!
Me on my 21st birthday!
Karl

Great picture, Karl. I promise, if I post a picture of me in military background in 1968, I'll post a backup picture of me in 2019, but with shirt on. Thanks.

I went to a memorial service today for my neighbor. He was a Vietnam vet, which I was aware of, but I didn't know he was a Ranger and had 3 purple hearts and some serious commendations for bravery. Cancer got him and he figured it was Agent Orange that ultimately did him in.

I'll miss our driveway discussions about a myriad of different things. A truly good guy who would do anything for a person. He was 70 on March 22nd.

Cameron,
I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, and I too have lost a couple from suspected Agent Orange. I still have my AO letter sent to me after discharge to remind me.
Karl

Many, many thanks to those who served during that war, especially to those who went to VN. I have the utmost respect for you! Thanks is not enough, but all I have to offer.

May God Bless all of you!

Greg

It's been said that those who served in Vietnam didn't get the homecoming they deserved until after the Gulf War. Thankfully, we are a better nation now. What a change from those old days back in the 70's, when we wore civilian clothes when doing open source research at the University of Iowa library because those in uniform weren't welcome. I'm still amazed by all the "thank you for your service!" greetings I get when I wear my "US Army Veteran" cap.

Larry,
I'm thankful for the turn around of treatment, and appreciate it. It helps to make up for getting spit upon as I passed through the San Francisco airport on my return home.
I'm often asked by the younger generation "why don't you just let it go?". You can imagine my response!
Karl

I never experienced any bad treatment when I was released from the Army, nor did I experience any bad treatment while I was in uniform while travelling. I was a little short on transportation and hitchhiked my way home and back to my duty station wearing my class A uniform. Most of this was on Interstate 95. I never had any trouble getting rides while in uniform. I don't associate with liberals, so I don't experience the comments Karl mentions. My grandsons are in law enforcement and my granddaughter spends as much time at my house as at her parents' house, so no political problems there. I live in an extremely rural section of the communist empire of Montgomery County, Maryland, and all of my neighbors either work the land or work hard at something else. Very few liberals or employees of "non profit" organizations within a mile of my home, as far as I know.

Canada considers its servicemen and women differently from the US, Bill. The notion of warriors as heroes doesn't generally enter it. It's a volunteer force. It goes where it is sent by politicians. We admire its professionalism although not always their missions. Holding military personnel to account for war policy is unintelligent and old-fashioned. A big difference between yours and ours is the US does not neglect its armed forces between wars as we do.The US is the West's police and we're a cop on a beat.

King, we've also been an all-volunteer force for a long time. Unfortunately, residual resentment from the Vietnam years--terribly misdirected at those who served, most of whom would have rather been somewhere else--carried over for quite some time.

I served in an Army Reserve Military Intelligence Detachment in Iowa City. University of Iowa, pretty liberal back then. If we wanted to go out for a drink after drill in uniform, the only place we felt comfortable was the American Legion. The commanding officer and I went out for dinner one evening in uniform. Some [censored] made a smartass remark about "weekend warriors". He obviously didn't understand the meaning of the medals on the Old Man's chest--nor what other insignia on his uniform indicated. He was a Korean War vet. Served in the Ranger company of the 2nd Infantry Division. (I'm pretty sure he enlisted under age.) Had a couple purple hearts, and occasionally a piece of shrapnel would work its way out of his leg.

Things got better, but it was a long time coming. I was an instructor at Northern Iowa when former CIA Director Bill Colby came to campus to give a speech, late 70's. Not a lot of noise, but some protesters with signs about 20,000 deaths in Vietnam. (Colby ran the Phoenix Program, which--much like today's drone strikes--targeted key Viet Cong leaders.) Most people did not know that Colby had gone behind enemy lines twice during WWII (France and Norway) as an OSS officer. Genuine American hero. He remarked that he'd been offered a lot more money if he'd trash the CIA in a book or in his speeches. Unfortunately, campus crowds back then were much more welcoming to people like the traitor Philip Agee, who "outed" hundreds of his fellow CIA officers in his memoir. And somehow managed to avoid prosecution.

Justified or otherwise, I file that kind of behaviour under ignorance. Nothing else can explain it. I've never seen or heard of anything like it in Canada. A nearby town changed its name to Dieppe after the failed raid on July 19, 1942, at a time when we were losing everywhere. Our military had the country's respect, and there's abiding respect to this day for FDR and Ike for marshalling and commanding forces to save us from looming tyranny.

A lightly populated country compared to the big powers, Canada finished the war with the fourth-largest air force and third-largest naval surface fleet in the world. My Scottish uncle was No. 2 Commando, my Dad bomber pilot shot down in 1942, intelligence chief of The Great Escape. They'd be embarrassed to be called heroes. Our family served under Nelson, took part in burning of Washington, and included a commissioned officer on transport Northumberland that took Napoleon to exile.

Thanks to all of you for what you did and what you gave.

King Brown,
Regardless of whether the Canadian forces are volunteer or drafted, I for one appreciate very much their service in the World Wars and the ones since then, especially in the "Sand Box". I may question some Canadian's politics, but never your soldiers bravery.
Mike

I think it was 1968 when a family three houses down the road from my parents lost a son in Viet Nam. He had jumped on a grenade saving other members of his platoon, but was killed instantly. He got a posthumous promotion from E-4 to Sergeant. My Mom was talking to our next-door neighbor lady about it, and they suggested to me and my best buddy that we should walk over and offer our condolences. I had never paid such a condolence call, and didn't know what to say, but we nervously went.

It was a warm day and the grieving family was in the living room. When we came onto the porch and walked to the screen door, they quietly invited us inside. We went over to his parents and told them how sorry we felt. His Dad rubbed our heads and tears welled up in his eyes, and he left the room unable to speak. His Mom hugged us, and I'll never forget the pained look in her eyes. Even years later, you could still see that pain because she lost her son. I just can't understand how anyone could spit on someone because they served in Viet Nam.

I've been to Dieppe. Stark reminder of brave Canadians who gave their lives.

Keith,
I remember coming home on leave for 30 days after my return. After a couple of days to reorient myself, I went over to one of my high school buddies house to say high and perhaps hang out with him. I remember his dad coming to the door with an awful look on his face only to tell me that Ronny didn't come home. I stopped trying to look up old friends until after my 4 years were up. I can still see that ghostly look on his face.
My heart goes out to anyone with such experiences.
Karl

I've been to Dieppe. Stark reminder of brave Canadians who gave their lives. [/quote]


Better yet, Dieppe is a stark reminder of what terrible planning, worse execution, and flawed vision will end up like on a battlefield. Dieppe was a waste of man & material. Even though Churchill and Mountbatten justified it till the end, that was to save face.

You got it right, Lefusil. I wrote the story as part of regimental history of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, led by former quarterback of the CFL Hamilton Tiger Cats, two of his halfbacks as company commanders.

Larry, I went through all the yellowed debriefing papers of every soldier who returned from the raid in the national archives to find the name of the Riley who stuffed a bangalore torpedo into the pillbox that got what was left of the regiment off the beach, into the casino and then the town.

His name was Private Tommy Greaves, 19, son of a charlady who never knew what happened to him, informed missing and presumed dead. She hoped he was still alive and maybe a little out of his head. She said, "When he left the house to go overseas, he said 'Some day you will be proud of me, Mom'" and I really am."

Mike, don't stop questioning politics anywhere; when we do we're done for. Canada's refusal in the Second World War to allow its military to be entered piecemeal under British command was a result of the enormous unwarranted sacrifices to the mindless British generals of the First World War.

When it was reported to Ludendorff the Canadians were fiercely pushing back German forces during The 100 Last Days of WWI, he said "Brave men, led by donkeys." Foch called the Canadian Corps "an army second to none" and British historians later called it "The finest formation of all sides of the war."

I do know that American forces, especially Special Services, welcome their presence today.

Korean vets may remember Truman's Presidential Citation to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry which held the line during the Chinese rout of Allied forces. From The Canadian Encyclopedia:

"The Battle of Kapyong is one of Canada’s greatest, yet least-known, military achievements. For two days in April, 1951, a battalion of roughly 700 Canadian troops helped defend a crucial hill in the front lines of the Korean War against a force of about 5,000 Chinese soldiers. Besieged by waves of attackers, the Canadians held their position amid the horror of close-combat until the assaulting force had been halted and the Canadians could be relieved. Their determined stand contributed significantly to the defeat of the Communist offensive in South Korea that year."

King Brown,
Don't forget there were Americans at Dieppe; a small unit of 50 of the first Rangers. They didn't all come home either. General Pershing resisted allowing American troops in WW1 to be placed under French command for the same reason the Canadians resisted British command. Pershing was forced to send some, and he sent African American units. They were welcomed and showed themselves as very fine fighters.
Mike

Dieppe was a political excursion billed as a military attack. My respect is for soldiers, politicians not as much.

There were a lot of people killed for something that was only "billed" as a military attack. Seems pretty military. One of the allies was being pretty well cut up and was begging for the western allies to do something to draw troops away from them, but we weren't able then to mount a full fledged invasion. Their mission was to get in, shoot them up and get out. We found out a lot of our tactics and equipment didn't work out. It helped us out later. Every one in the raid did the best he could.
Mike

Someone, Mountbatten, I think, said every life lost at Dieppe saved 10 at Normandy. Tough lesson though...Geo