Tribute To Vietnam Veterans....Welcome Home.......March 5, 2002

Self and Various web sites for graphics and friends

[Snow Bunny]

Even though we all were in Vietnam at different times, at different places our hearts were united and our lives they were intertwined.
After Vietnam there were no parades, not many people wanted to hear our stories, and if they did listen, they didn't really understand. I know this is a small thank you for all each of you did , but I want to thank you for serving and for being the person you were then and now.
I appreciated what you were did ,and would do in the future to secure the freedom and liberty of this nation and other nations.

A man has not lived until he has almost died…….

For those who have fought life has a flavor……..

The protected will never know.

…….. author Unknown Vietnam Veteran

THE EYES OF A WARRIOR
(A tribute to the Vietnam Veterans, and the Veterans of our past)

In the eyes of a warrior we see strength, loyalty, honor ~ we see pain, horror, and loneliness. When you look into their eyes you see the stony strength of one who has the courage to take on the world so that we may choose. You see the will that stands between fear and a belief that freedom is the most valuable gift that one can give to another. And, you see the heart ~ with its granite-hard conviction that the soul cannot survive without honor. Personal honor cannot be lost or thrown away. It is embedded in the soul of the warrior beyond this earth ~ beyond eternity, and beyond his or her own ability to survive without it.

When you look into the eyes of a warrior, you also see the dead pool of pain. It surrounds and envelopes the inner soul ~ it is a natural by-product of the prize, freedom. One cannot win this prize unless they are willing to endure the pain ~ for this is the price. No one pays this price like the warrior. The horror that is endured....remembered....is the cause of the pain but is also the means by which the warrior wins for us, the freedom and the life that we enjoy. So oblivious are we to the price they pay. The tears they shed somewhere inside where we cannot see unless we look for the brothers they were forced to leave behind, and for the loss ~ the never ending loss of war. In their eyes one will see the deepest most internal ~ and most eternal loneliness we shall ever witness. It comes from the deepest part within them, that part which suffers still, the battle.

If you look deep into the eyes of a warrior, you will see the collage of the human spirit. If you cannot envy this ~ if you cannot love, respect and honor this, then you have no right to the freedom they so willingly won, and then simply gave to you.

Have we ever stopped to think what our world would be like if we had no warriors? How would we have the right to determine for ourselves what we will do on a lazy Sunday afternoon? How would we determine for ourselves what our children will learn and how they will be raised? And the most important question of all ~~ how dare we forget these things are true?

To All Veterans:

"With all my heart I embrace you....
with all my soul I wrap you in
the protective shroud of my pride
in you and my gratitude for what
you have given me".

[Snow Bunny]

Thank you so much and for serving our country.

Welcome Home Mort.

[Snow Bunny]

Hi Critter, this is fantastic. Thank you for the link and for all you do my friend.GREAT post !!!!

[Snow Bunny]

Thank you for serving my dear friend. This Tribute it for you and all our Vietnam Veterans.

[Snow Bunny]

Johnny, this is such a great picture.Thanks again for all you do !!!!

[Snow Bunny]

I was sitting here thinking about your post and I just want to thank you again for sharing with me. It is very special and you are very special too. Thank you for being you.

[Snow Bunny]

B4 I thank you for your post.

[Snow Bunny]

Thank you JimRob for serving our country. You have never stopped serving in your heart and your wonderful FRee Republic means so much to all of us.

Thank you for making a difference.

Welcome Home JimRob.

[Snow Bunny]

Thank you JustAmy. I am so glad we met here at FR.

[B4Ranch]

Snow Bunny is one of the damn few civilians who understand us. She stayed in country for an extra month each time after her Bob Hope Tours were finished so that she could visit with the wounded and saw just what we were living with. She carries the same resentments we do towards the gooks. Of all the civilians I know, she is one of the few who just flat ass understands us. There isn't very many civilians who will read this and know what I mean, but ImpBill I promise you she does. Yeah, she is warped the same way we are but handles it the same way we do, one day at a time.

When I posted the RT Northcut thread, she was the one of two civilians who actually understood the man. The other one was a lady who spent two years as a nurse on one of the med ships and also served in country. Both of them actually knew about 'too little - too late'. If you ever decide that maybe some of the beneies might fit, try starting with AmVets. That's a group that has their head on straight.

Stand Tall and Proud !

[Critter]

I stumbled onto the pic section of that site from a link on another site, and thought it was terrific. However, after I made my post, I surfed it a bit more, and I'm not sure I agree with the mission of that group. However, I don't know too much about em, so it's hard for me to judge.

[1stbn27]

Bro, I checked out that site.."Vets with a Mission" and I'll probably catch some flak from this reply, but I don't much care....I couldn't give a rat's ass less as to what happens to that mudhole over there...as far as I'm concerned it's a slap in the face to every name that is written on the black piece o stone in DC for Our Country to even think about trade with them Commie Bastards and help rebuilding it.....I think to many people have forgotten that we gave it back to the NVA commies in April 1975...so what did my bro's that came home with wounded bodies, wounded souls, wounded spirits, wounded minds and the one's that didn't come home at all go over there in the first place for?? Bitter?? Hell yeah I'm bitter !! Pissed?? Hell yeah I'm pissed !! And I'm proud of it !! I wear it as a badge of Honor for all the bro's that went to that shit hole believing what they were doing was right !!! Then all the "warm and fuzzy" liberals that protested the war 30 years ago and spit on us, and carried peace signs come out of the wood work and tells the Country we should rebuild it and trade with them....well the HELL WITH THAT !!! I'd like to trade with them......I'll give em every left wing liberal Jane (traitorous Bitch) Fonda type in this Country for just some o my bro's back.....I think those boyz that are "Vets with a Mission" ought to rethink their mission !!! Its Just a Nam Thing

[JDoutrider]

Once again I thank you for being such a sweet heart posting these tributes...and pinging me with them. Just got back from seeing "We were Soldiers". I think I'm turning into a big sissy, them damn tears just rolled down my face at the end...

JD

[Critter]

You wont catch any flack from me... I went into that site via the back door from a link from another site. After I posted about it, I wandered around a bit more and discovered what it was all about.

If I could have taken back my post, I would have. But I couldn't, so I posted a bit of a retraction afterward. (see above)

They seem more like a bunch of commie lovers than anything else.

Sorry if my post offends anyone. That's what I get for not having a thorough look first.

[Snow Bunny]

HI Critter . I went to the site. I always am thankful to see any site about Vietnam vets, it is good for me to see what is going on.Wether I agree with each site is a different thing.

I thank you for the site link.Here is a Snow Bunny run down of how I feel about it.

In a short version it gave me the same feeling as people that could vote for a draft dodger for President.

In a longer answer, I have seen pictures of Vietnam and how they are suffering from Agent Orange and children huddled together with their mothers.That is what my eyes see, my heart on the other hand sees something else.

During the war the enemy was not only a man with a gun, it was women, children, of all ages seeking to kill our men. Not only kill but dance around, sing and rejoice in the kill. Mutulation after their kills of our servicemen. Horrific things to much to speak of on here.
A woman walking down a path holding her hat with danger under it for our troops.So many things that our media, solid lefties, never told john Q public.

Their treatment of POW's is beyond belief. Their lies from their governement to return our servicemen has been one lie, one false deal after the other.

When traitor, draft dodger Clinton went there they told our government we could not fly the American Flag within a certain range of their country.

They are our enemy and doing trade with them to me is unforgivable. The vets at that site that think perhaps for some reason that it is a way of healing relations are only kidding themselves. They , the vets, should seek healing in other ways. Seeking out other Vietnam vets, sharing, talking, crying together, cussing together, getting mad together,get drunk together.....anything would be better then kissing up to those in Vietnam.They are NOT to be trusted, not then, not now , not ever.

Our country has given those that came from Vietnam money to start businesses. OUR tax dollars and this is wrong too.Americans that have been born here do not get this help, but the people coming from Nam got it.

So my feeling is these vets are wrong, they are kidding themselves and those they meet on their trips back to Nam are only laughing at them on the inside." Crazy American,stupid American. ". They are like my dog,that barks and wags his tail at the same time.At a stranger he does not trust nor has any intention of befriending.

OUR vets are dying from Agent Orange where is the concern for this.OUR vets are suffering from emotions from the war where is Americas concern for this.OUR vets were spit on,kept from attending Universities , colleges, getting work, families telling them they did not want to hear about IT."Good to see you son, but I don't want to hear about it."

Our vets were told, don't tell anyone here at the plant you are a Nam vet, just do your job.Our Vets, our POW's MIA's are still there, where is the outrage across America to end this insanity of not making sure they are all brought home. Our vets , our Vietnam veterans, Americans that said yes I will go and paid the price, a high price for my freedom and my liberty. NOT those children and women and men in Vietnam, but my brothers and sisters that went to Vietnam, my fellow Americans.My Vietnam Veteran family that will live in my heart forever.

Critter I am grateful to see that site, because it shows me not to be so shocked when I hear of a Vietnam vet voting for a draft dodger for the most powerful job in the world in the most powerful country in the world.
((((( hug ))))

I would like to share this with you all......SAMWolf posted it at the USO FReeper Canteen FReeper Style one day months ago.......

JUDGE ME BY THE FOOTPRINTS I LEAVE BEHIND

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam.

He called his parents from San Francisco.
"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've got a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring with me."

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mined and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us.
We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him.

A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

And this is a song that I love...........

Please turn up your volume, after you get to the site, close your eyes and let us never ever forget, that FReedom isi NEVER Free.

http://lbjspatrioticwebpages.homestead.com/SomeGaveAll.html

[Snow Bunny]

(((( hug ))) thank you for your friendship JD.

[grammymoon]

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[Critter]

Oh, and just to clarify, the link I followed took me to the pictorial essay from which the picture came that I used in my 1st post. It was very well done.

But this still doesn't excuse my error.

BTW, I remember vividly, watching the candy ass, chicken $h!t south vietnamese running like a bunch of sissies, from the NVA in 1975. The only reason it took as long as it did for the south to give up Saigon is they could only run so fast...

[Critter]

I made a boo boo! I never should have posted that link without REALLY knowing what was up.

Somehow, it needs to be understood that I don't agree with what they are doing.

What can I do for penance? :)

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

After reading your post 274 I am 100% convinced that God sent you to earth to be
The Guardian Angel of Viet Nam Vets.
I think that is the reason you ended up doing those 4 USO Tours with Bob Hope in Viet Nam.
I ask anyone, is there one who loves AND understands us more than Snow Bunny does?

[1stbn27]

Critter..." It ain't no thang Bro"......sometimes I have to look at a site two or three times before I can decide my lil two cents worth of Opinion on it......and then again sometimes my quick temper and angry gets da best o me before I read em good enuff and I spend a few hours tryin to dislodge my foot from my mouth !!! SNOW BUNNY...ya done good again Lady !!!! Great post about the Nam relations deal and that site !!!! I too just got back about 15 minutes ago from seeing "We were young once"....bout time the Hollywood leftist got somethin right when it comes to a movie about the Nam and our Bro's.....them "Doggies" done themselves proud in that ole Ia Drang Valley....The truest statement in that whole movie was when it was stated that when we were over there, we knew what was goin on here in the World and we weren't fighting for our Country, or South Vietnam, anymore....We were fighting fer each other..All a bro had was his bro's and thats what we were fighting for....didn't feel like nobody back here gave a big ole rat's ass.....You freepers keep da wire tight, keep yer socks and ammo dry, and if'n ya got an extra can o fruit cocktail or peaches, I'll trade ya a 5 packer o Lucky's fer em...Just want to say WELCOME HOME AND SEMPER FIDELIS to any o you bro's out there in FR land !!! Its Just a Nam Thing