For all our Vietnam Vets:

[catnhatnh]

From my brothers facebook page:

On this day 43 years ago, my good friend John Garza, My squad leader Vic Cambas, our medic Rodney Koerner , and F.O. Cliburn Halqua died when our platoon was overrun by the 803rd NVA regiment on the eastern edge of the Ashau Valley, Vietnam. 9 others wounded, our Platoon Sgt. Grady Norris died of wounds one month later. Back home nobody cared. Now it's Welcome Home ! NO THANKS, TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. Your Bravo brothers won't forget. R.I.P. John,Vic,Rodney,Cliburn & Grady. Brian T. Allen Sgt. 2nd Plt. Bravo Co. 1/506th infantry 101st Airborne Div. Currahee !

For all the little anniversaries no one else knows....

[L0oniX]

1. +1

[Glorfindel]

2. Thank you for remembering us

It's deeply appreciated.

[democrank]

3. I`m not a Vietnam Vet, but

I live with one. Thank you so much for posting this.


~PEACE~

[Romulus Quirinus]

4. *hug* nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. My BIL is one

Forgot

:hugs:

Believe it or not my husband, a veteran of more recent messes feels the same way. It's artificial.

[Bandit]

6. That was four out of the fifty thousand that died there.

That was a brutal "war". GIs died every single day there... There is not a day goes by I don't remember....

[HappyMe]

7. It's a shame.

The Viet Nam vets were treated like crap.

[catnhatnh]

8. Evening Kick... N/T

[Kurovski]

9. Kick. NT)

[pinboy3niner]

10. "all the little anniversaries no one else knows..."

I know your brother was at Ripcord, and the one day he mentions is only a fraction of what he went through there.

The A Shau is the only place where I was sure I was going to die.

I was with the Geronimos of 2/501 Inf., but today I'll salute your brother and the Currahees.

19 in Vietnam (song lyrics)
by Pete Kennedy

Well I'm a bushhog scratchin' for a rat underground
in the jungle of the valley A Shau
I gave him 18 rounds and he didn't go down
I'm dealin' with the devil again

I turned 19 in Vietnam
19 in Vietnam

Well we started out thinkin' we were some kind of heroes
Fightin' just like our daddies did
But now the gung-ho crew is very few
and the rest are just frightened kids

Who turned 19 in Vietnam
19 in Vietanm

You spend a year in hell feelin' so alone
Seein' more than a kid can bear
Countin' the days 'til they ship you home
But there ain't no welcome there

When you're 19 in Vietnam
19 in Vietnam
And wond'rin' Why?

[okaawhatever]

11. Both my grandfather and father were in Vietnam. People cannot and do not understand.

Soldiers of your era fought two wars. The first in Vietnam and the second when they came home. My grandfather was 101st during WWII but 82nd during Vietnam. Dad was an Air Force pilot. I imagine it's still with you. The Vietnam era Veterans were made to suffer unjustly for the wholesale failure of government Please know that the misery suffered by the returning soldiers changed America forever and for the better. America seems destined to never again treat our soldiers as they did you and your cohorts. The lesson wasn't lost, and hasn't been forgotten. Thank you.

[catnhatnh]

12. And then today:

"I have to add one more. Good friend, Big old Georgia boy, Gerald McDowell. K.I.A. 6/27/1970 Thua Thien province. Miss you Gerry."


I ain't gonna editorialize here. Took 40 years for him to put this down for his family to see. I know he saw a lot of action in his first 60 days in the field. I know these stories because in the old days I would go drinking with him. I know a worse anniversary is about 10 days away and I wonder what he might write. I hope the pain he posts melts just a little bit with the flow of the words. He has suffered so much and so quietly. The real ones always did. There is a debt owed....