We didn't know it would effect us so much. That job, in combat, made me a doctor in later life. I didn't even want to be a doctor when I was in Nam. I'm very happy now, thank the Lord. The war that claimed lives also elevated the souls of the men that served there, and survived. The sheer courage that was needed to fight that war grew courage in the men that served. When I meet these men I am humbled by the responsibility that they bear on their shoulders daily. They are calm, and cool, and collected, but there is a slow boil in all of us. We are long to anger, but we short to meet out justice. We're the guys you just don't want to mess with. We are the guys that have a bad dream on occasion, we are the guys that live with that. We are a coiled spring, ready to go off. Now, they've given us a reason to "go off". You don't want to see what we are capable of. It's not nice, it's not even civilized.
If war is about breaking things and killing people (and it is), we are your best "hit man". We've been there, done that, and we're still trying to forgive ourselves for it. To do it again for the "right" cause would vindicate our souls. One more time before we die!
Note to the enemy: You have pissed off the wrong bunch of folks. Not just the American People, but a bunch of Nam Vets who are still ready to fight. May Allah have mercy on your miserable souls!