[Utah Girl]

A family friend was a prisoner for several years in a German POW camp, Mr. M's uncle was badly wounded fighting both Nazis and Communists in Yugoslavia with the Chetnik army, and my father's U.S. Navy service in WWII was more distinguished than Kerry's, but it's funny how men like that didn't try to glorify themselves through their war experiences. They just did their duty, came home and had productive lives.

My cousin's husband fought as a soldier in Vietnam, honorably. He was literally in the trenches, he fought in hand-to-hand combat with the Viet Cong in the swamps. He came home, started a family, and served in the US Army for 25 years. He retired and his mental health fell apart. He couldn't deal with the emotions and horror of what he experienced. He's been in and out of mental hospitals, the VA has sent him to counselor after counselor, and he just can't seem to overcome the horrific past.

I saw him for the first time in many years at my grandmother's funeral. He looks like an old man (he's 55). He can't be in crowds, and he has horrible nightmares. My cousin can't leave him by himself, they moved close to their children so that they could help out with his care. As I talked to him the cemetery I noticed he had a small flag pin on his lapel. And then as he and my cousin walked together back to their car, he stopped and saluted each flag. That made me cry, here is a man who lost his youth fighting in war, has lost his mental health, and he's still proud to have served his country.

[mountaineer]

Thanks to your cousin's husband for his service! Of course, according to John Kerry, he's a war criminal, having committed the most vile and heinous atrocities. Just once, I'd like to see Effin try to justify his 1971 lies to men like your cousin's husband.

[lodwick]

Thoughts, prayers, and thanks up to your uncle, UG.

[daisyscarlett]

Thanks for sharing about your truly patriotic relatives..

Wonder how many of the Heinz family ever served their country...Among all their problems created by their tremendous wealth, military hardship is not mentioned in this article. LINK "Along with power and wealth, the clan Teresa Heinz Kerry first married into has lived through tragedy and estrangement."

Check out this paragraph:

"By most accounts, Jack Heinz had a distant relationship with his only son, and was none too happy when he learned that the main heir to the family fortune wanted to marry the daughter of a Mozambique doctor. "His dad disapproved of his marriage…. The story was that his dad felt he had been hoodwinked by a fortune-seeking European woman,"....

[BigWaveBetty]

Dunleavy's story made me angry at Kerry and his cronies, your story made me cry. Then I got angry again when I think about how Kerry's anti-war efforts hurt so many brave men like your cousin-in-law in addition to the hell that haunts them. My prayers are with them.

Thanks for the correction on Teresa's house in Idaho.