A Vietnam War Vet Looks at 'THE' Iraq War Photo - (U.S.Army Major Mark Bieger holding child)

CHRONWATCH.COM ^ | MAY 9, 2005 | WAYNE LUSVARDI

[Fawnn]

And all of us in the boomer generation do not fit into that category.

Exactly!

There seems to be an overabundance of people on FR lately who aren't happy unless they're miserable -- even to the point of bending the facts to create new stereotypes if it serves their purpose.

[Beth528]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go. Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own. And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind." Major Michael Davis O'Donnell 1 January 1970 Dak To, Vietnam

[navygal]

thanks for the ping!

[BykrBayb]

Those are some powerful words that we should all take to heart. There is a place inside of me for these heroes, and I have loved them all.

[Beth528]

You are so right..I cried when I read this!

[Ditto]

They will go down in history as a "wicked and adulterous generation" . They expanded Social Security and are in the process of draining it dry; they expanded Medicare/Medicaid and are in the process of draining it dry ; they expanded union power and as a result manufacturing is done overseas instead of here. Etc. etc.

Maybe when you grow up, you'll learn how to count. The "boomers" didn't "expand Social Security'. That was done by "The Greatest Generation" members of congress during as "Social Security Reform" and LBJs Great Society Medicare program. There were no "Boomers" in those Congresses. The "Boomers" are just the ones who have been forced to pay 15.4% of their wages into Social Security & Medicare for all or most of their working lives to pay for higher benifits for the AARP crowd.

You might also figure out that when Boomers started working, one in every 4 private sector jobs were "union" jobs. Today, it's one in 10!

And if you did know how to count, you might just figure out that not a single "Boomer" is currently eligible for Social Security retirement. Not one.

Perhaps the lesson here is that the "Boomers" were the last generation to actually learn math in school.

[orionblamblam]

For me, Most Powerful War Photo Ever:

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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Vietnam Veteran RICK RESCORLA saved 100's of lives in Vietnam in 1965 and 1,000's of lives in New York's World Center... TWICE..!!!

See: http://www.RickRescorla.com



Signed:.."ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer
Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965

http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set1.htm
(Where RICK RESCORLA walked in Vietnam, exactly - See 1st Photo)

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[La Enchiladita]

Rick Rescorla, a great American hero. Thanks for posting this, Aloha Ronnie. And, (even though it sounds corny and is inadequate) thank you for fighting alongside Rick in '65. Great photos.

Ros42, see post 28... the links.

[La Enchiladita]

How I feel about the photo of SGT Bieger and the child whose name I wish I knew is ... grieved, very VERY sad.

It also makes me even madder at the leftist, liberal "hate America" crowd, some of whom I confronted yesterday. Veterans for Peace were seated next to their so-called "Arlington West" at Santa Monica beach and I gave them H.E.L.L.

[TADSLOS]

Ditto. What you said...

[crz]

A dam good depression would do wonders.

How many do you think could survive picking beans and pickles for canning factories? How many could stoop that low and eat flour pudding at least five times a week. Most houses that people could afford to hold would become boarding houses to get just a tad more pennies to live on.

OH how my mom told of what they did to make it during that depression. She scrubbed floors, the boys quit school and helped cut fence posts in the swamps for half a penny each (they cut one hundred a day with a bow saw and double bit axe), picked blueberries, and on and on.

[CHARLITE]

The photo is awesome. Thanks so much for sharing it. I hadn't seen it before, if indeed it was ever published anywhere.

Thanks so much, orion.

Char :)

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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RICK RESCORLA: Help honor 911 Lifesaving Hero

http://war-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24361


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[Radix]

"Even as a youngster, I knew there was an agenda!"

You are a bright person. I didn't wise up until the Mondale campaign, and later the Dukakis run put me over the top. I knew that guy was bad news. "The Massachusetts Miracle," ha, what a joke.

[orionblamblam]

> hadn't seen it before, if indeed it was ever published anywhere.

Oh, it's been published... won the Pulitzer in '74. The story on it: the soldier you see was a Vietnam war POW, had been for some years. He had just landed on American soil, was asked to go to the microphone and say a few words, and he apparently scanned the audience of well-wishers desperately looking for his family. They weren't there. He was understandably crushed, he thought they had forgetten him.

They were behind the plane, waiting for him to finish speaking, so they could have him to themselves. They had not forgetten him, as you can tell.

Photographer was Sal Veder... and he for *damned* sure deserved the Pulitzer for that one.



To find a decent quality version of the photo you'll need to look in a book... the online versions all seem to be pretty small. Copyright issue, I suppose.

[orionblamblam]

Higher rez online images of this are hard to find.


From: http://alt.tnt.tv/specials/moi/photo_pow.html
Slava Veder had been assigned to cover the intended release of American POWs out of Saigon. Now, returning stateside, Veder found himself covering the arrivals at Travis Air Force Base in California.
On March 17, 1973, Veder watched as a giant C-141 arrived on the tarmac. Aboard the plane was Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm, a POW who had not seen his family for six years.
Numerous other families and well-wishers lined the gates near the plane's final destination to greet the POWs. As commanding officer, and expected to say a few words, Stirm would be the final person to emerge from the plane.
As Stirm stepped forward to the microphone to address the crowd, he searched the faces for those of his family. Unbeknownst to Stirm, the family had been sequestered behind the plane. Stirm completed his remarks, but was crestfallen as he did not see his family. He was about to get the surprise of a lifetime.
Veder stepped in quickly and began documenting the moments as the family broke from their position behind Stirm. It had been six years since the Stirm family had been united. Sal Veder captured their burst of joy. The photo ran in papers across the country, from the Associated Press wire. It also garnered Veder a Pulitzer Prize.

---

Stirm’s daughter, Lorrie, 15, followed by son Robert, 14; daughter Cynthia, 11; wife Loretta; and son Roger, 12.

[proud American in Canada]

Okay, it's official--between the original post and the picture of the POW--I am officially crying. :)

Tears of joy for the POW of 30 years ago--and tears of sadness and humility for the soldier and the little girl he carried as she died.

[orionblamblam]

> I am officially crying. :)

Anyone who can look at both and not tear up is some kinda robot.

> Tears of joy for the POW of 30 years ago

The bad news: apparently he and the missus got a divorce within a year. I have no further info than that, but I guess after years in the Hanoi Hilton, it should not come as a complete surprise. However... on that one day in the photo, there was complete joy.

> tears of sadness and humility for the soldier and the little girl

There have been a number of good photos (sad, joyful, determined, brave, etc.) to come out of the war. Does anybody know if there is a website that's keeping track?

[proud American in Canada]

The bad news: apparently he and the missus got a divorce within a year. I have no further info than that, but I guess after years in the Hanoi Hilton, it should not come as a complete surprise.

That's too bad, but you're right.

on that one day in the photo, there was complete joy.

That's a good way to look at it. :)

There have been a number of good photos (sad, joyful, determined, brave, etc.) to come out of the war. Does anybody know if there is a website that's keeping track?

Absolutely--I know I've seen some but can't remember the urls.

I'm pinging people that might know and I will browse through some stuff I have.

Calpernia, Tonk, Ragtime Cowgirl, do you know of a good website that has photos of the war?