Got any pictures?

[Oldguy]

Drafted into U.S. ARMY 70-71

After my discharge I went back my home town in Oklahoma and continued life.

Never mentioned being in the service and no one brought it up.

Basically a non issue.

I have asked other vets over the years exactly what did we accomplish?

Not once have I ever received an answer to my question.........

Volunteered to be drafted. US Army 1969-71; Re-enlisted in the reserve components 1973-85.

After my discharge, I went back to my hometown in Oklahoma and tried to continue life, beginning with college less than a week after I got out of the Army. I did mention my service and hung out with other Vets, but nobody but us cared. The world had moved on while we were away and the war, though not yet over, was forgotten by most.

What did we accomplish? Not much on a practical, military or political level. "Victory" was never an option the way the war was fought, and it finally just petered out from lack of interest, just as Korea had done before us and as the War on Terror is doing today. It should be obvious by now that anything less than total victory is defeat, but it's not.

In any case, the real value to that forlorn effort in Southeast Asia is found in our willingness to go, not in the outcome. None of us HAD to go. We each could have taken any one of multiple routes to avoid the war had we wanted to. But, we didn't. Unlike the majority of our peers (and some high-powered war mongers today), we went and did our duty. There is honor in that, no matter how the war ended.

The real, positive effects are personal, even in spite of the awful personal negatives which go along with it and I would not take a million dollars for the experience.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I'm sorry you guys had to go to that sh*thole but the Military Industrial Complex and the Banking Cartel that runs this country demanded it.

Uh....I went because I wanted to.

What? Are you saying you could have stayed home and not gone but you chose to go to that sh*thole? By 1970 most Americans new the War was a complete waste.

You weren't drafted?

You MUST have made the Military a career and stayed 20+ years if you volunteered to go.

 

[Sunni Man]

None of us HAD to go. We each could have taken any one of multiple routes to avoid the war had we wanted to.

We only had 1 guy in our platoon who had joined the army.....everyone else was drafted and didn't want to be there.

I personally knew one guy that dodged the draft for a couple of years after his number was drawn.

When he was finally caught, arrested, and jailed by federal agents; he was given two options.

3 years in prison or 2 years in the army......he chose the army.......

 

[Desperado]

Im in the process of converting some of my father's pics to a digital format.
He was in the 3rd Marine Division in the Pacific during WW2, so I will post a few of his pics:

[/url] WW2-The Pacific by Desperado8, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url] WW2-The Pacific-B-26 "Gravel Gertie" by Desperado8, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url] WW2-The Pacific-C46 by Desperado8, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url] WW2-USMC-downed Zero by Desperado8, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[9thIDdoc]

"Excellent.
Nice to see the invading army getting its butt kicked."

The "invading army" was the NVA. But. yes, it had great experience at getting it's butt kicked.

I see your point.
Vietnam is only two miles from New York so you were clearly right to defend it.
That or you were an invading army.

By the way, if you don't count Vietnam as a defeat, I'd hate to think what being totally hammered would be like.

You were defeated, had your pants pulled, took it up your arses and lost - big style.

At the request of that ally we helped an ally defend itself from invasion by an aggressor nation. That is what honorable allies do.

Defeat? Your knowledge of history sucks. Our combat troops had been withdrawn years before South Vietnam was overrun. Had we still been there we would have kicked ass one more time.

 

[9thIDdoc]

Thank you guys, for your service to our country and putting your lives on the line.

Please inform us, how killing people in Vietnam served America.

Killing terrorists is always a good thing.
Vietnam in many ways was a minor part of the Cold War. We won the Cold War.

 

[Oldguy]

None of us HAD to go. We each could have taken any one of multiple routes to avoid the war had we wanted to.

We only had 1 guy in our platoon who had joined the army.....everyone else was drafted and didn't want to be there.

I personally knew one guy that dodged the draft for a couple of years after his number was drawn.

When he was finally caught, arrested, and jailed by federal agents; he was given two options.

3 years in prison or 2 years in the army......he chose the army.......

But, he still chose. The choice he faced might not have been a perfect one, but he still chose. So did everyone else in one way or another. Most of my platoon was drafted too, but they chose to submit to the draft rather than run away or jump through hoops to avoid it. In other words, they chose to do what they considered their duty.

 

[Oldguy]

I'm sorry you guys had to go to that sh*thole but the Military Industrial Complex and the Banking Cartel that runs this country demanded it.

Uh....I went because I wanted to.

What? Are you saying you could have stayed home and not gone but you chose to go to that sh*thole? By 1970 most Americans new the War was a complete waste.

You weren't drafted?

You MUST have made the Military a career and stayed 20+ years if you volunteered to go.

Oh, it's worse than you know. I could have ridden out my 2 year AD obligation in Germany, where I was sent. But, I volunteered to leave there and go to Vietnam, literally on the day I arrived in Nurnberg.

 

[longknife]

USS New Jersey - gunfire support

I was stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco. One day, this monster came sailing into the bay from under the Golden Gate bridge. Along with her escorts, of course.

As I stood there watching how huge and majestic she was, from the east came an Enterprise-type aircraft carrier [can't remember which]. She sailed out on our shoreward side and the New Jersey simply disappeared behind her!

 

[Gracie]

Thank you guys, for your service to our country and putting your lives on the line.

Please inform us, how killing people in Vietnam served America.

Please inform us why I should bother to argue with you about my thanking our soldiers for their service.

 

[Oldguy]

Im in the process of converting some of my father's pics to a digital format.
He was in the 3rd Marine Division in the Pacific during WW2, so I will post a few of his pics:

[/url] WW2-The Pacific by Desperado8, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url] WW2-The Pacific-B-26 "Gravel Gertie" by Desperado8, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url] WW2-The Pacific-C46 by Desperado8, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url] WW2-USMC-downed Zero by Desperado8, on Flickr[/IMG]

Cool. Thanks for posting.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Got any pictures of your military service?

This is me, on my last helicopter ride back to Danang, South Vietnam in August, 1971. Within less than a week, I would be in a college classroom. Talk about culture shock!

SHORT!

Were they calling you baby killer at the college? One of my good friends told me when he got back the first guy that called him baby killer he knocked on his ass. And said, "I do men too, get up if you want to find out how. The chump lay there bleeding until my friend walked away. I always got a big kick out of that.

please, that anecdotal shit is so overblown. Where I lived if any asshole ever did that they would have gotten their asses kicked.

Where the fuck did that shit take place? I also believe your friend was full of shit. seriously full of shit

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Were they calling you baby killer at the college? One of my good friends told me when he got back the first guy that called him baby killer he knocked on his ass. And said, "I do men too, get up if you want to find out how. The chump lay there bleeding until my friend walked away. I always got a big kick out of that.

No, nothing like that in Oklahoma. I remember some dirty looks, but nothing overt. The more typical response to Veteran's on campus was apathy. Oddly, no body called me a baby killer until I joined the Army Reserve unit down the street a couple of years later.

I guess some locations had far less vocal opposition to the war. Far less radical, leftist, hippie types etc. When I saw people treating our returning military men in such a rude way I made sure I went over and loudly thanked the man for his service for all the asshats to hear. Damn , always wanted one of them to then say that shat to me. Never happened...

pray do tell, where did this occur?

 

[Gracie]

I saw it happen. As to where and when? Too long ago. But I know what I saw and what I heard and what friends told me that experienced it when they came home.

 

[Indofred]

At the request of that ally we helped an ally defend itself from invasion by an aggressor nation. That is what honorable allies do.

Defeat? Your knowledge of history sucks. Our combat troops had been withdrawn years before South Vietnam was overrun. Had we still been there we would have kicked ass one more time.

I think history just got a rewrite.
I seem to recall something about the French Government occupiers of Vietnam were getting a hammering and America stepped in to aid the occupiers when the Soviets and Chinese got involved.
America sent a load of guns to the garlic chewing surrender moneys but that didn't do much good because the Frogs were a bunch of cowards and their was no chance of them finding a brothel near any of their bases.
By 1556, the French lads had their tiny penises between their legs and had gone home to find French brothels but America was training the south's forces.
No actual business there and Vietnam is nowhere near America but you lot just had to stick your fat noses in, just in case there were reds under a bed somewhere.
Your fat noses were kept free of your chemical weapons because you used aircraft to drop them.
The mass murder of civilians by carpet bombing went on for several years, as did the mass rapes and murders by American soldiers on little Vietnamese girls but it was all going wrong as even Americans realised you were a bunch of murdering bastards and went against your murdering rapist dogs.
You were forced, because of your massive losses and public disgust at your war crimes, to sign a peace agreement that was never going to hold and was just a front in order to get out without looking too stupid.
A soon as your bunch had returned to America, the North Vietnamese resumed from where they were before America made itself look like a plonker and defeated the south Vietnamese.

In other words, you invaded and wasted your time in a war where you were arse shagged and sent home in shame.
A lot like your illegal invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, two more solid defeats, paraded as "mission accomplished".

Your mates died for nothing more than to prove America is just a bully that, like all bullies, turns tail and runs as soon as someone stands up to it.

I saw again - Your men in Vietnam were rapists, murderers and cowards.

 

[9thIDdoc]

Got any pictures of your military service?

This is me, on my last helicopter ride back to Danang, South Vietnam in August, 1971. Within less than a week, I would be in a college classroom. Talk about culture shock!

SHORT!

Were they calling you baby killer at the college? One of my good friends told me when he got back the first guy that called him baby killer he knocked on his ass. And said, "I do men too, get up if you want to find out how. The chump lay there bleeding until my friend walked away. I always got a big kick out of that.

please, that anecdotal shit is so overblown. Where I lived if any asshole ever did that they would have gotten their asses kicked.

Where the fuck did that shit take place? I also believe your friend was full of shit. seriously full of shit

You must have been too young to pay attention. Name calling was the very least of the abuse piled on by some civilians (mostly "hippies" and/or college students). I was stationed in San Francisco '68-69 and it was constant.

 

[9thIDdoc]

It must take extreme courage to talk shit without the willingness to put your ass on the line for anything or anyone. Rave on, Indofred, you're a pussy and that's all you know how to do.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Were they calling you baby killer at the college? One of my good friends told me when he got back the first guy that called him baby killer he knocked on his ass. And said, "I do men too, get up if you want to find out how. The chump lay there bleeding until my friend walked away. I always got a big kick out of that.

please, that anecdotal shit is so overblown. Where I lived if any asshole ever did that they would have gotten their asses kicked.

Where the fuck did that shit take place? I also believe your friend was full of shit. seriously full of shit

You must have been too young to pay attention. Name calling was the very least of the abuse piled on by some civilians (mostly "hippies" and/or college students). I was stationed in San Francisco '68-69 and it was constant.

one little hub of the counter-culture thing and you assist in growing it into mythical proportions to rival a great awakening. please, SF is a world of it's own and very anti authoritarian .. but they have always been patriotic

 

[longknife]

Were they calling you baby killer at the college? One of my good friends told me when he got back the first guy that called him baby killer he knocked on his ass. And said, "I do men too, get up if you want to find out how. The chump lay there bleeding until my friend walked away. I always got a big kick out of that.

please, that anecdotal shit is so overblown. Where I lived if any asshole ever did that they would have gotten their asses kicked.

Where the fuck did that shit take place? I also believe your friend was full of shit. seriously full of shit

You must have been too young to pay attention. Name calling was the very least of the abuse piled on by some civilians (mostly "hippies" and/or college students). I was stationed in San Francisco '68-69 and it was constant.

Me too! At the presidio. You?

 

[Indofred]

Thank you guys, for your service to our country and putting your lives on the line.

Please inform us, how killing people in Vietnam served America.

Please inform us why I should bother to argue with you about my thanking our soldiers for their service.

Yep, I'd thank rapist, murdering invaders any day of the week.