Worth it? Personally, No. From a way back gubbmint view, maybe. I went in the Army on my 17th birthday, shipped to Vietnam as an Infantry private 2 months after my 18th birthday. Shipped home in a hospital plane 4 months before my 19th birthday. What a way to spend the teenage years, supposedly your most fun years of life. Have never actually recovered from the wounds from an rpg hit during Tet ‘68 and now at 74 the painful walk reminds me with every step that early life certainly can affect your ‘sunset’ years. BUT, even with that it was so much better than the 58,000 much unluckier bastards that bought it and gave all they had. So, worth it, nah.
And thank you for sharing.
Keep walking FRiend -- it helps (dealing with a minor injury compared to yours). And Stand Tall.
The last probably was not really necessary. We have not interacted before, but sense you are the type of person who Stands Tall.
Thank you for your service. So many like you still suffer from their days back then. And others are lost except in the loving memories of their relatives and friends.
Thank you to all here who served.
A friend was 17. Landed on Omaha Beach, start of 3rd week of June 1944. Immediately sent to Cherbourgh. Combat, there, followed by combat from there . . . walking all the way across France to frontier near Germany, northeast from Paris.
December 22, pulled from the line and sent to Paris, but did not get there. Stopped short because of change in orders - back to the front.
After Ardennes, headed toward Austria. War ends. Duty. Transfer to France for pre-boarding; shipped out.
Lands at New York City, 19th birthday.
I asked him, What do you remember most?
He said, The bodies in the ditches alongside the roads.
The Germans killed a lot of people that we do not hear about, and the bodies were dumped in the roadside ditches. In time - in photos, you don’t notice the bodies, because of the effects of nature. The remains of people, their clothes, etc. blend in.
My friend was my brother-in-law whom some people looked down upon, because he was seemingly simple and weak.
He resolved to be himself, a kind gentleman, and he found that he liked selling clothing as a way to keep afloat and associate with people - to keep from turning inward.
Few knew about his “teenage years.” He gave of himself, he was devoted to my sister and to the kids.
He was very tall and strong, Irish. His kind treatment of people, generous with his time for their sakes, still shows in their children.
Thank you for listening. Thank you for showing up.
Blessings