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Pat Tillman's decision to leave the NFL to serve his country after 9/11. 

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Thanks to my fellow veterans for your service.

Yes definitely!! Thank You!!

My Father was Air Force, served in Korea in 53, was in the Air Force reserve until 1969.

When he passed away back in 2016, there was an Air Force Honor Guard at his Funeral

I always thank a Vet, as well as active duty service members, when I see them anywhere.

Those brave Men and Women, past and present, are the reason we became free, and remain free to this day.

My grandfathers were Navy and Army AirCorps (WW2), my dad was Air Force and his brother was Navy (Vietnam era). My sister was Air Force and her son is currently serving as a Marine. I was Army.

My FIL knew he was going to be drafted for Vietnam so he enlisted in the Air Force as a cook. He said if he was going to go it was going to be on his terms and it was. My step dad was a Russian linguist in the AF. He was also in Vietnam.

It's crazy to think today's Vietnam vets are around the same age as WW2 vets were when Saving Private Ryan came out in theaters. I remember it so clearly because I was by far the youngest person in the screening room on opening day. I keep forgetting most of them are gone, Vietnam vets have taken their place and that I'm older than I think I am most days.

My dad was a grizzled combat vet in WWII with the 517th PRCT. He was an armed fighting medic because he refused to wear a Red Cross on his helmet. The Germans used it as a target. He jumped into Sicily and fought through the Italian campaign and was finally wounded during the Battle of the Bulge by shrapnel from a Tiger tank round. His right leg was almost two inches shorter afterwards.

I remember reading about the Battle of the Bulge in Band of Brothers as well as seeing it in the HBO series. It was from the perspective of the men in the 101st ABN. That was insane. How those guys survived the weather without winter clothing or enough food on top of the Germans trying to kill them is beyond anything I can comprehend.

And if I'd been a medic in a combat zone there is no way I would've worn the red cross because it's a big red bullseye. That's one of the first things they told us in AIT/combat medic school.

Alternatively, the movie about the medic in WW2 who never fired a shot.....can't remember the name of the movie....it was a great movie. Dude had a big set of balls on top of his deep conviction.

ETA: the movie was Hacksaw Ridge. He was in the Battle of Okinawa. The first man in history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a single shot.

My maternal grandfather worked on B-29s in the Pacific during WW2. I need to ask my mom about that. I can't remember which island he was on but it wasn't Hawaii. I think my paternal grandfather worked sonar on a ship but could've been on a sub during WW2. He didn't talk about it much. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to ask and listen to them more than I did but being long distance put a damper on long conversations.

Seems like most of my family are Veterans including a couple that are retirees and a couple more who eventually will be.They've served everywhere from the South Pacific in the 40s to Vietnam in the late 60s to Europe to Afghanistan to a nephew who is currently deployed at sea as I type. I let them know regularly that I appreciate their service as I do all Veterans!

(11-12-2021, 03:51 PM)americus 2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]I remember reading about the Battle of the Bulge in Band of Brothers as well as seeing it in the HBO series. It was from the perspective of the men in the 101st ABN. That was insane. How those guys survived the weather without winter clothing or enough food on top of the Germans trying to kill them is beyond anything I can comprehend.

And if I'd been a medic in a combat zone there is no way I would've worn the red cross because it's a big red bullseye. That's one of the first things they told us in AIT/combat medic school.

Alternatively, the movie about the medic in WW2 who never fired a shot.....can't remember the name of the movie....it was a great movie. Dude had a big set of balls on top of his deep conviction.

ETA: the movie was Hacksaw Ridge. He was in the Battle of Okinawa. The first man in history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a single shot.

Dad told us all kinds of stories about his experiences. The bitter cold during "the bulge" as he always called it, was some of his worst memories. It was the deep snow which contributed to him being wounded. The BAR rifleman in their squad was short and was having difficulty navigating the snow which was up to his crotch. Dad offered to carry his BAR for a while to help him out when they came under attack. He used the BAR to return fire when he discovered the rifleman had loaded it with a high ratio of tracer rounds. Dad said it was like a laser pointed to his position. A tank round struck a tree behind him and a piece of shrapnel nearly severed his right foot. He felt lucky because he had turned around to grab more ammunition so his head was where his feet were just a few seconds before. He said the pain was blinding "like someone smashed my foot with a sledgehammer into a barrel of hot oil". 

Being a medic, he had morphine syrettes just like you see in Saving Private Ryan. According to him, the effect was incredible. Once they got him away from the fire he was put on a stretcher slung on the side of a jeep. He remembered being in a morphine haze and watching his foot bounce around nearly unattached to his leg. At one point he said he could see the sole of his boot.  

Later, he was put on a train and said that was the worst. In those days they believed the best treatment for frostbite was to keep the victim cold. He was put on a railroad car with frostbite victims with none of them given blankets. Finally, he got the attention of another medic and told him he was wounded and not suffering from frostbite and was then moved to another car. He said he felt awful for the frostbitten soldiers who were left to suffer even more. 

We were regaled with other stories of horror, like the time they were pinned down in a cemetery with mortar and rifle fire. A soldier about 15 feet in front of him had suffered a severe facial wound. Dad said the soldier was sitting cross-legged with his hands up to his face while blood streamed between his fingers. As dad was making his way towards him a mortar round landed in the wounded soldiers lap and blew his mangled body back on top of him. 

Imagine living with those kinds of experiences. We always imagine our parents as the mature adults as we have always known them. Dad was 18 at the time. A vastly unformed person barely out of puberty and I still try to reconcile those experiences told to me by a man who was really only a boy then. War really is hell.

It truly is. I feel bad for the OEF/OIF troops who were deployed repeatedly and some deployments ending for them only because they were too wounded to be sent back. And the crazy thing is, to us anyway, is they wanted to go back because they couldn't conceive the thought of their brothers having to be there without them.

On another note I can 100% confirm how awesome morphine is. I got some in the hospital after I snow sledded into a tree (don't ask) back in 2009. The pain that was next level was due to cracked ribs and a hole in my right lung. I can see how people could want that feeling all the time but I prefer to have a clear head and be aware of what's going on. I'd suck as an addict. Lol.

(11-12-2021, 08:59 PM)americus 2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]It truly is. I feel bad for the OEF/OIF troops who were deployed repeatedly and some deployments ending for them only because they were too wounded to be sent back. And the crazy thing is, to us anyway, is they wanted to go back because they couldn't conceive the thought of their brothers having to be there without them.

On another note I can 100% confirm how awesome morphine is. I got some in the hospital after I snow sledded into a tree (don't ask) back in 2009. The pain that was next level was due to cracked ribs and a hole in my right lung. I can see how people could want that feeling all the time but I prefer to have a clear head and be aware of what's going on. I'd suck as an addict. Lol.

I was teaching soldiers during this time. They were absolutely wrung out and exhausted. This was during the time when deployments were 15 months long. After only being back for a few months they were preparing for their next deployment. I'll say this about the Army and you may disagree; during peace time they have the easiest job in the military. In war time, they have the most difficult - by far. The Army carries the greatest bulk of war effort on their shoulders.

I sat next to a family law attorney on a flight out of Killeen, Tx when returning from a teach in Ft. Hood. She said the stories she could talk about with the cases she dealt with as a result of the long and frequent deployments.  As a retired squid who has spent years at sea, I had an idea.

Oh, I don't disagree at all. I was married to my ex husband during peace time and post 9/11 when his unit deployed to Iraq. I got to experience all kinds of difficulties and emotions from myself, from him, from his soldiers and their wives and our friends. It really sucked. Luckily he was thisclose to retirement while he was over there and filed his papers before he came back. Had he waited until he came back he would have been caught up in the stop loss for his MOS. As it is 21 years of service and deployment for him was enough.

I love veterans. I hate Veteran's day.