Viet Nam Veterans (VNAM)

[EZ2]

God Bless ya' man !! ~~ Hang in there ~~

[chunga1]

thanks nitetrak, justice for our vets is a slippery thing.....God bless

[nitetrak]

Hi Fellow Vietnam Veterans,

I swallowed my pride for some sense of Justice.

One year after coming home from Vietnam, I had a nervous break down. I spent 5 months in a VA mental Institution. I was pumped with Thorizine which I still take in a lesser dose to this day. I'm most appreciative that these meds were available for me. During my stay I saw older Vets who were institutionalized before these meds were available. More than one Pre-Frontal Lobotomy case walked those halls. Walking vegetables is what they were.
While there, the younger Vets spoke of a VA claims officer at the hospital. I found out latter that, if you spent more than 90 days in a mental institution you would receive 100% compensation to the VA. (So much for that...another story). I saw him and he told me he saw me when I was upstairs and my break down had nothing to do with Vietnam. Upstairs ...on the flight deck! I didn't even know my name at that point!
Anyway.
Not once did my Psychiatrist bring up Vietnam. Yet, references to me taking drugs were endless. I was told that I wouldn't be released till I had some knowledge on why this happened to me. I could see where this was going, so I told them that I was an intravenous drug user; although I've never bought an illegal drug in my life. (This would come back to haunt me). I was released in a matter of days.

Some years latter I thought I'd put in for a shrapnel wound I had received. (Cigarette money any way.) The VA wrote me and said that there was nothing in my military records about receiving a shrapnel wound but due to the fact that I had 2 purple hearts and I did have shrapnel in my arm; the would concede that this occurred in Vietnam. (Nice of them.) Prior to this I went to The DAV for representation. The DAV claims officer told me that my records show clear indication of PTSD. He helped me put in a claim and I was scheduled a meeting at The VA.

The DAV Officer came with me; he waited outside during the meeting. II was seated and 6 VA officials sat in a semi circle in front of me. The started in on the drugs, of which I told them I've never taken any illegal substance. They asked me how come you said, and it's in your records, that you were an intravenous drug user. I told them that, I said this to be released from the VA Hospital. A medic in Vietnam who treated me said I had probably been bitten by an insect, and he lanced it and gave me 3 stitches. The bite had blown op the size of a golf ball.
Then it started... a bombardment of questions of which nothing could have prepared me for.
"Tell us John, do you stick inanimate objects up your anus"? "How often do you have intercourse with your mother"? I got up and walked out. I told The DAV Officer what had happened. He told me ,"Look, your looking at money for the rest of your life, they're not going to make it easy on you, go back in there. I said no, and we left.

Latter in 1980, I saw a VA Physiatrist for 15 minutes and was given a 30% compensation rating by The VA.
There should have been a lump sum payment retroactive from my initial claim in 1973. But no they told me. "We never denied you compensation on PSTD, they told me, you walked out." (That would have been to the tune of about 1/4 of a million. Played me like a fiddle, they did.

Recently, I went to see a VA doctor concerning tinnitus which had developed 3-4 years back. I had been blown off a 1/4 ton truck in Vietnam and had gotten perforations in my ear drums. Of the 5 of us involved, I was the only one not sent home. The VA Doctor said it was very likely that the explosion was the cause of my tinnitus , even after all these years. Again, The VA said that there was nothing in my records of this incident. What a racket, they hold my records, of which I have no access to.

I'm happy that I've lived a productive life. I was told to stay with construction and forget college...Your just not built for it and construction is a good way to work off negative energy.

nitetrak

[nitetrak]

A POEM WORTH READING and sharing!
(Author unknown)


He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew whereof he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For old Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won t be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Someone who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politicians stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end?

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

Submitted by,
nitetrak

[EZ2]

Veterans Report is the most comprehensive newsletter available to help Veterans stay current on benefits changes, learn about important legislation, get great discounts, and use the benefits earned in service. Make sure that you and your colleagues subscribe for this free update publication.

-------------------------------- 09 AUGUST 2010-------------------------------------------

TRICARE Sets Gray Area Retiree Premiums

Featured Discounts: Discounts Worthy of a Hero

Panel Calls for Reduced Pay and Retiree Benefits

VA Ordered to Release Agent Orange Rule
http://www.military.com/veterans-report/va-ordered-to-release-agent-orange-rule?ESRC=vr.nl


Servicemembers Save With ASMBA

Higher Education Just Got a Little More Affordable

Featured Job: There is More to Retail Than Sales

GI Bill Video Series: Transferability

The GI Bill Entitles You to More Than Just Higher Education...

Register for Military.com Fantasy Football to Win Prizes

The Lavelle Affair and the Afghan War

Resume Writing Isn't What it Used to Be

Navy Ships Agent Orange Exposure List

New Support -- AfterDeployment.org

Anti-Terrorism Awareness Month

Free Suicide Prevention Webinar

New Navy Message System

New Blog Launched

Job Program Helps Wounded Vets

Stop-Loss Pay Available

Gulf War: The 20th Anniversary

Gulf War Illness Hearings Held

VA Health Care Application Made Easier

American Legion Seeks Pepsi Grant

House Conducts Vet Jobs Hearing

Test Results Released

Print and Post This Week's Veterans Report

Headline Military News

[nitetrak]

Courage.

You're a 19 year old kid.

You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .


It's November 11, 1967.

LZ (landing zone) X-ray.

Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.


You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.

Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.

As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.

You look up to see a Huey coming in. But ... It doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.

Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.


He's not MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.


Even after the MedEvacs were ordered
not to come. He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you
at a time on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses
and safety.

And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs
and left arm.

He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force,
died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho.

May God Bless and Rest His Soul.

I'll bet you didn't hear about this
hero's passing, but we've sure seen
a whole bunch about Michael
Jackson and Tiger Woods.


Medal of Honor
Winner Captain Ed Freeman


Shame on the American media !!!


Now ... YOU pass this along to YOUR
mailing list. Honor this real American.

Please.

Sorry about not having Ed's photo!

[softballdaddy]

Now just to give him his honor back...

[chunga1]

Vietnam-Era General Cleared After 38 Years

WASHINGTON (Aug. 4) -- More than 38 years after being removed from command and demoted for allowing unauthorized bombing, a U.S. Air Force general has been cleared of wrongdoing and had his rank posthumously reinstated.

Air Force Gen. John Lavelle was blamed for allowing unauthorized strikes in North Vietnam and for allegedly falsifying reports related to the strikes. He was removed from command and demoted two ranks in 1972 after an inspector general investigation concluded the rules of engagement had been violated.


Bettmann / Corbis
In tapes released in 2007, President Richard Nixon expresses remorse for scapegoating Air Force Gen. John Lavelle, here in Vietnam in 1972, but in public he condemned Lavelle.
Lavelle, who died in 1979, always denied any wrongdoing and insisted his actions were authorized.

At issue was a dispute over whether strikes that Lavelle ordered against North Vietnam were in line with the military's rules of engagement. In 1972, those rules only allowed Air Force assets to strike targets in North Vietnam if they were responding to fire, or if they were targeted by the radar of a surface-to-air-missile system.

It has since come to light, however, that President Richard M. Nixon ordered the Air Force leadership to allow so-called "protection reaction" strikes against North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile sites, based on the threat they could pose to U.S. aircraft.

A decision announced today by the Pentagon clears Lavelle and nominates him posthumously to the rank of general. "[T]he Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records found no evidence Lavelle caused, either directly or indirectly, the falsification of records, or that he was even aware of their existence," the Pentagon said in a statement released today. "Once he learned of the reports, Lavelle took action to ensure the practice was discontinued."

Because of the retirement rules in effect at the time, Lavelle did not lose any pay from his demotion, so the Air Force will not have to pay any retroactive retirement benefits, Beth Gosselin, an Air Force spokeswoman, told AOL News. Gosselin also confirmed that the inquiry into clearing Lavelle was prompted by a 2008 request from his family.

The primary evidence clearing Lavelle came from tapes of Nixon that were released in 2007.

"Let me ask you about Lavelle. I was, I had it on my list this morning. I just don't want him to be made a goat. We all know what protective reaction is," Nixon is heard telling then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shortly after Lavelle was demoted.

Nixon goes on to make repeated references to Lavelle, expressing remorse that he was punished for doing something that was authorized. In public, however, Nixon condemned Lavelle's actions.

The decision to clear Lavelle comes amid a heated debate over government secrecy and disclosure. Last month, WikiLeaks, an online transparency organization, released more than 70,000 documents related to the the war in Afghanistan.

That leak has been condemned by the White House and the Pentagon, which has also initiated an investigation into the source of the leaks.

Lavelle was cleared not as the result of any leak, but through tapes released by the National Archives. But the information that cleared his name took almost four decades to surface.

Lavelle, always denied wrongdoing. "I did what was right," he said, as part of an oral history interview quoted in Air Force Magazine. "I did what was authorized."

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/vietnam-era-gen-john-lavelle-cleared-after-nearly-40-years/19581191

[EZ2]

Take a Ride Through Da Nang, Vietnam: Dogpatch to Freedom Hill

[EZ2]

Vietnam Danang Today

[EZ2]

I was there.....and this makes it seem like it was only yesterday!

[EZ2]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly pressed Vietnam to further open its political system amid concerns about the Communist government's crackdown on democracy activists and the Internet. - Video: Clinton Meets Asean Leaders - Photos: Clinton Tours Asia - Clinton's Remarks Honoring Normalization - Opinion: Vietnam Rights and Wrongs

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575382374165373024.html?mod=djemeasia_t

[EZ2]

TAKE CARE of our VETERANS.......and then worry about the enemy !



Clinton pushes Vietnam on human rights progress


Jul 22, 6:03 AM (ET)

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday urged Vietnam to improve its human rights record but also pledged greater cooperation in dealing with the lingering impact of Agent Orange from the Vietnam War.

In Hanoi to mark the 15th anniversary of normalized U.S.-Vietnam relations, Clinton praised her hosts for their "extraordinary, dynamic population" and said it "is on the path to becoming a great nation with an unlimited potential." To fulfill that promise, though, she said the communist government must ease curbs on free speech and political activity.

"That is among the reasons we expressed concern about arrest and conviction of people for peaceful dissent, attacks on religious groups and curbs on Internet freedom," she said in her opening comments at a joint news conference with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

Ahead of her visit, human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers called on Clinton to raise the cases of jailed imprisoned dissidents, democratic and religious activists and bloggers with Vietnamese officials.

"The government of Vietnam's desire to reap the benefits of the global economy must be matched by efforts to respect comprehensive human rights," a bipartisan group of 19 members of Congress wrote to Clinton on July 15.

Clinton did not say if she had raised those cases but said the Obama administration wanted to work with Vietnam "to support efforts to pursue reforms and protect basic rights and freedoms."

But how much Vietnam is willing to cooperate on that was unclear as Khiem said he thought the subject is "a difference between Vietnam and the U.S."

"Human rights have common values but ... it depends a lot on the cultural and historical background," he said. He noted that President Barack Obama has said human rights values shouldn't be imposed from the outside.

Later, at a lunch hosted by the local American Chamber of Commerce, Clinton raised human rights again, calling it a "profound difference" between the U.S. and Vietnam even as trade and commerce have increased exponentially since relations were normalized in 1995, during her husband's administration.

"It is true that profound differences exist, particularly over the question of political freedoms," she told the audience. "The United States will continue to urge Vietnam to strengthen its commitment to human rights and give its people an even greater say over the direction of their own lives."

At the same time, Clinton said the U.S. does not see its relationship with Vietnam as rooted in differences or in memories of the past.

"We have learned to see each other not as former enemies but as actual and potential partners, colleagues and friends," she said. "We will continue to choose engagement and cooperation over escalation and division."

Clinton recalled her first visit to Vietnam in 2000, when she accompanied then-President Bill Clinton on a trip shortly before he left office. That trip was the first by a sitting U.S. president to Vietnam since the war ended in 1975.

She said they had not known what to expect but were overwhelmed by the friendly welcome they received from the Vietnamese people. "Everywhere we went we felt the warmth and hospitality of the Vietnamese people. For us, it had a profound impact," she said.

In her comments with Khiem, Clinton also promised to continue working with Vietnam on the consequences of Agent Orange. The U.S. military sprayed roughly 11 million gallons of the defoliant over large swaths of southern Vietnam between 1962 and 1971. Dioxin, a toxic chemical used in the herbicide, has been linked to cancers, birth defects and other ailments.

Vietnam says as many as 4 million of its citizens were exposed to the herbicide and as many as 3 million have suffered illnesses caused by it. A joint panel of U.S. and Vietnamese policymakers, citizens and scientists has urged Washington and other donors to provide $30 million annually over 10 years to clean up sites still contaminated by dioxin.

Clinton said she and Khiem had discussed "the concern that both Vietnam and the United States have about Agent Orange and the consequences it produced in the people here."

"We have been working with Vietnam for about nine years to try to remedy the effects of Agent Orange," Clinton said. She promised to "increase our cooperation and make even greater progress together."

[softballdaddy]

Happy Fathers Day

And may Gods Blessing be on all our buddies, and their families, who stayed perpetually young and gave up up all their Fathers Day , and all their tomorrows, for this country.

[nitetrak]

Our Cause Was Just.

First some background:
All my life growing up I was constantly taught and reminded of the evils of communism from every sector of our society.
- Business: It was directly at odds with our free enterprise / capitalistic system.
- Government: It was a totalitarian government, the complete opposite of our Democratic Republic.
- Religion: It was pure evil: It was the actual "Tower of Babel" spoken of in the Bible. (An attempt by a people to build a tower so tall as to walk into heaven. (Heaven made attainable without God's assistance). An atheistic system attempting to establish heaven/(utopia) here on earth without God. As a Catholic, after every religious service, we said a prayer for the conversion of Russia.

When I returned from Vietnam I read everything I could find on communism starting with The Communist Manefesto by it's author Karl Marx. Karl Marx starts out on this relatively short thesis by defining "man" himself. As with any definition (Philosophy, Religion, etc) man is defined in relation to the animals and what makes him different from them. Most would say his possession of intelligence and free will. Marx says not so. What separates us from the animals is that which we need to subsist and thrive is not readily found in nature as with the animals. Man must hunt his food, build his shelters etc. Bottom line is: He Has to Work. And if he does not work he has lowered himself to the class of the animals and like with any animal, man can eliminate it. Most likely this is the justification of the "purgings" the communists have done throughout their history.
Nazi Germany or as it was better known then...The National Socialist Party: 8 million killed.
Communist Russia...15 million killed.
Communist China...Low estimates =20 million, upper estimates = 60 million
Cambodia...a full 1/3 of their population killed. The first to be eliminated were those that wore glasses. It was assumed that if you wore glasses you were probably educated and could read. Intellectuals were deemed an obstacle in building a people's agricultural society. 14 hour work days in the fields was standard and if you sat down you were executed by beheading with portable guillotine, as ammunition was needed to fight the resistance and later the Vietnamese. If you recall, Phenom Penn, the capital, was closed down, barbed wired off and the millions of citizens were sent to the fields to work.

[EZ2]

Got your back, buddy!!

EZ

[softballdaddy]

40 years later I am an old teacher at a high school in Texas...graduation last week...I started to think whether this generation could match ours...technically (IPOD, and all of that...they are surely way advanced in knowledge), but morally I wonder what went awry. The answer I keep mulling over was service. When a person serves his country, he will never feel the same about the country or the flag again. It has become special. In hindsight, I believe one of the gravest post-Vietnam mistakes we made was doing away will compulsary military service. The thought that the whole was more important than the component parts. I saw a Star Trek movie once, when Spock was dying of radiation sickness explain to Captain Kirk..that it was important to sacrifice one's life for the whole...we have lost that feeling...and that love of country. I can not see it improve as each generation becomes more separate from the last, more greedy, more prone for the easy answer, and less to sacrifice for the common good...
I believe our Vietnam generation was a good one, raised by the WW2 boys which has been descibed as our greatest generation. I see our present armed forces with that same thought of team work and selfless dedication. However I watch only a small percent enter the services, instead of the majority being offered as selective service did.
I just wish it was more of a higher number and more universal.
Just the ramblings of an old goat.

[NYBob]

The birth certificate movie every American must see
'A Question of Eligibility' lays foundation
for understanding hot issue

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=114271

BORN IN THE USA? Poll shocker! Majority wants Obama records
Maintain president should be chased from office
if he doesn't come clean

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=159317

Army slams door on Obama details


Lt. Col. Lakin
hearing: 'Items pertaining to president's credentials
are not relevant'

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=161961

http://www.eutimes.net/?s=9%2F11

http://www.texemarrs.com/

[NYBob]

American Patriot Foundation: FTC Terry Lakin Defense Fund

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=161961

http://www.eutimes.net/?s=9%2F11

[EZ2]

This is for everyone who forwarded a Memorial Day message of some sort. This is the one that broke my heart.


Some of you did not even know that one of my best H.S.
friend's name is on THIS WALL.

Ironically, unbeknownst to them at the time, his only son &
our oldest son became "next door neighbors" !

I don't know why I never heard this song before. Listen to this for Steve.

Listen to it for every name on the Wall. And never ever forget.

Click here _50,000_ (http://mywebpages.comcast.net/singingman7/TNOTW.htm)

[HoosierHoagie]

Nothing I can say to that except..I wish I could have shared in the experience...Semper Fi...Thanks EZ

[EZ2]

My Marine Buddy xxxxx xxxxxxx stopped by the Marine Memorial in Washington D.C. Yesterday. Here are his words....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just returned from my annual Memorial Day visit to the Marine Corps War Memorial, the Iwo Jima flag raising statue sculpted by Felix De Weldon. There was the usual big Memorial Day crowd, with vehicles parked all along the road into the memorial in the no parking areas. There were identical bouquets of flowers spread along the entire base of the statue.

As I walked around the statue, something caught my eye. There was a break in the row of flowers that marched evenly around the memorial. I approached the base of the statue to further investigate. What I found, interspersed between two of the identical bouquets, was an open bottle of Jack Daniel Single Barrel Tennessee whiskey. On a chain draped around the neck of the bottle was a small brass plate that simply said "United States Marine Corps". Beside the bottle were two shot glasses, each emblazoned with the Marine Corps emblem. One glass was empty, the other full. And there was a separate bouquet of flowers, unlike the ones ringing the memorial, laying on the ground beside the bottle. I was speechless and my eyes filled with tears. Some Marine from wars past, or from our current wars, had left a tribute to a fallen comrade. Words were not needed to convey this powerful Memorial Day message.

I led every person there who I could identify as a Marine to the tribute, and they all were deeply touched by it. I regret that I didn't have my camera along to record this for posterity. In all my visits to the War Memorial, on Memorial Day, the Marine Corps birthday, the Tuesday evening parades during the summer, or at any other time, I have never experienced anything like what I saw today. It is something that I will never forget.

Here's hoping that your Memorial Day is as momentous as mine.

Semper Fidelis,
xxxxx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[MOPAR10R/T]

That's ME!...))

[*MARINE 1*]

ahhhh
You're too sneaky ole man

[MOPAR10R/T]

Hi TOP. I thought you'd like that site...

Thanks very much!
...and it was my pleasure to serve out country of 31 years.

You probably know me by my other alias as too: A1MP503.

Ron
))

[*MARINE 1*]

I like that site

Thank you for your service to our wonderful country Sir!

God bless you

[MOPAR10R/T]

Vietnam War, the Virtual Wall...

This really is an amazing web site. Someone spent a lot of time and effort to create it.

The link below is a virtual wall of all those lost during the Vietnam war with the names, bio's and other information on our lost heroes. Those who remember that timeframe, or perhaps lost friends or family can look them up on this site. Pass the link on to others if you like.

http://www.virtualwall.org/iStates.htm

My buddys youngest brother gave HIS ALL, doing the Tet offensive of 2-'68.
That was the first time the NVA used their full Brigade troops.
He was a Marine Tanker!

I served in Korea.
503rd MP Co. Inchon.

Two tours of duty with the 716th MP Battlion in Nam.

http://www.militarypolicevietnam.com/main.html

[HoosierHoagie]

Absolutely...and well put EZ..

[EZ2]

We honor you all........

[HoosierHoagie]

For all of those that made the Sacrifice..



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okNevEPb4YM

[EZ2]

Right back at ya' Top !

[*MARINE 1*]

Have a happy Memorial Day Brothers and sisters!

[softballdaddy]

Everyday we lose some of this countrys greatest generation...the WW2 boys are leaving us...I saw this and thought of that fact...have a great weekend

A SOLDIER DIED TODAY

He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past,
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.

And tho’ sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.

He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won’t note his passing, though a soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?

A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and, perhaps, a pension small.

It’s so easy to forget them for it was so long ago
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?

He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,

“OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, FOR A SOLDIER DIED TODAY”

* Copyright © 1985 by A. Lawrence Vaincourt. This poem and other works can be found in Mr. Vaincourt's book, Rhymes And Reflections (1991).

[BerryBuck]

have a happy and safe memorial days vets., and thanks!!

berry

[softballdaddy]

and following the snopes...maybe overquoted...was proposed but the quote is not verified

[softballdaddy]

And for Memorial weekend....if you are WIA and go to a government hospital etc...you are selfish..according to our Commander-in-chief

I know some have seen before


>
> Bad press, including major mockery of the plan by
> comedian Jon Stewart, led to President Obama
> abandoning his proposal to require veterans carry
> private health insurance to cover the estimated
> $540 million annual cost to the federal
> government of treatment for injuries
> to military personnel received during their tours on active
> duty. The President admitted that he was puzzled
> by the magnitude of the opposition to his
> proposal.
>
>
> "Look, it's an all volunteer force," Obama
> complained. "Nobody made these guys go
> to war. They had to have known and
> accepted the risks. Now they whine about
> bearing the costs of their choice? It doesn't
> compute.." "I thought these were people who were
> proud to sacrifice for their country, "Obama
> continued. "I wasn't asking for blood, just
> money. With the country facing the worst financial
> crisis in its history, I'd have thought
> that the patriotic thing to do would be to try to
> help reduce the nation's deficit. I guess I
> underestimated the selfishness of some of my
> fellow Americans."

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/veteranshealth.asp"; target="_blank">http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/veteranshealth.asp
>

[EZ2]

[*MARINE 1*]

I'm afraid so

[EZ2]

A big "AMEN" !!

[softballdaddy]

It seems odd when a politician does it...it is called "mis speaks"...when the guy at the hall does it it is a bald faced lie...politicians do have a way with words

[softballdaddy]

In the 60's no one wanted to be us...now we are a fashion statement lol....

[EZ2]

That's the big thing about lies ----- hard to remember the "lie about the lie about the lie about the lie" !!

[*MARINE 1*]

I work with a guy who has told so many lies over the years that he forgets I'm the wrong person to try it on.

I happen to know the man from several years back when he was a sergeant. He was put out because he met his service limitations without being promotion..... IE if you don't become a Staff Sergeant in so many years the Marine Corps Discharges you. Well, he was discharged and since he recieved VA benefits IE money he would tell people he's medically retired.....


What he didn't realize was all retirees have a retired ID card. I had to kill that stupid story the minute he came to me with it.

[EZ2]

I've met a few at our local VFW that I've been suspect about....but, after a brewski or two......I tend to just
let it all go in one ear and out the other.

My first (one of) tip off is usually the guy who wants to
TALK ABOUT IT.....alot ~~ but, in generalities.

But, then again ----- at my (our) age ----- the memory 'can'
play tricks

[*MARINE 1*]

We have a bunch of people around here (my state) who I have my doubts about.

[EZ2]

Yup !

<< there is a BIG sad story there ---- and a bunch of smaller SAD stories too, Top ! >>


As you, I take the term Semper Fi very seriously ----- struggling with all of this !

[*MARINE 1*]

And his son is a Marine?

Man I bet he's catching some hell for his father these days.

[HoosierHoagie]

It gets even worse..this really makes me sick...


Phony Marine at Phony Vietnam Blumenthal's Presser
Clarice Feldman

Doug Ross spots a ringer. One of the merry band of brother "Marines" at the presser of Connecticut Democrat Senatorial candidate Blumenthal evidently is a phony soldier.


This is William Joseph Trumpower (AKA Eliot Storm), a man listed on POW Network's Phony Vets Database.


Trumpower, like Blumenthal, is a Connecticut resident and has made quite a name for himself hawking books on the Vietnam experience. The 'POW Networks Phony' database lists Trumpower's bogus credentials as follows:



CLAIMING BRONZE STAR w/VALOR device... Claims 2nd Lt, Claims... Wears 3 Purple Hearts, 2 Bronze Starsw/V. The jacket in EARLIER pictures boasted 8 ribbons. This NEW pic has more and includes V device on Bronze Star and 2nd Lt bars....


It's entirely fitting if the staged Blumenthal apology was, as our anonymous contributor asserts, accompanied by another puffed-up bloviator.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/05/post_198.html

[EZ2]

Colleague Says Blumenthal Claims Grew in Time


By MICHAEL BARBARO and DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Published: May 18, 2010



Former Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut found it puzzling: over time, his friend Attorney General Richard Blumenthal kept revising how he talked about his military service during the Vietnam War. At first, in the 1980s, he was humble. He played it down, Mr. Shays recalled, characterizing it as humdrum desk work.



Over the last few years, however, more sweeping claims crept into Mr. Blumenthal’s descriptions, he said: that Mr. Blumenthal had served in Vietnam and had felt the sting of an ungrateful nation as he returned.

“He just kept adding to the story, the more he told it,” Mr. Shays said.

Mr. Shays said he became alarmed enough by the discrepancies that he at times considered mentioning the issue to Mr. Blumenthal, who on Tuesday said he took “full responsibility” for the occasions when he “misspoke” about his military history.

As it turned out, Mr. Blumenthal never served in Vietnam, but over time, his identification with veterans of war became so strong that some of those around him, like Mr. Shays, just assumed he had. He made it a point to attend the funeral of every active soldier from Connecticut killed in the line of duty, and he rearranges his schedule so he can speak at the ceremony for soldiers about to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan.

As attorney general, he created a special division focused on veterans’ affairs and has become a national spokesman for veterans’ rights.

“Oh my God, this guy is relentless; he is nonstop when it comes to veterans,” said Michael Pizzuto, a veteran of the first Iraq war, who has spoken with Mr. Blumenthal at parades and news conferences for veterans in Connecticut.

Mr. Blumenthal discussed his past statements about his military service after The New York Times reported Monday night on its Web site that he had falsely said in March 2008 that he had served in Vietnam, and had repeatedly failed to correct media reports that perpetuated the claim.

At a news conference on Tuesday in West Hartford, where he was surrounded by veterans, Mr. Blumenthal, 64, a Democratic candidate for Senate, said he had never intended to mislead the public.

But in interviews, several military historians and social scientists said the Blumenthal story reflected the strained and unsettled relationship some men of his generation have with the Vietnam War. Some of them, driven by guilt or pride, begin to embellish their role, even if they did not serve in the war or played no heroic role, they said.

“There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of this phenomenon of exaggerating military service by people who feel nostalgic because they missed their war,” said Brian McAllister Linn, a professor at Texas A&M University who specializes in military history.

Mr. Shays, a conscientious objector who avoided the Vietnam War, has his own theory about Mr. Blumenthal’s evolving descriptions of his service: “I think that it was a way that he quickly bonded with people I am sure he admired and respected.”

“It’s very seductive,” he added, recalling his own visits with American service members in Iraq before he left Congress after losing re-election in 2008 as a Republican.

Although they are from different political parties, and Mr. Shays received campaign donations when in Congress from Linda McMahon, who is now seeking the Republican Senate nomination in the state, the two men enjoy a friendly relationship: Mr. Shays describes Mr. Blumenthal as a “straight shooter,” and Mr. Blumenthal has praised Mr. Shays’s work on behalf of veterans.

Politicians have always shown deference to veterans, but for Mr. Blumenthal, it seemed to be a calling. Colleagues said he relished marching in Veterans Day parades and visiting veterans halls, where he would chat about their tours of duty.

Far from hiding his military résumé, as some who did not see combat might do, he highlighted it. The biographical page of his Senate campaign Web site prominently displays a photo of a young Mr. Blumenthal, in his crisp blue and white uniform.

In Hartford and in Washington, Mr. Blumenthal’s advocacy for veterans’ rights is unyielding. He has lobbied the General Assembly to grant unemployment benefits to the spouses of military personnel, and advocated for the creation of a Hispanic affairs advocate within the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs.

The father of a Marine, he frequently speaks about the experience of attending the funerals of local service members who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The ceremonies are a powerful combination of wrenching grief and soaring pride,” he said in 2006.

In 2007, when he set up the veterans advocacy division of the attorney general’s office, he declared, “My office will fight for those who fought for us.”

In interviews, several veterans from around the state said the office had helped them penetrate the thick bureaucracy of the state’s benefits system, and applied a personal touch.

When Paul Kingman, a Navy veteran who lost feeling in his feet after chemotherapy, called Mr. Blumenthal’s office in 2007, he was trying to get a hearing for disability payments from the Social Security Administration. So it came as a surprise when Mr. Blumenthal himself got on the line.

“He’s a nice guy; he was cordial,” Mr. Kingman, 50, said from his home in Naugatuck. “Busy people like him, with all the rest going on in the state, I was surprised he’d have time for little old me.”

A week after his conversation with Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Kingman learned that his hearing, which he had been trying to get for nearly four years, had been scheduled.

“I don’t know who he talked to, but next thing you know, I had a hearing,” said Mr. Kingman, who at the time was living on $200 a month and food stamps. “He stood up for me.”

Cecelia Louis had a similar story: after five years trying to obtain health care from the Connecticut Veterans Affairs Department for her 78-year-old husband, a Korean War veteran, she reached out to the attorney general’s office, which resolved the issue in a matter of weeks.

“He realizes, especially now with all the veterans coming home with great needs, how important this is,” she said.

Mr. Shays also spoke with affection and admiration for Mr. Blumenthal, whom he called “a person of high integrity.” That is why the former congressman regrets not speaking up before.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Shays attended a ceremony with Mr. Blumenthal in Bridgeport, to honor workers killed during an accident. When it was his turn to speak, Mr. Blumenthal at one point brought up the subject of his military service and lamented that when “we returned from Vietnam” Americans had spit on soldiers, Mr. Shays recalled.

“He is the kind of person I cared enough about that I wish I had nipped this in the bud when it was fomenting,” Mr. Shays said.

Michael M. Grynbaum contributed reporting.

[EZ2]

When I was in country "fragging" was one of the choices !


It still is!!