Comments on: Why You Should Be Proud To Be A Vietnam Veteran

By: Mike Brewer

Mike Brewer — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 21:28:56 +0000

Thanks.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:54:05 +0000

I am not one to give advice, but two types of personalities exist Type A…which tends to be angry, upset, unhappy, miserable 24/7…tend to have premature cardiac arrest issues or at minimum high blood pressure and various health issues least of which is physical, some go off the deep end and do like that poor fellow did up in DC museum shooting, at end of his life in 80’s, raging at the world, angry, bitter his agenda as a white supremacist blogger failed, angry at social security for reducing his benefits, charged into the DC museum shot/killed some hapless black security guard, died in prison waiting trial, now the second category is Type B…tend to not be so angry, miserable, unhappy and tend to have less health issues, my last check up was told by the nurse and have been told this quite often in past as well I have the blood pressure of a 20 year old, I don’t attribute this to anything I do, but merely the luck of the draw that I got one of them Type B personalities!:-) One can find angry, unhappy Type A’s on any political spectrum right, left or middle, don’t believe politics applies its how folks deal with life!:-) Being angry will not change the world, if that was the case it would have been changed centuries ago…!

By: JD

JD — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:47:42 +0000

PS…yes anyone can join these VA organizations with submission of their DD-214, not knocking any of them, if they serve the veterans with no charges, no fee’s as most do not charge anything I am ok with them, just not a very extroverted person, don’t feel the need to hang out with anyone, guess I am just getting old and tired and don’t think I need to do the things I did when I was full of myself and my youth!;-) Some old men & women obviously think other wise!:-) I am reminded of another old corny saying “to each their own or different strokes for different folks”! Now I do like a bit of humor! Always said I would rather laugh than cry!

By: JD

JD — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:42:55 +0000

The only VA organization I am a advocate for is DAV….., one see’s these politicians being exposed as phoney’s with alleged combat service, in fact some fellow fooled a bunch of folks he was a former admiral, one was doing public speaking engagments as a veteran and never served in any branch of any service! One noted case right here in Tucson a fellow minure man member named “Bush” no relation to them Texas Bushes was claiming to be a US marine veteran, went by on line name gunny, murdered some poor little 9 year old hispanic girl by blowing her head off as she pleaded for her life, but when her wounded mother shot him, fled like the cowardly dog he was, and now sits on death row with his female commander, another self professed patriot, former prostitute, both criminals with nothing to their honor but evil! With computers, printers, copying machines, xerox machines, I am not to impressed with “papers” we got a country with 20 million illegals living here with some form of papers which on surface might appear legitimate, I always question folks need to feel proud! Proud of what? I feel only pride in my two sons, have no vain need to hang out with any old war horses real or fake, what they think of me will not do me one wit of good on judgment day when I face the only one whom I fear Jesus! Now you go on and do what makes you happy, is that not what america is all about, freedom, ability to do what one wishes? I choose to believe what I wish, and live my life as I wish too, I feel earned it, as did any veteran!

By: JD

JD — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:19:49 +0000

Wish you well friend, one thing for sure the world is on a course none of us can predict, one would hope it gets better, but for the religous among us am not holding my breathe, for the atheist’s or other belief’s war sometimes occurs for reasons beyond anyones control such as world war II, the only war in my recent memory I can see if we did not go we might be speaking german/japanese today and have no rights and the issue of race and culture would be a moot issue since it was Hitler’s design to commit genocide on anyone not white, and even then one had to have a special white blood! What will be will be, at best we can pray on it! I like your blog, more honest than some and definitely interesting! Good luck!

By: Michael Patrick Brewer

Michael Patrick Brewer — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 23:31:00 +0000

Well said JD. The cost of the undeclared war, along with the mercenaries and the staggering cost of disabilities that are permanent, is going to bring down the tent. The weapon of mass destruction may well be traumatic brain injuries who survive and will need care for life.
As for the Soviet Union, you are spot on about the piggy bank going dry. And the Pope had a small part in that moment in history too.

By: terquee

terquee — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:24:07 +0000

“I despise all the damn flag-waving and phony uber-patriotism that I believe only sets us up for the next war”

I have rarely encountered anyone who applies this sentiment consistently. They actually love this stuff, just not who’s doing it.

By: JD

JD — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:24:11 +0000

Vietnam was doomed endeavor for many reasons least of which we supported tyrants who the common people hated, despised, when one puts puppet regimes in power merely because they were friendly to our political interests we are not supporting democracy but merely extending our colonial empire by proxy! We did it in vietnam and we are doing it in Iraq/Afghanistan and it cannot go well for us, when one fails to heed history one is doomed to repeat it! I spent veterans day with my sons, the only good thing I ever did in my life, the only thing I am truly proud of! God bless all and we all have to seek our own paths, some will choose the wide and easy ones some will choose the narrow hard ones!

By: JD

JD — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:18:39 +0000

I too am 100% disabled vet, vietnam era, agree wisdom is good, polite is even better I do believe with old age one either becomes senile or wise! Some in fact find bliss in the hitting that second child hood to forget maybe some things better forgotten! Folks will never agree on the righteousness of war & peace, but I truly believe in that ole saying blessed be the peace maker, we have too many war mongers today who have never went to war, who have never seen the horrors of it, and that is sad to me, I use to remember the old corny sayings of my youth, old men make wars and the young men fight them, etc., I think I am more of a spectator today on the world events but truly I see a Deja Vu moment in this middle east conflict, but worse yet many don’t realize we are making the same mistake the Russians did, and they bankrupted themselves both economically and in blood trying to dominate the world by force! The biggest lie, myth told is Reagan brought down the iron curtain, he merely was in office when Soviet Union defeated itself by political/ecoomic suicide in Afghanistan the grave yard of many a great empire!

By: leftfield

leftfield — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:00:09 +0000

I consider the American soldiers involved in the American invasion of Vietnam to be every bit as much the victims of the same conspiracy as the equally courageous peoples of Vietnam. This was a big blind spot for us on the left at the time; not to recognize the victimization of soldiers, but rather paint them as the perpetrators of the crimes. I think we have learned that lesson. Sadly, the left and much of the population of the US were equally as short-sighted and ignorant of history as we have always been to believe that the imperialists would learn their lesson and stop engaging in wars of aggression.

So, it is always with mixed emotion that I see Veteran’s Day celebrated and here people say things like “Thank you for your service”. On the one hand, I do not want to see the veterans ignored and forgotten, for they have suffered much. They have been victims of the same enemy every bit as much as the people all over the globe they were sent to kill. On the other hand, I despise all the damn flag-waving and phony uber-patriotism that I believe only sets us up for the next war, when young people will again be sent somewhere to be killed, to kill, to be permanently maimed psychologically and physically to no end other than to enrich defense contractors and maintain American hegemony.

In the greatest irony of all, the heroic people of Vietnam and the American soldier in Vietnam both had the same enemy, yet for years they engaged in a monumental slaughter of one another.