On Beck 'welcoming home' Vietnam veterans

[pinboy3niner]

I don't know how other VN vets feel, but I feel used, abused and exploited by Beck--the same way I felt about my government after the war.

Most of us took a long time to 'come home' but that happened for us years ago. Across the country, VN vets continue to reach out to their brothers and sisters who still struggle, but most of us have found our personal catharsis and are more concerned with the issues facing today's troops and veterans.

Personally, I'd love to tell Beck to his face where he can shove his 'welcome home.' He doesn't have a fucking clue about VN vets, and his insincere, self-serving mouthings only piss me off more.

We have a lot of vet members here--VN and other eras. Am I the only one, or did Beck piss you off, too?

[atreides1]

1. The fact...

...that the man is breathing offends me. What pisses me off more are those asshats, who remained quiet while troops were sent to Iraq without body armor, and with Humvees made of fiberglass!

Where the fuck were these cockbites then, why didn't they step up and raise hell. Because they didn't give a rats ass about the troops.

Beck wants to restore honor? How can he restore something that he doesn't even grasp!!!



By the way, I'm a vet also
Operation Desert Storm
Sergeant
United States Army

[pinboy3niner]

3. Welcome Home, Brother!

No, Beck doesn't have a clue about honor. Or patriotism, for that matter. He's an opportunist who has no compunctions about using us for his own purposes.

Love & Peace,
pinboy3niner
2/501 Inf., 101st Abn. Div. VN, '69-'70

[atreides1]

5. Thanks, Brother

Welcome home to you as well, your journey was much longer then mine.


A Co. 426th S&S Batallion, 101st Abn. Div. Operation Desert Storm 1991

[DongHa69]

11. Brother VN Vet

we were both in country at the same time, where were you stationed?

[pinboy3niner]

13. Welcome home, Brother!

My first assignment was with USARV Special Troops at Long Binh, until I finagled a transfer to the 101st in I Corps.

Our rear was LZ Sally, West of Phu Bai, but we rarely saw it. We'd spend 30 days in the jungle, then come in to secure our firebase, FB Bastogne, for 4-7 days, then go back out. My little brother was there with me, as a personnel clerk at Div. HQ.

:patriot:

[DongHa69]

15. My base was at Dong Ha

but we were detached to the Marines at Con Thien and saw a hell of alot of action with the Marines, My recruiter told me if I enlisted in the Navy I wouldn't see ground combat in VN, what a crock of shit that turned out to be
And welcome home to you also.

[DemoTex]

25. Welcome to DU DongHa69

I saw a whole lot of Dong Ha from above as I flew into Laos from Viet Nam (just north of QL-9) in 70-71. I did the HCM Trail at night - radio recce.

Welcome home, brother.

[DongHa69]

30. Thank You

and glad you made it home. You flyboys had it just as bad as those of us on the ground dodging missiles and ground fire.

[DemoTex]

33. Afirm. And I know the bloody A Shau like the back of my hand.

I remember seeing the lights of NVA convoys in the A Shau at night after Lam Son 719. Ta Bat. Aloui. Hamburger Hill. Khe Sahn. Etc., etc... MoFo!

[11 Bravo]

39. Hey, Tex. Shit, I spent March of '71 trying to decide whether to shoot the NVA or Marvin the ARVN.

Lam Son 719! I still remember hearing that Nixon had claimed that "Vietnamization has succeeded". Not from where I sat. The NVA was as tough and well-disciplined as any army in the world. The ARVNs, not so much.

[DongHa69]

42. We used to have a saying

I have an arvn rifle for sale, never used, only dropped once.

[DemoTex]

56. More AAA thrown up at us during Lam Son 719 than all of WW-2!

Almost all of it near Tchepone, Laos. What a bitch that was.

BTW: Know what the 719 referred to? 1971 (February) and QL-9 (Route 9 from Quang Tri to Tchepone). 719 - get it? I shit you not, GI!

mac

[pinboy3niner]

43. The A Shau was part of my AO

And we LOVED you guys, Mac, for your support. We grunts on the ground, in the jungle, appreciated all you did to save OUR lives.

Again, Welcome Home, Brother! We've all had our struggles in the aftermath, and it is always enormously helpful and encouraging to have someone like you as an example--with your writing and photography and your work for the Forest Service.

Not that we don't have our traumas and deficits. But we don't have to allow it to be dysfunctional in our lives. Vietnam is still there--as it will always be for us--but we go on despite it.

More power to you, Mac! I'm looking forward to your photographs and books and all the positive things you'll be doing in the future.

Those of us who DID make it have an obligation to build again..to teach to others what we know...and to try, with what's left of OUR lives, to find the GOODNESS and MEANING to this life...

Epilogue, "Platoon"

[DongHa69]

44. I agree

those flyboys were the greatest. I remember many a time hearing those cobras and hueys coming in for air support and also the jet jockeys for close ground support. There's nothing like the sound of a huey.

[pinboy3niner]

46. It was a heady experience, at 20, to call all that shit in

I was always pissed off that the Marines didn't have the support that we in the Army did. I used whatever I had on call before I ever took my men in. And it cost a bundle--but it was worth it, to prevent our taking casualties. I didn't give a fuck how much it cost!

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. You brought them home

that was your job...

:salute:

[pinboy3niner]

85. Thanks, Nadin

I had no idea what I was getting into...

[11 Bravo]

50. At 20 you probably weren't the actual. Were you humping the Prick 25?

[pinboy3niner]

53. I was the actual--my RTO humped the PRC-25

My callsign was one-six until they finally figured our that, for all their radio security measures, the six-system was a dead giveaway. That's when my callsign changed to a random designation: "Pinboy Three-Niner."

Yes, with so many junior Infantry officers getting wasted, a HS diploma and good test scores were all you needed to be commissioned. I did Basic, AIT, and a brief Leadership Course before going to OCS at Benning. It was a 6-mo. course. My roommate was KIA (he'd gone on to flight training at Rucker and got shot down piloting a chopper), and a friend I roomed with when we were acting NCO's together in AIT at Lewis got his OCS class ahead of me and became a plt. ldr. with the 25th Inf. Div. He was Medal of Honor, posthumous.

Sounds like you were a grunt, so you know something about humping a ruck in the boonies. Welcome Home, Brother!

:patriot:

[11 Bravo]

59. Man, I was 20 and I was scared shitless. I can't even imagine being the man back then.

And yeah, I know a little bit about humping a ruck. Texas Star and Lam Son 719.

Glad you made it back, brother.

:patriot:

[pinboy3niner]

75. I'm glad you made it too, bro

I never thought of it as being "the man," and most of the time I was pretty much like any other grunt. On a plt. S&D I always walked behind the slack man, because that was the best place to control our movement (and I still believe that what made me a good plt. ldr. was mostly that I was very good with a map--I always knew where we were, and we never got lost).

The only bennie I remember was that my RTO would make coffee for me, and sometimes heat my C's (or LRRP's, on the rare occasions when we had them). After humping all day on a plt. S&D, we'd form a perimeter in the eve (before dividing up into squad-sized ambushes). While I went around and put in the positions and fire zones, my RTO would fix the coffee--and what a bennie that was! After I got the plt. settled in, I'd have the coffee while I stripped to check for leeches.

To this day, there are times when cradling a hot cup of coffee can take me back and bring tears to my eyes. The feeling of warmth, and comfort--and luxury!--is just overwhelming.

Sounds like you've been there, done that, and you'll understand exactly what I mean. I got out long, long ago, and I don't take any 'sir' crap off anybody. That was another fuckin' world...

Love & Peace, Bro
pinboy3niner

:patriot:

[DemoTex]

65. Mother-of-my-Dog!

What a fucking story! In three short paragraphs. I knew there was a story behind what I thought - all along - was a callsign. Pinboy-39. Mother-of-my-fucking-dog. Some things ring in my ears. That does.

[nadinbrzezinski]

70. Pinboy- three- niner

just willing to help.

And those are the stories that we all go WOW. Them are amazing, always.

This place is full of them.

[DongHa69]

51. I was a scared shitless

PO3 when I arrived in-country and then found out that we were being detached to the Marines at Con Thien, but we did usually have the air support when we really needed it, our LT was a pretty good guy and made sure he took care of his Seabees and the Marines were first class warriors. I remember when I first saw my dozer, it had a .50 cal. and a gunners seat and I thought, uh oh, this can't be good.

[pinboy3niner]

54. Uh-oh, LOL!

If you weren't scared shitless there, therr was something very wrong with you. I was the plt. ldr, a 1st LT, and I was scared shitless!

[DongHa69]

55. I agree

anyone who says they weren't scared shitless was either a liar or a certifiable psychopath

[DemoTex]

68. 10-4!

Big time!

[pinboy3niner]

32. Recruiters, LOL! Welcome to DU, Brother!

Be sure to check out our Veterans Forum.

Actually, I volunteered for the draft. I called up the draft board in L.A. and asked them to take me, and they did. I figured I could get out in 2 (in case I didn't like the military), rather than the 3- or 4-year enlistment obligation.

So I started out with a 'US' prefix on my service no., rather than 'RA', until I went to Infantry OCS at Benning and came out with an 'O' prefix. The Army actually commisioned me as a 2LT at 19. I was 20, a baby-faced 1LT, by the time I got in-country.

I remember Con Thien in the news in those days--a lot of bloody action.

I'm really glad you made it, Brother! I hope you're doing OK. Best wishes--and hang in there...

Love & Peace,
pinboy3niner

:patriot:

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. At least my army took until I got my MASTERS

to give me them railroad tracks... yes, I did skip a few ranks...

:-)

19, and Lt... see that is what happens when they need officers and you volunteer!

And no, I usually don't talk about it.

[DemoTex]

38. Damn! I DID-NOT-KNOW-THAT!

You were already and accomplished person, perhaps larger-than-life in my eyes, Nadin. Now I am super-impressed Eltee .. er, I mean Captain!

mac

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. Well that is why I started ahem bitching

you know how that goes. Rules said that college degree meant Officer. Did not care until one of the guys kissed ass, seriously kissed ass.

So one day I came to work and my CO called me over, presented the rank devices, and I had charge of the Company... goes for opening my trap.

And of course a few books and tests to take.

I still have the damn railroad tracks in a drawer. But one kid we picked during DS I... he was at the place where a certain scud came in. He started with yes ma'am, no ma'am and then went to serial number and the rest. We knew at that moment that it was PTSD, and treated accordingly.

Funny, I pulled rank exactly twice... one to get into the AF base in Tijuana, after a crash. The civy went into the base, we were called but the Sergeant was not told. He was doing his job. I had to give him a direct order to ask the OOD. The other with a USN Chief, who was shore patrol...

Oh and a third time with a PO2 who got himself hurt. I needed to use a command voice to get him calm enough, rather his partner, and let us do our job. He was assaulted and thrown over the bridge, so I got it why his buddy was a tad nervous.

Never volunteer... I should have followed that advise.

[pinboy3niner]

49. I was retired as a Captain and I still salute Nadin! nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. Trust me, we ran the least spit and shine unit

in history. Ok I did shine boots for parades, once a year, and when we laid down to rest one of our vets... he was a medic in WW II... got mobilized, went with the 201st Air Squadron. Mexican Air Force, to the South Pacific. His funeral was attended by the US ambassador, as well as a few people that served with that squadron from the US Navy...

Ok that was well before I moved north and I was a 18 year old stupid kid... but I heard his stories, and I knew they were important. You know it is serious shit when he got an honor guard from us, and an honor guard from the Air Force... and the US Ambassador insisted on standing guard as well. He even wanted the Marine Detachment to play a role, and when I probed I found why. He and some in his unit saved a couple downed US Navy Pilots who had to bail out. They went into the jungle to retrieve them. And for their actions they got stupidity awards from TWO military forces.

Yes, he was sent off with full honors... and that is what a hero was.

I mention him since this is part of WW II history that is not known... hell in Mexico they've made a movie oh back during the war, and places are named after the squadron... but it is just a name.

Lord, this is bad... I could not remember my age... damn time flies, I guess.

[pinboy3niner]

57. In my bn., the rule was we had to shave every day..

...even when we'd been 3 wks in the jungle. So, I had no choice. My orders to my men were that every morning they had to first clean their weapons, ammo and mags--and then shave!

I was Medevac'd out, but I'd expect that any of my guys who DEROS'd and wound up in a stateside unit would have a major fucking problem with any spit-and-polish BS. (Unless they got assigned to the Old Guard--there, they'd be happy to be the most spit-and-polished troops EVER.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

60. True, that is a unit nobody minds it

For me when I did my equivalent of basic, yes, salutes, all around. Inspections, all that. When I went to one of the three Companies in Mexico City... we had inspection before shift...

But years later, my orders were simple. Show up with a clean and pressed uniform, basic hygiene. Make sure you check your rig, liquids, equipment, material... when the shirts changed from khaki to white, I told them to do that without shirts, and just a T-Shirt... and I treated them like adults. Yes, they had to wear a hair cut... but I led by example, so I wore my hair short... much shorter than many women get away with, so I went to get a hair cut once a month at the latest. And of course men were clean shaven for safety reasons. I would not care, except the SCOTT Air Pack seal would not be there.

Yes we had a check on their equipment once a month, but just to make sure that they had the basic safety gear they needed, and that no helmets needed replacement. I killed two, personally. Yes, they saved my noggin though.

Once we got a desk jockey coming for regional inspection, and was shocked I tell you that they all met standards, and nobody did inspections and formations and all that... go figure. I told him, lead by example, and you'll be shocked...

Hell he was shocked that nobody required salutes from anybody... and after we pulled a cruel trick or two on him... he must have thought discipline was to heck in a hand basket, that is until we responded to an MCI, and he saw our well oiled machine at work.

[DongHa69]

61. Our LT

wasn't a stickler on appearances except when the Capt. would do an inspection tour, now the Marines were pretty good about appearances and just for their respect, most of us would usually shave every other day and we tried to keep our greenies half way clean but in the boonies you know how that goes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

62. I did back country rescues

hunpin' gear... so yes I know how that goes.

Once I came back from one, came home, went into the shower and took a good ten minutes to remove the grime. And that was just 20 hours... I can't imagine two weeks... and it was desert, not a jungle.

[pinboy3niner]

76. In the boonies, all our shit was impreganted with red dust

No way to keep anything clean except our weapons, ammo and mags--that was the only priority. We were always soaked through with sweat from humping in the dry season, or soaked through with rain and sweat in the monsoon season, and that red dust cemented itself into everything.

The shaving rule I did enforce, even though I wasn't keen on it. It was part of our orders, and I wasn't about to undermine orders and discipline, no matter how I felt personally, even in the field. We didn't have inspections there, except for the ones I did every day to make sure our weapons were clean.

[pinboy3niner]

84. That's what happens when they need canon fodder...

...and their company-grades aren't lasting too long, for some reason...

I do admire military officers who are well-educated. It tends to give them more perspective and...balance. Not ALWAYS the case, but you know what I mean...

[DongHa69]

36. Came home pretty

messed up but met a woman who was just the cure for me, she stayed up many a night with me to comfort me and make sure I didn't stick a gun in my mouth. Been married to that same woman now for 39 wonderful years.

[pinboy3niner]

58. I was pretty fucked up, too

I would have thought officers were immune, but nooooo. I just suppressed it all for 16 years, didn't even talk about it with my little brother, who'd been there with me (they jeeped him down the road to the 85th Evac. to see me after I got hit).

Give your wife a big hug and tell her it's from another VN vet--she's got to be a very special person to put up with all of our shit, I mean trauma. :)

[DongHa69]

63. She says Thank You

and your right, she is a very special woman.

[nadinbrzezinski]

64. Both hubby and I talk about it

with anybody who'll listen.

For him that's the best therapy.

He actually enjoys making people lose color from his Grenada stories, and his GF I stories, a submariner in the wrong place, behind a 50 Cal.

Me, going into a shoot out to rescue a casualty... among others.


Talking, I've found, is the best medicine. It never leaves you... no matter how short or long you were exposed to it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

67. Now that you are a member

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=259

That is the veteran's forum.

Enjoy, and doubly welcome to DU.

I would send you a PM but the system will not let me yet

[DongHa69]

72. Thank you

for that link.

[nadinbrzezinski]

73. Oh you welcome, just remember next year to renew

membership, that is a membership only section. All the small forums are.

[boppers]

69. "My recruiter told me"..

..yeah.

Kids need to know what this means.

Want to tell 'em?

[DongHa69]

71. It means

don't believe a fucking word the recruiter tells you, get it in writing and have it notarized.

[boppers]

78. What would a notary do?

Seriously?

[DongHa69]

79. A notary I believe, and I may be wrong, would make it

a legal document or it would carry more weight in a dispute.

[11 Bravo]

21. Glad you made it home, brother!

(And can you imagine that doughy fuck in the A Shau?) He's welcome to kiss my ass, but that's about it.

[DongHa69]

24. Holy shit

you were in the A Shau Valley. Jesus, you were certainly in the shit, my hats off to you for surviving that.
Welcome Home Brother

[saigon68]

88. Beck is an ass-wipe and his followers are

Ignorant Sheep led by Judas Goats

[DongHa69]

90. I wonder how long Beck

would last before shitting his pants when the first arty round screams overhead, He would be screaming like the little bitch that he is.

[nadinbrzezinski]

94. Well I'll leave the arty to you

the AK -47 and AR-15 rounds over me were plenty, thank you.

Them were not mosquitoes, I swear.

When we turned our patient over, that is when I started violently shaking... all the way to the station to return the bullet resistant gear. And then all the way to the hospital. I shook for a good half an hour.

In the middle of that I had no time... to think about it.

And yes I admit it. I talk about it... I tell people it is not a game.

Now to peeps like Beck, I've offered them a ride to the local recruiter, and even encouraged them to join as infantry, or medics... I know evil me. They usually stop talking to me though...

Now over the last ten years, my hubby was met exactly ONE person who's put his skin in the game who was for this mess. I have yet to meet one.

[saigon68]

96. He is a coward

He has more body guards than The secret service provides our vice president.

[w8liftinglady]

2. I think it pissed these guys off...

Glenn Beck--"Restoring Honor" or Exploiting the Children of Dead War Heroes
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3799



Veterans, national security experts slam Beck's "insulting," "anti-military" support of a "private army" in Afghanistan
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201006220049


Glenn Beck uses Veteran's Charity for his own glory
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/20/835955/-Glenn-Beck-uses-Non-Profit-for-his-own-glory

Marine Responds to Glenn Beck
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/7514

[pinboy3niner]

4. We can always count on you

Thanks for all you do for vets. Especially in such a red area where a car ribbon or lip service is mistaken for something meaningful.

:yourock:

[w8liftinglady]

6. least I can do after counting on you guys...

:hi:

[old mark]

7. Where the fuck was he when others were going into the service?

Fuck you , Beck..If I should ever see you in person, I will knock you down.

Mark
former Sp4, 1/504 PIR
1968-71

[pinboy3niner]

48. Hey, old mark--Welcome Home, Brother!

My outfit, 2/501 Inf., was PIR in WWII, but they dropped the designation in VN. The 101st also changed from Airborne to 'Airmobile' (now called 'Air Assault').

Funny, the 501 bns. were stood down after VN, and when we had a Co. reunion at Campbell years later, the troops there asked us what our unit was. When we said 2/501, they said, "Oh, Signal, huh?" LOL! To those guys, anything 501 had to be Signal. Shame they weren't taught more 101st unit history...

[old mark]

89. I remember a lot of guys had 101 patches and I know something of

your unit's engagements...most guys in the 82nd had been in the 101st, the Third Herd or Americal...

All the best.

mark

[DongHa69]

8. Oh no

that pisses me off also, he has no clue what we went through in country and how we were greeted by insults and hostility and just plain old ignorance when we got home.
Seabees
40TH Battalion
Bravo Company
Dong Ha, Republic of Vietnam
1969-1970

[Hubert Flottz]

9. I wish Glenn Beck had to wear my f**kin' tools till breaktime...

He'd be in rehab for six f**king months...

Edit...The party of no...no b@ll$ at all! Glenn is a beaver!

[saigon68]

98. Beck in ReHab

[DongHa69]

99. Thats good

he does look like he'd wasted, which is something I did alot of in VN.

[geardaddy]

10. Thank you for posting this.

As a non-vet, I thank you for your service, but as the child of a vet I'n glad that you're speaking up as an individual.

:applause:

[pinboy3niner]

45. Thankyou, geardaddy, for your support

That means a hell of a lot more than the BS we get from Beck and his ilk.

[USArmyParatrooper]

12. I didn't hear the complete context of what he said, but I respectfully disagree

I disagree with Beck's politics, and frankly I consider him a disingenuous, self serving phony.

But that being said I don't decry anyone for expressing appreciation and support for our veterans, regardless of their politics.

[pinboy3niner]

20. I respect your point of view

Apart from the political disagreements (which I agree are another matter), I don't buy his rhetoric supporting the troops. I think he's another lip service conservative who supports the troops only when it's in his own interest.

Perhaps I'm jaded and cynical. But I haven't seen Beck supporting legislation that REALLY supports vets.

[USArmyParatrooper]

23. That's a fair point

As a currently serving veteran with Liberal views I have no doubt he'd throw me under the bus in a heartbeat.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Beck and company HATE vets

this was just a political ploy.

Learned a long time ago just how much they hate spent... bull... er vets, who did not have the good sense to win the war, or at least die trying.

And no, not a sarcasm needed. That's how they truly feel.

I know I've told you and other vets before, welcome home.

[DongHa69]

16. From the bottom of my heart

THANK YOU

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. And to you, welcome to our at times

dysfunctional family.

:hi:

(Wife of USN Chief (ret) and did my time somewhere else)

[DongHa69]

18. You must be a really good person

because you are married to a Navy man. And thank you for the warm welcome

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. I was a medic with the red cross

and a reservist, so we joke. At least he had a 50 cal in the few times he was at the wrong time in the right place... (Submariner) Me... nasty insults, a mag lite. Ok a few IV needles.

:-)

So at least when either of us has nightmares, we are not surprised.

[Aviation Pro]

22. You've always been home, bro....

...and I will always salute those who came before me and trained me.

Presenting arms.

[DongHa69]

27. Awesome post

and Pic.

[DemoTex]

26. Pinboy - we had a little diddy we woud sing in RVN. It works well for Beck-the-Pogue.

Hymn. Hymn. Fuck Hymn.

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. LOL

good to see ya by the way.

[DemoTex]

29. You too, Nadin.

I'm happy tonight with the cold weather and wet forest. Happy, happy, happy!

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. Hugs, and take care

me watching some soccer... only good thing on the teevee right now, Mexican soccer league.

[atreides1]

41. We used the same song, too!

Some things do get passed down from one generation to the next.:D

[pinboy3niner]

66. ROFL!

Blast from the past, bro. I'd completely forgotten about that until your post

Of course, I was very tough on my platoon, so there might have been a little singing behind my back, lol.

Actually, it would have been short-lived. After some resistance, they actually thanked me for being so tough because they realized it helped to keep them alive. Of course, I don't mean being tough on some piss-ass requirement like shaving. I was tough on things like keeping weapons clean, staying awake in a plt. pos or on squad ambush pos.--the things that COUNTED.

[DongHa69]

74. We had a

very tough grizzled old MCPO who ran day to day ops and when I first arrived he took me aside and told me the do's and dont's and told me not to become a KIA or WIA. I credit him with my making it back to the world alive.

[pinboy3niner]

80. I relied a lot on our NCO's

I was fortunate to have a plt. sgt. (a young one) who was the best plt. sgt. anybody could hope to have. I'd had one before that who was pretty worthless, so this one, PM, was a godsend!

After I got hit, the plt. went through a succession of 4 new plt. leaders in 3-4 mos. Three were KIA and one was relieved of command. At that point my old plt. sgt., PM, was offered a battlefield commission if he'd extend his tour and take over the plt. He said he'd already seen enough killing, death and dying, and he declined. Thankfully, he made it home shortly after that--with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and multiple Purple Hearts. He deserved a commission, but he deserved to go home even more...

[DongHa69]

81. NCO's are the backbone

of the military and having a good one is just icing on the cake, especially in combat, mine was cool as a cucumber under fire. Went to our reunion last year and found out he had died of cancer.

[pinboy3niner]

83. I'm sorry to hear you lost him

Ironically, the DEROS system, with individual rotations in the combat zone, was designed to prevent or mitigate the kind of psychological trauma that had been seen in WWII and the Korean War (in WWII 25% of all evacs were 'psychiatric casualties').

But DEROS had its own complications. When you got your 'freedom bird' and rotated home, your buddies were still there--and it wasn't unusual to feel a sense of guilt when you were safe and they were still there, at risk. I had a pretty good excuse--I was wounded and Medevac'd out--but I still felt that guilt.

Another thing that was different from previous wars was that VN vets DIDN'T want to look up their buddies after the war, because that could mean learning horrible news about those you left behind.

My first contact with anyone I'd known in VN was 20 years afterward, when my medic found me. Together, we found others and we took a cross-country trip to visit our plt. sgt. and top squad ldr.--two extraordinary NCO's who were OUR backbone. For us, they made a life-and-death difference. And I love them still...

[amandabeech]

34. I'm not a veteran, but I offer you a belated, but sincere, "Welcome home!"

Thank for serving when your country called.

I'm just sorry that your country didn't send you to a war that was worthy of your commitment, efforts and soul.

[G_j]

37. he's nothing but a scam artist

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0426/entertainment-fox-news-simon-schuster-glenn-beck-inc.html

Glenn Beck Inc

Lacey Rose,
Forbes Magazine dated April 26, 2010

In his empire there's the ideology--and then there's the money machine.

<snip>

With a deadpan, Beck insists that he is not political: "I could give a flying crap about the political process." Making money, on the other hand, is to be taken very seriously, and controversy is its own coinage. "We're an entertainment company," Beck says. He has managed to monetize virtually everything that comes out of his mouth. He gets $13 million a year from print (books plus the ten-issue-a-year magazine Fusion). Radio brings in $10 million. Digital (including a newsletter, the ad-supported Glennbeck.com and merchandise) pulls in $4 million. Speaking and events are good for $3 million and television for $2 million.

<snip>

[Steely_Dan]

77. Vet Here...

I caught the same feeling when he said it. I wasn't sure if anyone else felt the same. Thanks.

1/64th ADA Chaparral - Ft. Lewis, Washington
2LT Anderson

[pinboy3niner]

82. Hey, El-Tee

I hadn't seen any comments on it, so I had to post to see if anyone else was as offended as I was. Thanks for your comment!

[The Wizard]

86. Welcome home from Beck

is like the patronizing "Thank you for your service" when a radical Republican finds out you served in Vietnam. Beck uses veterans like Bush did, window dressing.
So anyway, 43 years after the fact, my unofficial job is to counsel vets on how to go about getting benefits and remind them that the benefits are earned, not a hand out.
I advise them to get into a VA facility and get PTSD screening and treatment when necessary. You can tell when it's necessary after about five minutes, sometimes just from seeing the vacant stare.
Every time I get a vet to get his/her benefits it feels like victory.
Many vets have a mental block about getting help. It's perceived as a sign of weakness, and in basic training it was pounded into our heads that showing weakness will get you and your buddies killed.
I started the Tet offensive drunk, believing there would be a 48 hour truce, sobered up real quick.
First Infantry Division, 67 - 68.
As long as we can see the green side of the grass it's a good day.
Hey Beck followers, welcome this, right here. You get the picture.

[era veteran]

87. Glen Beck is shit

Thanks guys, I was on a tank in Germany 3 years. It sure sucked at times but was better than the alternative. SSG, 11-E, 3/3/33, The Rock

[DongHa69]

92. Hey

you guys were facing the former Soviet Union and their thousands of armored vehicles just across the border. What a mind fuck that must have been not knowing if they were or were not coming across the border.

[era veteran]

100. Nixxxon, Def-con 3/ Bad Hersfeld in the Fulda Gap.

We were up there on FTX sans tanks because they were cutting back on maneuver money. Then the war in Mid East, we went back to our Kaserne, combat loaded our old M60's and tore ass back up the autobahn. The Red Army was railroading all their shit in and you could see them lots of them. I thought my destiny was to die in a tank battle on the North German Plain. 10 to one odds & no Abrams super-tank, we were all a bit nervous. Thank God that balloon did not go up. Thanks for noticing but the only people that ever tried to kill me were other GI's. You guys did the shit. ..... BTW screw the Red Army

[Stinky The Clown]

91. He was less than 12 years old when the last of the VN vets were coming home.

[DongHa69]

93. He's a fucking asshat

and I have no use for asshats.

[Aviation Pro]

95. Roger that, bro....

...I am always amazed that the veteran community allows these asshat posers to speak for them.

[DongHa69]

97. I have more respect

for the late Alexander Haig than those wannabe's, I didn't agree with his politics but at least he had the guts to serve our country in combat.