good story about troops

[joester]

I post this with the best of intentions - I received this e-mail this morning, and I'll admit I teared up a bit reading it. I hope it touches you all also. It's not about RP - but it IS about life.
thanks for taking the time, if you choose to do so, to read this.


I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment
and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight.
"I'm glad I have a good book to read.
Perhaps I will get a short nap," I thought.
Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and
filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me.
I decided to start a conversation. "Where are you
headed?" I asked the soldier seated nearest to me."
Chicago - to Great Lakes Base.
We'll be there for two weeks for special training,
and then we're being deployed to Iraq."
After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that
sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be
several hours before we reached Chicago , and I quickly decided a lunch
would help pass the time.
As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if
he planned to buy lunch. "No, that seems like a lot
of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks.
I'll wait till we get to Chicago ." His friend agreed. I looked around at
the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill.
"Take a lunch to all those soldiers." She grabbed my arms and squeezed
tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me.
"My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him."
Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the
soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked,
"Which do you like best - beef or chicken?"
"Chicken," I replied,wondering why she asked.
She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute
later with a dinner plate from first class. "This is your thanks."
After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane,
heading for the rest room. A man stopped me.
"I saw what you did. I want to be part of it.
Here, take this." He handed me twenty-five dollars.
Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming
down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side
of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, "I want to shake your hand."
Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's
hand. With a booming voice he said, "I was a soldier
and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch.
It was an act of kindness I never forgot." I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs.
A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand,
wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.
When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started todeplane..
Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me,
put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word.
Another twenty-five dollars!
Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for
their trip to the base.
I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars.
"It will take you some time to reach the base.
It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You."
Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car,
I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving
their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.
It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check
made payable to "The United States of America”
for an amount of "up to and including my life."
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this
country who no longer understand it."

 

[InkaRoads]

Although I have never being in the armed forces, I had the previlage to get to know many people, some family, some friends, some just strangers that had serve in the military and I never forget what they done and still do for us, ALL OF US, not just here in USA but all over the world for other countries too!!!
GOD BLESS THE TROOPS!!! and hopefully they will be back home save soon!!!! :usa:

 

[bahiatrader]

I still remember some neat things people did for me when I was traveling in uniform during the unpopular Southeast Asian conflict. Louis Armstrong and his group even congratulated me and shook my hand on an old DC 4 that made several stops between Los Angeles, CA and Portland, OR. I shared my half-pint of Old Crow with them, since they didn't serve drinks on that flight. Louis abstained, by the way. That's a hell of a good memory to have. I got spit on during those times too, but that's another story.

 

[castaway]

thanks joester...our troops (past and present) are top notch and we owe them everything

 

[Kenny]

The anti-war movement had every reason to embrace returning veterans—as indeed it did, routinely placing a contingent of anti-war veterans at the head of countless anti-war marches across the land. The movement also helped establish anti-war coffeehouses outside military bases, encouraged the publishing of anti-war GI newspapers, and helped resisters avoid combat—sometimes legally, sometimes not. But the government—and its supportive "silent majority" public—wanted no part of real Vietnam vets, who spoiled the noble propaganda war with their first-hand stories of chaos, confusion, corruption, and pointless slaughter.
It was the first hand stories that my friends, older brothers of friends, and other returning vets shared with me and others all over the states that brought out the patriotism that was necessary to try and stop a unjust war. In fact, a very good case can be made that the GI anti-war movement was the crucial factor in ending the war. To a large extent, the Army simply refused to keep fighting. And when Nixon tried replacing the Army with air power, it wasn't long before Air Force Captains were refusing to fly missions they regarded as violations of international law. I never saw or heard about any of my friends or acquittance's being treated with anything but respect and yes, sometimes fear when they returned, and I'm sure if anyone had tried to spit on them they would have gotten a thorough ass whipping, not only from the vets themselfs, but from me, their friends, and hell yes, the neighbors as well!
I am a patriot, and I love my county, and those who defend it. :usa:

Kenny

 

[jerry]

"In 1998 sociologist and Vietnam veteran Jerry Lembcke published "The Spitting Image: Myth, Media and the Legacy of Viet Nam." He recounts a study of 495 news stories on returning veterans published from 1965 to 1971. That study shows only a handful (32) of instances were presented as in any way antagonistic to the soldiers. There were no instances of spitting on soldiers; what spitting was reported was done by citizens expressing displeasure with protesters.

Opinion polls of the time show no animosity between soldiers and opponents of the war. Only 3 percent of returning soldiers recounted any unfriendly experiences upon their return.

So records from that era offer no support for the spitting stories. Lembcke's research does show that similar spitting rumors arose in Germany after World War I and in France after its Indochina war. One of the persistent markers of urban legends is the re-emergence of certain themes across time and space.

There is also a common-sense method for debunking this urban legend. One frequent test is the story's plausibility: how likely is it that the incident could have happened as described? Do we really believe that a "dirty hippie" would spit upon a fit and trained soldier? If such a confrontation had occurred, would that combat-hardened soldier have just ignored the insult? Would there not be pictures, arrest reports, a trial record or a coroner's report after such an event? Years of research have produced no such records.

Lembcke underscores the enduring significance of the spitting story for this Veterans Day. He observes that as a society we are what we remember. The meaning of Vietnam and any other war is not static but is created through the stories we tell one another. To reinforce the principle that policy disagreements are not personal vendettas we must put this story to rest.

Our first step forward is to recognize that we are not a society that disrespects the sacrifices of our servicemembers. We should ignore anyone who tries to tell us otherwise. Whatever our aspirations for America, those hopes must begin with a clear awareness of who we are not.+

(John Llewellyn is an associate professor of communication at Wake Forest University.)

 

[Submarine]

I remember seeing video of hippies spitting on soldiers at the airport on Stanley Karnow's Vietnam: A Television History. I'l like to buy the DVD and watch it again.

I think that the anti-war movement has greatly overstated their power and influence. For example, the 2004 election was mostly a referendum on the Iraq war yet Bush won. The anti-war movement has tried to frame the 2008 election as being decisive about that war yet again but it was largely about the economy.

I think Vietnam was a war fought for the reasons that were valid at the time. I have some close friends who were from South Vietnam and Thailand and they do not share the anti-Vietnam protestors sentiments. Just this last year I was listening to my neighbors Chinese/Vietnamese wife tell us stories of what the communists did to the people there and how it was coming to America as one of the "boat people". That she even survived the crossing was a miracle. These people are grateful for their opportunities here in this country but I'm sure they wish we had been successful in Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was fought like too many of the wars today, with the scales weighted more toward the political side than the tactical one. It is the kind of Washington thinking that gave us Mogadishu and I fear will be repeated over and over again.

 

[kleist]

I have family that served during the Vietnam war. And a few of them where spit on upon returning, and yes i'm more inclined to believe them than some guy saying it never happend. The book reference you posted doesn't mean squat Jerry, some returning vets were treated right, but that's not the point because if a single U.S. soldier serving his country was treated with this disrepect it was to many.

 

[Kenny]

I was not exaggerating when I used "fear" in my earlier post " but respect and yes, sometimes fear when they returned". I can tell you for certain, the boy's I knew who were coming home from Nam, and there were plenty in my neighborhood, would have beat the living shit out of anyone who spit on them or worse! If it had been going on like some say, trust me, there would have been blood in the streets and front page headlines. Some of my friends were so scary when they came home, you have no idea, none.
I Worked with and knew many people from Vietnam and Cambodia (they hated each other) in the 70's. I ate with them every day and trust me, they were running from our bombing, and agent Orange etc as much as anything else in many many cases. Last year I bought a pair of tennis shoes and found out later they were made in Vietnam. I'm certain that if we had not bombed the hell out of that country, I would have had the opportunity to wear them much much sooner, if I had so chosen.
Those people are amazing, they greet us with respect. If the shoe was on the other foot and they had bombed our country, destroyed and killed even a fraction of what we managed to do over there, every Vietnamese tourist life would be in danger when they came to visit the States.

What tactic would you have used hero, the bomb? After all the estimate is that only 4,000,000 Asians were killed as it was.
Show me the film, the utube video from the film, a picture, anything Sub..show me what you think you saw.
Kenny

 

[dmcauley]

I personally never got spit on but a lot of my fellow vets claimed this-I did hear the words "baby killer" more times than I could count. Not unlike a large percentage of my fellow vets, I also joined the hippie movement of which was not in the anti-war movment. These were mostly the cowards and students that did not care to fight. I knew many who died and many who went to school to avoid the draft, and yes, those who went to Canada to avoid the draft. The ones who are alive and the ones who died, I love them all. I mustered out December 08, 1968 and I am a proud American and Yankee Doodle Dandy to Boot.

 

[Ladyjeeper]

Arg!
I have 2 friends whom were both spat upon coming home from Nam. I also have a friend who served in Special Forces as a Seal in Cambodia. He was so whacked when he got home that he went to live in the woods for 6 months so he wouldn't kill anybody. The VA wouldn't help him. My other two friends still have nightmares from Nam. I am so sick of people trying to cleanse history, to say that the spitting didn't happen. IT DID HAPPEN!!!! Sorry, but this is a touchy subject with me.

 

[jerry]

It's an Urban myth.I'm sure somewhere there was a hook killer with a meat clever killing travelers on the interstate too but not in every town in America,
I met Ayers,and some of those other elitist weather underground assholes at "the days of Rage" in Chicago in 68. they wanted us to quit college and go back to the crappy trailer factory towns in Northern Indiana we came out of and organize our brothers there or in Vietnam.We said "you first"
After the summer of 69 anyone who could including me (draft number 165) joined Cheney and Bush in avoiding the war.When the guys came back we'd welcome them at our giant old farm house ,turn on Pink Floyd and let the party continue like they never left. If anyone would have spit on a soldier they would have been beat to death.
Sub, the Vietnese people you met were most likely Chinese Catholics.They ruled the country for the French and were bad actors when they were the top dogs.Payback can be a bitch.
It's funny we have put all the slave labor Walmart supplying factories Sub and i hate in China or Vietnam rather in democratic Thailand. The idea we support democracy is a load of crap

 

[dmcauley]

No! Not beaten to death, but within an inch of their lives. I come from an area where the protesters were many but not so brave. Myth or fact, it never happened to me or my friends, and yes Chari there are many nightmares from this war and era.
All of us who served and those who hid out lost many, many loved ones and the memories are still alive within those of us of this era, but I believe the pain has subsided over these 40 years.
I have no hate for the Vietnamese any more either.

All of us also have friends who were so whacked out on drugs and death that they never quite found a place in society again.

 

[castaway]

what did we learn from the events in Viet Nam and Cambodia that followed our troop withdrawal?

 

[Submarine]

Nah they are budhist, not chinese catholics Jerry. Most of 'em lived in the countryside and worked the land but nobody I know was particularly wealthy over there.

If I had been in charge I would have bombed Hanoi and Haiphong into rubble using whatever means at my disposal and not wasted precious ordinance on empty jungle. I would have put more emphasis on training and arming the Montagnards as they were very effective. I would have freed my troops to pursue the enemy across any border, anytime. Instead of spraying Agent Orange on the jungle in the South I would have sprayed it all over the North. I would have stationed a garrison at every hamlet and created a special branch just to aid the populace and establish order. My 'rules of engagement' would have been simple: Fired upon? Fire back don't call for permission. Think you see the enemy? Try to be sure but if in doubt just take them out.

Sheesh, $80 at Amazon for the DVD box set you'll have to wait a while for that Kenney.

 

[jerry]

Sounds like "shock and awe" . The problem is after the Elephants march in one of these parades the Donkeys have to clean up after them. When we invade Northern mexico I hope our Jets don't blow up any of the Pigeon Coops by mistake.

 

[Submarine]

Well your military should be used for what it does best, kill people and break things. That is why I would create a seperate entity just to manage the people and their needs. (Why the President hasn't called me to ask my advice I'll just never know LOL)

I caught part of a History Channel show last weekend that was about the aftermath of Germany during WWII. Any criticisms of Iraq were a picnic compared to what went on in that country. The video of firing squads were particularly memorable. I'd say while we still don't have it right we've come a long way.

I don't think even Mexico wants Northern Mexico anymore so that 'invasion' could go off without a shot being fired!

 

[Kenny]

Sub said,
"Shush, $80 at Amazon for the DVD box set you'll have to wait a while for that Kenney."
Don't waste your money Sub, it's not there, you imagined it. You my friend have been brain washed..LOL
If it was there don't you think there would be utube excepts of it, or you could find it somewhere on the web? You can't for a very good reason, it was a very uncommon event. Called names like Dan was? Sure that happened, but it was also wrote about constantly in the press. On the other hand there was no mention of the spitting at that time..Oh, I forgot, you get all your info second hand.
Did you know that you sound a little like a sociopath when you talk so gleefully about killing Sub?

Kenny ....... Here fishy fishy, :fish:

 

[jerry]

It's always easy to get in and hard to get out.Obama is about to make the same mistake in Afghanistan.
If we all grew our own Marijuana and Poppies (it's a natural plant too man!) we could put all these crazies out of business.

 

[castaway]

If we all grew our own Marijuana and Poppies (it's a natural plant too man!) we could put all these crazies out of business.

we could also help pay for all of the social programs...reduce prison populations and reduce much of the violence near our southern border.


Marijuana Inc.: Inside America's Pot Industry is on January 22, 7:00 PM, on CNBC