IKE
Single-Sixer
Welcome home.
Vietnam Veterans Day.
- Thread starter IKE
- Start date
Threespears
Buckeye
contender
Ruger Guru
We have a few Vietnam vets in my family. They KNOW they are appreciated here.
And to all my warrior brothers here who served over there.. "Thanks brother!"
And to all my warrior brothers here who served over there.. "Thanks brother!"
protoolman
Service-Sixer
What happened to regular veterans day ?
They're trying to make up for the disgusting way we were treated when we came home.
Armybrat
Hunter
We all salute you who served.
Nothing! It's just a current head nod to Veterans other than those of Korea that didn't get their proper dues at the time. There will be others unfortunately. Be Patriotic, just remember all those that served on 11 November, none of them sacrificed more than any other Veterans. JMHO YMMV. Yup, Dad has that Korean Service, and I served during and after Nam, yet we both honored those in the family that served during WWII. Perspective.
There vs Their.
I thank the 58, 318+ that never returned, as well as those that did.
I worked as a tradesman at the San Francisco VA Medical Center for 30 years...it was a privilege. Woven into the carpeting as you entered were the words,
"The Price of Freedom Is Visible Here".
Indeed it was. Some of the faces still haunt me. Not a day passed that I didn't find myself saying a prayer for someone...
"The Price of Freedom Is Visible Here".
Indeed it was. Some of the faces still haunt me. Not a day passed that I didn't find myself saying a prayer for someone...
jerrydcolt45
Bearcat
1st Sig Bde LLn Det quinhon apo 96238 1-67 12-68
Armybrat
Hunter
My cousin Gary Dougan (Charles Garvin Dougan) KIA in 1970.
RIP
http://www.vhpa.org/KIA/K10553.HTM
http://www.vhpa.org/KIA/incident/70030505KIA.HTM
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fiasconva
Blackhawk
I never saw it mentioned one time on any of the major or local news channels. I lost several friends and high school acquaintances over there. That is pathetic!
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I salute all my brothers and sisters that returned home and those who gave their all.
FT44 F-4 man Nam 68 - 69
FT44 F-4 man Nam 68 - 69
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cpt-t
Single-Sixer
We we were for darn sure not very popular back in the 1960`s & 1970`s. I really think it is just trendy for people to say now (( THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE )). They disliked ((( Me & My Kind))) then and still do now. They were Nasty Filthy Cowards then. And now they are still Nasty Filthy Cowards that are just ashamed of them selves that have to live with there actions and words. To Me they are just a day late & a dollar short. And IMHO I would rather not hear there whining B.S. now.
ken
ken
Darned sure put off. Very First Thing I saw on Vietnam Veteran’s day on one of the Vietnam Veteran’s forums was a post against the current President put on by the Veteran’s daughter. (Showing the veteran carrying a political post sigh). If this wasn’t a family forum, the number of four letter words running through my thoughts would be roughly at least 25% of the number if those words I used when actually serving in I CORPS during 1971.
So, I decided to have OUR Day celebrated on March 30, 2026. Besides, except for that political post, I saw not one mention of it anywhere else
So, my thoughts, I don’t give a damn about your politics right or left, but They need to keep their politics out of OUR DAY. We saw and heard enough of their trash when we were serving and when we returned home.
So, I decided to have OUR Day celebrated on March 30, 2026. Besides, except for that political post, I saw not one mention of it anywhere else
So, my thoughts, I don’t give a damn about your politics right or left, but They need to keep their politics out of OUR DAY. We saw and heard enough of their trash when we were serving and when we returned home.
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Different generations, different beliefs. My father, his brother, his cousin and two BILs all volunteered to serve during WW II. But I was the only one who served during the Vietnam war era (USAF 1969-73). None of my 4 male cousins served and my BIL was a draft dodger who hid out in fear of receiving a draft notice.
When my father died in 2017, we held a military grave-side service - Marines and Navy honor guards. They instructed that it was acceptable for active and former military members to and salute during the playing of Taps. My son (active-duty Army) and I were the only ones among the 20 or so males to do so. That, alone, spoke volumes about the change in attitudes towards military service. I never felt so proud and yet, at the same time, so disgusted.
The ultimate irony at that graveside service - the honor guard presented the folded US flag to my sister - a strident anti-war activist. She gave the flag to me because she didn't want it. Even today, with both of us in our late 70s, we speak only once or twice a year. And that's fine with me.
I always looked up to my father up as my hero. While he was aboard, his ship earned 10 battle flags for WW II action in the Pacific including Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Wake, Guam, the Marianas (Great Marianas Turkey Shoot), the Philippines invasion, and Iwo Jima (before he boarded her, his ship had earned an earlier flag for escorting Enterprise and Hornet during the Doolittle Raid of Tokyo). For my sister to dishonor dad's service was unforgivable.
When my father died in 2017, we held a military grave-side service - Marines and Navy honor guards. They instructed that it was acceptable for active and former military members to and salute during the playing of Taps. My son (active-duty Army) and I were the only ones among the 20 or so males to do so. That, alone, spoke volumes about the change in attitudes towards military service. I never felt so proud and yet, at the same time, so disgusted.
The ultimate irony at that graveside service - the honor guard presented the folded US flag to my sister - a strident anti-war activist. She gave the flag to me because she didn't want it. Even today, with both of us in our late 70s, we speak only once or twice a year. And that's fine with me.
I always looked up to my father up as my hero. While he was aboard, his ship earned 10 battle flags for WW II action in the Pacific including Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Wake, Guam, the Marianas (Great Marianas Turkey Shoot), the Philippines invasion, and Iwo Jima (before he boarded her, his ship had earned an earlier flag for escorting Enterprise and Hornet during the Doolittle Raid of Tokyo). For my sister to dishonor dad's service was unforgivable.
protoolman
Service-Sixer
My dad was a Korean war and Vietnam veteran. He told everyone at the legion he was a Korean war vet. Never mentioned the other because the Legion and VFW didn't really want the Vietnam guys at that time. Glad that changed now. Regular veterans Day is mostly for Vietnam vets now as the WWII guys are 99 percent gone and the Korean war guys are thinning out too.
bobski
Hunter
![th_127-2749_IMG[1][1].jpg](https://cdn.rugerforum.com/a/87604-1c02d152378cb1f394a46268bdad4b76/th_127-2749_IMG%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.jpg)
contender
Ruger Guru
Well, at least our local news DID mention it was Vietnam Veterans Day. They did a short story on it.
While I'm a bit too young,, (17 when it officially ended,) to have been there,, I did go into the Army not long after. I served with a LOT of Nam vets. And my brother did (2) tours. So,, I can relate a little bit with them.
I saw the anti-war crap,, and was disgusted then,, and STILL look at it as an embarrassment towards our service members on how they were treated.
But I'm PROUD to know several Vietnam vets,, and let them know it.
While I'm a bit too young,, (17 when it officially ended,) to have been there,, I did go into the Army not long after. I served with a LOT of Nam vets. And my brother did (2) tours. So,, I can relate a little bit with them.
I saw the anti-war crap,, and was disgusted then,, and STILL look at it as an embarrassment towards our service members on how they were treated.
But I'm PROUD to know several Vietnam vets,, and let them know it.
Just a word of caution, Operations "IN COUNTRY" did not end at the listed end of hostilities. My final incursion was in Jun of 1980, and other folks looking for POW's continued well after that. Just food for thought.
Out of NKP?Just a word of caution, Operations "IN COUNTRY" did not end at the listed end of hostilities. My final incursion was in Jun of 1980, and other folks looking for POW's continued well after that. Just food for thought.
Sorry Brothers, I can't list organizations, units, or detachments. For the curious? In Jun 80 an Aircraft from Patrol Unit 4 ( Skinny Dragons) rxed a distress call via PRC-90 and directed the (Merchant Ship) SS Point Margo to extract multiple South Vietnamese Refugees from the South Chia Sea. That VP-4 Aircrew rxed a Humanitarian Medal for their exploits. BZ. Now the curious might want to dig into the Point Margo to find out what alphabet company could have directed such an operation? The why may have something to due with extracting friends and family of those that sympathized with America during the war. YMMV.
PS edit. Inserted South Chia Sea, travel into the RSSZ via local fishing boat. Armed with a 35mm Pentax and a ----can full of B&W high res film. Back then it was a greyback type operation. Hope that fills the void.
PS edit. Inserted South Chia Sea, travel into the RSSZ via local fishing boat. Armed with a 35mm Pentax and a ----can full of B&W high res film. Back then it was a greyback type operation. Hope that fills the void.
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Now if anyone was really curious and dug into the weeds, there might be a CNO Special Operational Detachment that was aligned with VP-4 out of Barbers Point back in those days? Since my last op with such a Unit may have got me to the Change of Command and allowed me to become a Plank Owner of VPU-2 as I transfered out of the unit. But all these ops are prior to 83 and the end of frogmen as they were known. 
For the airborne curious? BUNO 158584 & 154585.
For the airborne curious? BUNO 158584 & 154585.
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I am glad to see this day of honoring and remember Viet Nam vets was established. I am glad this was posted.
I spent a lot of time in that VA medical center after I got back from Vietnam and especially after the closing of Letterman Army Medical Hospital.
The VA still has a system that is so large in bureaucracy that it can not give needed timely care to suffering veterans. That is where THANKS should start.
In 1971 I was permanent party at Lowry AFB, serving as a tech school instructor at our Rocky Mountain Arsenal-based training detachment - north of Denver's old Stapleton Airport. Occasionally we were given weekdays off.
Sometimes I'd spend those off days at an Army hospital east of Aurora, a place populated with GI amputees. We'd go there to play board games with the patients (pinochle, hearts, checkers, chess, etc.) to keep their minds busy (and ours, too). That was, all at the same time, the most depressing and the most satisfying duty I ever performed.
Sometimes I'd spend those off days at an Army hospital east of Aurora, a place populated with GI amputees. We'd go there to play board games with the patients (pinochle, hearts, checkers, chess, etc.) to keep their minds busy (and ours, too). That was, all at the same time, the most depressing and the most satisfying duty I ever performed.
When I was in college in the early 1960's there was a nearby Irish bar that held a celebration every year on the date of when an Irish rebellion against the Brits had started. The bar would be packed to the gills with literally hundreds of old guys claiming that they were there in Ireland fighting the good fight against the British. I knew one of the bartenders who said that if all of these folks had truly been there, the Brits would not have stood a chance.
Similarly, while Vietnam vets might not have talked about their service back in the '70's or '80's, it seems a lot of people are now claiming to have served in Vietnam. I was there from 70 to 71 in a noncombat role myself. I have met some folks who claim to be Vietnam vets but cannot give me a definitive answer about what unit they were in or where in Vietnam they served, and it became pretty obvious that they were lying. All of those "anti war" young men in the late '60's now seem to feel guilty over not having served, and so now try to claim to be a Vietnam veteran.
FWIW, I'm one of those Vietnam vets who tried to get involved with both the VFW and American Legion and was basically told that I was not welcome. That was back in the '70's and I never looked into such organizations again, other than a Vietnam Vets group a few years ago, where I felt as a newcomer less than truly welcome so I never went back.
Similarly, while Vietnam vets might not have talked about their service back in the '70's or '80's, it seems a lot of people are now claiming to have served in Vietnam. I was there from 70 to 71 in a noncombat role myself. I have met some folks who claim to be Vietnam vets but cannot give me a definitive answer about what unit they were in or where in Vietnam they served, and it became pretty obvious that they were lying. All of those "anti war" young men in the late '60's now seem to feel guilty over not having served, and so now try to claim to be a Vietnam veteran.
FWIW, I'm one of those Vietnam vets who tried to get involved with both the VFW and American Legion and was basically told that I was not welcome. That was back in the '70's and I never looked into such organizations again, other than a Vietnam Vets group a few years ago, where I felt as a newcomer less than truly welcome so I never went back.
jerrydcolt45
Bearcat
when i got out in 1968 went to the local VFW and was told we didnt win our war so geet out! I have not set foot in any VFW since, joined DAV, VVA and AL. As far as VA hospitals go the one here in West Haven they are the greatest its just like going to Yale New Haven hospital
