Posted on 03/13/2018 1:03:37 PM PDT by Chainmail
Some of you asked me to write some more about my experiences all those years ago. This one is about a close call and my memories of it.
So how would National Security be violated? Go ahead, tell what could possibly be classified about infantry combat in Vietnam after half a century.. The enemy interested in 51 year old discussions of night infiltration or the use of patrol dogs?
Surprised you never got excited about With the Old Breed on Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. Sledge or PT-105 by Dick Keresey. Maybe state secrets got in those first-person combat narratives too! The Japanese could still be listening, I guess.
Not that I particularly care what goofy things you think, I have held clearances far above any you might have had during my long military career.
Actually, they’re 12 and 10 and they are the joy of my life!
Great story! I think they still should’ve popped a flare: better safe than sorry.
Lighten up Francis.
“I have held clearances far above any you might have had during my long military career.”
Now how in the world could you possibly know that?
Your ego is bursting out all over.
I do not know Francis nor Psycho because as I said in another post, I do not waste my time watching ridiculous movies, and particularly not comedies, which that movie clip happens to be. Documentaries are more my style.
Anyone who would watch a comedy movie really has to be hard up for something to do.
“So how would National Security be violated? Go ahead, tell what could possibly be classified about infantry combat in Vietnam after half a century.. The enemy interested in 51 year old discussions of night infiltration or the use of patrol dogs?”
As I said in another post, our ‘enemies’ read FR and can glean information from any military story.
Wake up, Mr. EGO!
You are what we used to call a douche.
You are obviously too smart for the rest of us. Why on earth would anyone want to spend time laughing? Oh that’s right, the stick up your ass hurts too much to allow you to laugh.
Wrong!
I was read out of a lot of programs involving certain keywords but NEVER read of out military service in general. That’s just so not true!
You are trolling or got it wrong which makes you a loud-mouthed moron. Frankly, for your sake, I hope you’re trolling!
“Wrong!
I was read out of a lot of programs involving certain keywords but NEVER read of out military service in general. That’s just so not true!”
What is ‘wrong’?
The rest of your post makes no sense. “Read out of”?
What I have found is that people who like to tell ‘war stories’ have too much ego and are simply bragging about how wonderful they are.
“You are what we used to call a douche.”
Oh, look, everyone! He who has no useful post with information calls names! And I am a douche?
ROFL
Very well written. Intense. Glad you made it home.
Northern I-corps was far too hilly to walk like you guys had to. Presented new challenges of course, like hauling wounded out on long slings lowered into the triple canopy trees.
Shup....boot
Pick your scabs somewhere else.
Thanks for sharing that, and for your service in country.
Good dog. Extra biscuit for you!
A flare would have required explanations and justifications. “Son, let me understand this, you set off a flare, triggering a night alert in this entire sector because you heard the snap, crackle, and pop of a cold front moving through?”
Shows you don’t know SQUAT!
These are fairly common terms in the US Government’s classified information handling procedures.
Read into - Given a document to sign saying you will abide by the terms of the classified program you are about to be given access to based on your need to know.
Read out of - Given another document you must sign when you no longer have a need to know for the classified program and must NOT divulge what you know.
Signing these means you are acknowledging you can and will be prosecuted should you divulge classified information. Soldiers and Marines in the field do not sign such documents for regular combat.
I think you’re a troll and a “wannabe” who is extremely jealous of real men. Project much?
In the list, you left out the nightmares that last for long after. And the drinking and the failed marriages. For a long time afterward, experiencing deep sorrow that you made it back and so many friends, good guys, didn't.
Pretty well all of us, I guess.
I never looked at myself with having "PTSD" but I knew that I had changed - just couldn't put my finger on it. The book definition of PTSD is that it comes from the brain's reaction to fear. That's part of it. I think that it also comes from seeing things that normal folks will never see, of learning that killing other people is pretty straightforward, of experiencing sustained deprivation and discomfort and sleeplessness, and maybe most of all, detachment from everyone except the ones who experienced the same things that you did. Our reception when we got back magnified everything.
The more I learn, the more that I am sure that each and every surviving combat veteran has some or most of these effects. We have all done well in our lives (other than marriages) and we have been productive, moral people - but we are changed.
“In the list, you left out the nightmares that last for long after. And the drinking and the failed marriages. “
They’re on the list, I just didn’t want to overdo it.
While permanently changed, it’s possible to have a normal life.
Talk openly to your doc. Download the VA forms and see if he’ll fill them out.
As for firearms, they are only an issue at 100% disability. For those of us at 30% or 50%...non-issue. Nobody will ever ask. And if you’ve managed to support yourself over the last 40 years you’re 50% max.
My big epiphany was when I realized that the temporary relief of alcohol actually made the anxiety worse!
And at our age it’s not about the money. The money is trivial. It’s about access to programs ONLY the VA offers, programs that make a difference in quality of life.
What’s left of it.
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