Thank You For Your Service...............

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Cape Cod Times - 01/08/2018 Copy Reduced to 99% from original to fit letter page.

MY VIEW

Thank you for your service: America’s shrinking military

By Ralph Negron

In 1969, the 101st Airborne Division (the Screaming Eagles) fought one of the hardest battles of the Vietnam War. For 11 days, paratroopers from the 101st fought the battle-hardened 29th North Vietnamese Army Regiment, which was solidly entrenched on top of a hill the troops named “Hamburger Hill.” After 11 days of fierce fighting in treacherous monsoon weather conditions, the Screaming Eagles were finally able to wrestle the hill from its tough North Vietnamese occupiers. But it came at a steep price – 76 U.S. soldiers were killed and almost 400 more wounded.

In the same year, protesters organized the biggest demonstration of the era in Washington, D.C. The evening news showed enthusiastic demonstrators waving North Vietnamese flags and chanting in unison “Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh.” Hundreds of Americans enthusiastically waved flags that the Scream- ing Eagles had fought so hard to defeat.

Adding insult to injury, the provocative chant made a mockery of the U.S. government, which considered Ho Chi Minh and North Vietnam a threat to national security. It was convenient to dismiss these acts on the naiveté of mostly young college-age protesters. But the savvy activists fully comprehended the significance of the symbols they were using to dramatize their objections. In 1969, we had become a nation at war with itself.

Americans had grown weary of war. Many disengaged themselves from the fight- ing raging on the other side of the world; unless, of course, there was a loved one still in the fight. Few Americans at the time paid much attention to the heroic actions of the Screaming Eagles in 1969. The battle is noteworthy, however, because it exposed the ultimate irony of the Vietnam War; which is that we won all the battles, like Hamburger Hill, but lost the war. Not to a foreign army, but to the loss of support from the American people.

There are many lessons from the Vietnam War, but none more important than the idea that a democratic nation cannot sustain a war without the will of its people. The loss of public support left government overseers with few options. There appears to be a similar public withdrawal developing today but it has taken a different passage.

Currently, America has the smallest number of citizens ever to serve in the armed forces. Less than 1 percent of the U.S. population is serving in uniform on active duty, the National Guard or reserves. This small group provides the thin veil that stands between America and its many foes. They get bloodied, endure squalid living conditions, multiple deployments to dangerous places, and too often die so that you and I can remain safe.

In conjunction with the declining armed forces is the rapidly diminishing veteran population. Veterans provide an important bridge linking mutual understanding between the armed forces and the rest of the population. Through aging, the large veteran populations from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam have rapidly declined. Today less than 5 percent of the total U.S. population has ever been in uniform. The result is a nation with little firsthand knowledge about military service or war.

In 1969, Americans deliberately created a wall separating themselves from the military establishment out of weariness for the Vietnam War. Today the wall has re-emerged from complacency and lack of engagement by a public that has limitless respect for the men and women in uniform but prefers not to think about them or the possibilities of war.

The phrase “thank you for your service” has become a popular phrase used by well- meaning citizens to express gratitude to members of the military community and veterans. Although I believe that most veterans appreciate the thought, it has a hollow ring since the person conveying the gratitude has no idea or interest about the realities of that veteran’s service. Similarly, in Congress the new norm is to praise the military and support it without the skepticism that might be applied to other government institutions funded by American taxpayers. Support of the military might be the only bipartisan topic of agreement in Congress today.

As a quantitative measure of American confidence in its military, a recent Gallup poll indicates that 75 percent of the American public has full confidence in the U.S. armed services, as opposed to only 7 percent confidence in Congress. And with good reason. The professional armed forces that currently defend us is the best trained, best educated, motivated, and disciplined force that America has ever fielded. But it faces an imminent threat from a public that has “no skin in the game.” Gen. Douglas MacArthur once said: “The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” MacArthur’s comment is a poignant reminder that a nation needs engaged citizens who fully comprehend the consequences of going to war. And the Vietnam War is a good reminder that going to war has dire consequences unless a fully engaged citizenry supports it.

— Ralph Negron of Sandwich is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Vietnam.

Copyright © Cape Cod Times
January 8, 2018 6:38 am (GMT +5:00) Powered by TECNAVIA
 
Very nice read. I could not agree more. Serving my country was very difficult for me at times but I would not change a single thing. The older I get the more I realise how much of my youth I gave to our country, but it also taught me to be a man and the true meaning of responsibility and pride.
 
Cape Cod Times - 01/08/2018 Copy Reduced to 99% from original to fit letter page. MY VIEW....
Thank you for your service: America’s shrinking militaryAs a quantitative measure of American confidence in its military, a recent Gallup poll indicates that 75 percent of the American public has full confidence in the U.S. armed services, as opposed to only 7 percent confidence in Congress. And with good reason. The professional armed forces that currently defend us is the best trained, best educated, motivated, and disciplined force that America has ever fielded. But it faces an imminent threat from a public that has “no skin in the game.” Gen. Douglas MacArthur once said: “The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” MacArthur’s comment is a poignant reminder that a nation needs engaged citizens who fully comprehend the consequences of going to war. And the Vietnam War is a good reminder that going to war has dire consequences unless a fully engaged citizenry supports it.— Ralph Negron of Sandwich is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Vietnam.


74% of Americans don't know jack-shite about the state of our military, including me...lol

But having said that, I do agree with the premise.
 
74% of Americans don't know jack-shite about the state of our military, including me...lol

But having said that, I do agree with the premise.

I started writing this thinking how disappointing it is that so few of today's Congress are veterans then realized that 50 years ago (during Vietnam) that we still had a decent amount of WW2 vets in Congress and look how that got screwed up. Speak nothing of buffoons like Kerry and McCain. I guess we're just screwed. Mandatory military service.....no exceptions!!!!!
 
I was with the 101st 50 years ago this month.....my first tour in Nam.......

I got wounded at the end of January during Tet, was back in the states at the hospital Ft. Campbell by mid February,
and was a patient for over 7 months recovering......many nights I couldn't sleep because of the physical pain, and many more I couldn't
sleep because of the horrible dreams that haunted me.

When I think back on those days.....I have so many emotions...... So many thoughts I have wanted to talk about, but have avoided all
these years. Nobody wants to hear it though. My wife made me promise I would never talk about it, and I kept that promise for 24 years.

Now, I live alone, and can't stop thinking about it.....and the horrible dreams come back every time I read a post like this one........

And people wonder why old farts like me are not afraid of dying......not knowing how much we want the pain to finally end, and the
dreams to stop coming back............................
 
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Now, I live alone, and can't stop thinking about it.....and the horrible dreams come back every time I read a post like this one........

Sorry to stir up the memories Kim. It would seem that 50 years later all the bad dreams and thoughts would have faded or lessened to a great degree. T'ain't so as you point out.

My intent in posting Negron's "view" was to highlight the fact that less than 1% of the U.S. population is serving in uniform. Likewise, the numbers of our Congressional representatives who have worn the uniform, is dwindling year by year to the point that we veterans have very few voices who can speak on our behalf. Not that a couple that I can think of (Kerry/McCain) have necessarily benefited our well-being as an aside.
 
I read an article many years ago about brain waves, and how they affect memories. Alpha, Beta, Delta and Theta waves...they all play a part in how
both our bodies and our brains work.

When a person is young, the brain waves are in specific, low frequency ranges. As we grow into adulthood, the different waves increase, albeit slightly,
in frequency.

And when you get old, and your body starts to wear out, they slow back down again.

The body affects the brain, and the brain can also affect the body.......an undeniable medical fact!

It is also true that accessing certain memories in your brain is also related to the frequency of your brain waves when you stored those memories.

That is why people with Alzheimer's can't remember what they had for breakfast, but can remember the names of their friends in their second
grade class!

I don't have Alzheimer's yet (that I know of) but other parts of my health are failing, and these damn dreams about my childhood, and my young
days in Vietnam are getting more and more common every night.

It has gotten so bad that I wake up a 3:00 am in a old sweat, and am afraid to go back to sleep again.........
 
I came here to say "Semper Fi" to Ralph Negron, the author of the article.

Now all I want to do is say "Damn" because of what Kim (Skysoldier) has posted. You are truly an asset to the NES community, and I hope you're around here to contribute your hard-earned wisdom (and great/funny stories) for a long time to come.
 
Sorry to hear your having this issue Sky. It's just your head playing games with you. Remember back in Nam when you were on hole watch? You might have seen a stump when it was still light enough to see it, but when it got dark, if you looked at that stump long enough, it would start moving around. Even though you knew for sure it was a stump, That sucker wouldn't stop moving around. I know that you understand that stump moving was just your head playing games with you. What your describing here seems to be pretty much the same thing. Rub your eyes and tell it to f***k off. Remember, it ain't nothing but a thing. Damn. When is the last time you heard that. We're getting old brother.
 
I come from a perspective of having never been in it. Both of my grandfather's served, one in Europe, and and another on a ship in the Pacific. How as a person in my position do I say thank you, or try and understand what anyone down range has been through? I won't, I can't, and I refuse to pretend to. What I do know is that there is a group of very special people that have been there, or are planning going there. My words, our someone who has never been there, those words will never be enough. But my 'thank you' for serving is all i can do, and understanding that a 'thank you' will never be enough is a start. Our veterans deserve so much more than they get.
 
Sorry to hear your having this issue Sky. It's just your head playing games with you. Remember back in Nam when you were on hole watch? You might have seen a stump when it was still light enough to see it, but when it got dark, if you looked at that stump long enough, it would start moving around. Even though you knew for sure it was a stump, That sucker wouldn't stop moving around. I know that you understand that stump moving was just your head playing games with you. What your describing here seems to be pretty much the same thing. Rub your eyes and tell it to f***k off. Remember, it ain't nothing but a thing. Damn. When is the last time you heard that. We're getting old brother.

I KNOW that stump was moving. I could even hear it. All those gd lizards and snakes scratching around. I just KNEW some VC was going to sneak up and slice my throat open. 105 parachute flares would come hissing down turning everything into black and white. The stumps would stop moving until the flare went out and then your night vision was gone. It was back to do I open up, and wake the whole platoon up, or make my neck shorter and make it another 10 minutes. another 30 minutes. another hour. I can still hear those flares floating down. 60 years later. Just head games.
 
I don't have Alzheimer's yet (that I know of) but other parts of my health are failing, and these damn dreams about my childhood, and my young
days in Vietnam are getting more and more common every night. It has gotten so bad that I wake up a 3:00 am in a old sweat, and am afraid to go back to sleep again.........

Sky, In my somewhat 'been there done that' opinion, what your going through is real and needs to be dealt with. If I understand your first post on this thread you were wounded almost 50 years to this date, so yea, I think most of us are thinking and dreaming of events 50 years back, we'd like to forget.

Bio-chemically our brains during nightmares and flashbacks are essentially re-experiencing the autonomic of fight/flight responses that we experienced in combat. Lately I noticed I've been having panic attacks at night, usually they are manageable, this year barely. I can't talk to my wife about it, she just doesn't understand. Having a support system helps a lot, don't know if the 'Cathouse' qualifies...lol

A good friend of mine of 55 years was a combat medic with the 9th Div, I was over his house last week for a few pops and little smoke. He's related a story, while at the VA hospital he got talking to a Korean War veteran who had been getting acupuncture treatments by a VA doctor who specialized in the field for PTSD, and the vet was very happy with the result. My buddy tried it and was amazed at the result and relief he got.

Might want to check it out.....Hang tough, keep up the fire and don't forget to write :D
Frenchy
 
I think a lot of us fear getting help for the sole reason that we may end up on a list, and one day will get that knock on our door by law enforcement asking for us to turn over our weapons because the VA reported that we had been diagnosed with PTSD or a deployment related anxiety disorder.

Recent events and talk haven't been reassuring. I own weapons that have been in my family for generations and I plan on keeping that way. Ill be damned If I let Chuck Schumer and his minions change that.
 
Written by a friend of mine a few years back:

Today is Veteran’s Day. I am a Veteran.

I do not need your thanks or appreciation.

I must disclaim up front, I am at this moment up at 6:30am, about to go to the Bob Evan’s Restaurant to take them up of the ‘free hotcakes’ Veteran’s Day offering, because I am a frugal man. Later on today, I’ll be taking advantage of the culinary largesse of another restaurant (or two, or three..). I also do not presume to speak on behalf of any other veteran.

When I say, “I do not need your thanks or appreciation”, I mean this: The symbolism spawned by this federal holiday verges on emptiness. The thanks are as perfunctory and rote as the reflexive “God Bless You” after a sneeze, or the “You Too” we mutter under our breaths after some retail robot sends us off with a overly chipper “Have a nice day.”

I don’t intend to be mean spirited, or to demean those who express truly heartfelt gratitude, but the collective societal action on this day bothers me. It has taken me a while to figure out precisely what it is that bothers me about it all, but I think it is this:

I see a collective sense of guilt dating back to the aftermath of the Vietnam War where members of our society were drafted, and by threat of sanction by the State, forced to go and fight strangers in a strange land and afterwards return to face a significant minority of the populace that treated them as criminals, baby killers, murderers…

And like too many societal reactions to negative trends, attitudes boomeranged too far to the opposite end of the scale to the point where we infantilize our veterans. We infantilize them because we seem to remove from them any responsibility for their choices to sign up and serve. No one born after 1952/3 has been drafted and forced to serve. Our current crop of veterans all volunteered for various reasons. Reasons that span from free education, travel, patriotism, family tradition, economic necessity and other motivations, but none of them forced by the authority of the State.

I knew what I signed up for, and I gambled that the trade of my time and service (and potentially much more) in exchange for education and travel would ultimately end up in my favor. (It was a wash. I was in the Guard during the first Gulf War and volunteered to go, and in a phase of youthful stupidity, I wasted the free educational benefits with too much drinking and endless nights playing Dungeons and Dragons instead of studying). Many of us took the same gamble and most of us came out even or ahead of the game. Some of us lost that gamble, a few in a very big way.

So what’s my point? I signed up for a job. I did that job. I wasn’t duped and I wasn’t used. And, in point of fact, there are firemen, EMT’s, police and even postal carriers that experience more potential danger on a daily basis than I did in a decade+ in federal uniformed service. That many if not most of us veterans (at least in my first hand, anecdotal experience) are doing okay. We made our deals for service, and for good or ill, have reaped the benefits and/or consequences and have continued to move forward in life and overcome the obstacles before us.

There are veterans that *do* need your thanks, and do need it for more than just this day, more than the duration of a parade, or the few moments you open you wallet or mouth. Veterans that do need your thanks also need your help and often need it *daily*. Some, hopefully, just for long enough to get healed or whole, or rebalanced…. Though some will need your help for the rest of their lives.

So, instead of focusing on today, and on those trite well wishes and thank-you’s that will fade and be forgotten tomorrow, do this:

Press your elected officials to keep the promises made to veterans. Make them work to improve VA medical care, to streamline processes that keep veterans away from aid and treatment for PSTD and physical disabilities. Press them to work to shorten what can be year-long waits for help. Help bring down the incredibly high suicide rate for veterans. Hire veterans who need jobs instead of treating them as untouchable PTSD laden balls of explosive rage. There are disabled vets that need help every day, not just thanks today. Find a soldier serving somewhere (anysoldier.com) and write a letter or send a care package.

Do one thing in the preceding paragraph every month for the next decade, if not the rest of your lives.

That would be a meaningful thank you. Otherwise, just save your breath, I won’t mind.

This has been an expression of my personal opinion. I’m sure some of you will disagree, some vehemently…. Have at it. I will not debate it though. Thank vets in the ways you best see fit, and I shall do likewise.

The veteran in this video was homeless and troubled for many Veteran’s days, and he needed much more than a once-a-year holiday and a ‘thank you’.

http://mashable.com/2013/11/08/army-veteran-homeless-video/
 
Joining the military was the single best thing I did with my life as a young kid leaving high school. Officially I'm a veteran, and it's something I'm proud about, but in reality I don't consider myself the same kind of veteran as someone who's been in direct combat. I was in the Navy and even though the job was hard and dangerous at times, I didn't have to worry about an IED, ambushes or someone trying to cut my throat. We went after Iran for months as they'd launch their fighters at us during the time they were running gun boats against tankers in the Persian Gulf. We' have to worry about incoming anti ship missiles, but it never happened. The same was the case during the first Gulf War. Even with that I don't need anyone's thanks as I think that needs to be reserved for someone who was in the front lines and really had their life on the line, like Kim and others on this post did. I fixed down Fighter/Attack jets and helped load munitions as necessary. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem the same as the guys up front. I'm doing a lousy job of explaining it, but I'm assuming all veterans know what I'm saying.
 
And this is the exact reason why we need the second amendment and military grade and style weapons. Because when the military needs help because their numbers are dwindling it is the concerned citizen that will step in to back them up. WTF....anti-democrats are a--holes. Don't try using statistical analysis or logic with an anti-democrat.
 
... I don't consider myself the same kind of veteran as someone who's been in direct combat ...
I feel the same way. After 6 years serving, I have people asking me why I don't go to the VA for medical/pharmacy benefits.
My answer is simple. I refuse to take even $1 away from a Vet who earned that benefit. Most look at me like I'm nuts.
 
I don't consider myself the same kind of veteran as someone who's been in direct combat.
I don't either, but it does irritate me that my active duty time (1986-89) doesn't even count as being a veteran for most purposes, while someone who spent six months on active duty in Indiana during designated times, is legally the same as a combat veteran. I was at OP Alpha in the Fulda Gap watching for the balloon to go up, while that other kind of veteran risked a paper cut.

That doesn't make them lesser than me, because we all volunteered and were at risk. It also doesn't make me less of a veteran just because we weren't in an active shooting war at the time.
 
Joining the military was the single best thing I did with my life as a young kid leaving high school. Officially I'm a veteran, and it's something I'm proud about, but in reality I don't consider myself the same kind of veteran as someone who's been in direct combat. I was in the Navy and even though the job was hard and dangerous at times, I didn't have to worry about an IED, ambushes or someone trying to cut my throat. We went after Iran for months as they'd launch their fighters at us during the time they were running gun boats against tankers in the Persian Gulf. We' have to worry about incoming anti ship missiles, but it never happened. The same was the case during the first Gulf War. Even with that I don't need anyone's thanks as I think that needs to be reserved for someone who was in the front lines and really had their life on the line, like Kim and others on this post did. I fixed down Fighter/Attack jets and helped load munitions as necessary. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem the same as the guys up front. I'm doing a lousy job of explaining it, but I'm assuming all veterans know what I'm saying.

My father always seemed a little uncomfortable with the "Thank you for your service" line he would get whenever he was out in public in his flight suit. It got really crazy after 9/11, he started changing into civilian clothes as soon as he got off base. I don't think he really thought of his career in the Air Force as some great sacrifice. It was a pretty good gig for him, he got a good career as an officer, got taught to fly bombers for free, and despite his time in Gulf I&II doing bombing missions, wasn't in much real danger. I think there's a big difference between being in a peacetime army or non combat role and being a soldier in the front lines during a hot war. He always had great respect for those that served or joined up during a war for high risk roles, but never really considered himself in the same category.

I imagine our foreign policy might be a lot different if we still had mandatory service. It's hard for wars to be back page news when its you or your family on deployment.
 
As much as I appreciate the intention behind someone saying "thank you for your service" or "welcome home" for me it's akin to fingernails scratching along a chalkboard. I guess it's because of the nearly two decades following the Vietnam War where most Vietnam Vets were pretty much scorned. Then it all turned around and became cool to be a Vietnam Vet. For me it's just too little too late.
 
Now I tell them that I was a veteran before it was in vogue. Leaves them speechless.
When I returned from overseas the second time, I was discharged at MCRD San Diego. During the 10 days it took for them to process the paperwork, we had to attend classes, if you will, to help reintroduce us back into civilian life. They said things like.
1.Remember not to say things like" great dinner mom. Pass the F*****g butter please".
2. Don't T off on cops and don't drop guys that piss you off. It's frowned on.
3.Don't check off veteran, on work applications. They don't like veterans. It could hurt your chances of being hired.
4.Don't tell others that you are a veteran. Again, they don't like veterans, back on the block.
We were spit on by young girls at the airport, while we were awaiting transport to MCRD San Diego for discharge.
Now they like us ? WTF.
 
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