Thinking about the Vets

[Mike Venturino]

In thinking about veterans yesterday I remembered this photo I took on Guam last year. It is the view the Japanese gunners had of Asan beach as our Marines were landing. My late uncle, James Virse of Belfry, KY was with the first wave (3rd Marines) to hit that beach in July, 1944. He was 18 years old. I stood up there and thought "How did they do it?"

http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/IwoJima08154LargeWebview.jpg

[Hickory]

It is my feeling that our government is conditioning our kids to grow up to be wimps and woosies. So that there will never be another generation of men nor women willing to fight for freedom or have the back bone to fight for anything.
Even in this day and age we are called unamerican or terrorist for wanting to keep what little freedom we have left.

If refuse to stand up now the freedoms we hold dear will be flushed down the crapper.
I better get off my soap box before I say something I shouldn't.

[Marvin S]

I took that same picture last year. Lots of history on that miserable little island. Hickory, there are lots of young and not so young people serving now.

[Hickory]

Marvin;
I shouldn't get so upset, My son is in Afganastan and will be home, or should I say back in Pendelton in a few weeks. My wife and I are going out to California to see him over Christmas.
He's a good young man, I think I raised him right. He made his own decision to join the Marines and is not the least bit regretful.

[bruce drake]

Hickory,

I have been seeing young men and women join our country's service for the last 20 years. Each one comes willingly knowing the requirements set before them to defend our country. And for the last 8 years (longer than WWII and Korea combined), many have been going into harms way to ensure that no more 9/11s strike our shores.

Your son is one of those volunteers who has answered our country's call. We have been fighting a three front war on terrorism without the addition of a Draft which was used to resource every war from The Civil to The Vietnam War. We have also been fighting as an Armed Force with end strengths at the smallest for the Armed Forces since before the Second World War started.

Remember that only 1/20th of the current generation volunteers to fight for the rest of America.

What irritates me most is that when service age men and women tell me "thank you for your service" but then tell me that if they join, it would delay their college or interrupt their job, or their girlfriend is against the war...What part of I'm fighting to give them that opportunity to be slackers don't they understand. They would have a heart attack if the Draft was ever initiated again.

Tell your son Semper Fi, my enlisted time was as a Marine with the 3rd Marine Regiment in the early 90s.

Bruce

[Farmall 1066]

Thanks to all who serve or have served!
As I read more WW2 history, I find myself asking if I would have had the courage, if I would have measured up.........and I can't honestly say that I would. I guess because of the fine job of those before me, I haven't had to find out.

Started watching Ken Burns documentary "The War" last night. GOOD STUFF!!!

Andy

[Rocky Raab]

You honored those guys by your visit, Mike. I've read your thoughts on it, and you were most respectful. I salute you for that. If I see you at SHOT, I'll shake that mitt of yours.

I'm a boomer baby. Both my parents were in the Army, and my Dad drove the Red Ball Express in Belgium. Both my brother and I joined the AF. I did 23 years, about half Reserve time. Flew combat in Vietnam and eventually retired after serving temporary active duty stateside as a Lt/Col during Desert Storm.

Neither of my daughters were interested in serving. My one grandson is only one now, but I'll encourage him to resume the family tradition. It'll be up to him. I'll bring it up to my granddaughter, also.

I personally cannot understand how a person can enjoy what this country offers without making some effort to that pay back - and help insure that it continues. But I seem to be in the minority, more's the pity.

[HollandNut]

The Greatest Generation , is an understatement ..

Dad passed away in 1999 at age 90 , would have been 100 this past September .. He wouldnt talk much , was Air Corps .. Those boys caught hell in Europe flying out of England .. In the early days of the air war in Europe , 25 missions would get you back home , at one time , before the P51 came into service , it was said that it was mathematically impossible for you to survive 25 missions ..

His brother was Airborne and spent the war in Europe working with the French Underground ..

Mothers oldest brother passed away in 2007 , he was a medic in Europe , and hit the beach on D-Day .. His stories would send chills down your spine ..

The post war free world owes a debt that can never be repaid ..

[Mike Venturino]

While visiting Iwo Jima I walked from the modern airfield in the middle of the northern plateau down to the invasion beaches in about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. It took the Maries three to four weeks to fight their way that distance.
And I was 58 years old, overweight, out of shape, and with a bum knee.

That, more than anything else finally gave me some perspective as to just how hard that fighting must have been day to day. I can't understand how those Marines could climb out of their foxholes every morning and face that carnage again.

I wanted to walk cross country until I got there and saw just what a jungle mess that entire island is except for the places the Japanese keep up. By the way, one of the first things I saw there was a nine hole golf course. Here's a photo showing just how dense the foliage is today.

http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/IwoJima08100LargeWebview.jpg

[sundog]

Mike, thanks for the picture. My wife's cousin passed away a short time ago. He was a Marine and made the landing at Iwo Jima - very early and survived with only a few out of his company. His brother and I were out fishing in my boat one day when all of a sudden he started talking and didn't stop for about an hour and a half. We let him talk. Occasionally he would reel the line or cast, but mostly talk. We listened. We just drifted along. Fishing wasn't so important for a few minutes. As far as his brother knew he had never told anyone. I felt honored. And awed. Les will always be a hero in my book.

One grandson got home from Iraq today to Fort Hood. One more still there.

[AZ-Stew]

I had an experience similar to Sundog's. In 2001 my wife and I were visiting her parents in Indiana. Her father took me across the street to his neighbor's house. The gent had been a Marine who survived Iwo Jima. He talked for about an hour and a half. I wish I had had my digital recorder then so I could have kept what he said about the experience. He's gone now, so there's no chance to repeat the experience.

Regards,

Stew

P.S. Mike, check out the B-17 thread again. I posted some new photos last evening.

[gnoahhh]

My personal hero was my uncle John Lenig. Drafted peacetime, pre-war (the first peacetime draft) he was due to finish up his stint and be home for Christmas, 1941...

Amongst the first GIs to ship out, he found himself in Northern Ireland in Feb. 1942. Fought in North Africa (1st Inf Div), was captured at Kasserine Pass. Evaded his Italian guards and within 2 weeks he and his escapee buddies were back with their units. Wounded by German shell fragment clipping his scalp on the back of his head (which explained the bald spot).

Next up, Sicily. He would talk about the wine, but not the combat.

Back to the U.K. for re-fit, training and absorbtion of replacements. Next time into the soup, Omaha Beach, D-Day,H+12, straight into the bocage. Northern France, Huertgen Forest, etc. and into Germany. Collected a Schmeisser bullet wound in the arm along the way, went AWOL from the field hospital back to his unit because he was afraid of being lost in the "replacement shuffle". A month before the end of the war, in Germany, while being one of three of the original guys left in his company he got stitched through the back, messing up his kidneys. Homeward bound at last. Recovered, but died of his wounds 40 years later. (Kidney failures off and on all of his life.)

Built a carreer post-war and raised a family. Never talked about his experiences with anybody except my Dad, and later, me. When cleaning out the house after he passed (4 years after my aunt) we found his Bronze Star in with the letters he sent home to my aunt. None of us ever knew he had won it. I sat there, 34 years old, and cried like a baby.

My cousin has all of his "stuff", but I have his canteen- the only piece of gear he managed to hang on to- that he gave me when I was a Boy Scout. Every year on June 6 I make it a point to swig some water from it as a toast to him and all the other guys who risked everything for the perpetuation of their country.

"Bless 'em all, Bless 'em all, Bless 'em all,
the long and the short and the tall..."

[Farmall 1066]

Dosen't seem fair that the generation who gave so much to us and our country, are fading away. Seemed like 15 years ago they were everywhere!

As a younnger man I remember many of them, our banker had flown a P-38, the grocer in our small town had survived the Bataan Death March, Alex, who ran the filling station, used to scare little kids by sticking his pocketknife into his wooden leg, lost in France. The auctioneer at the local cattle sale left a leg over there too. Most of the neighbors who farmed around us served. Harvey rolled cigerettes with one hand with 2 good fingers, the rest shot off, Carl had a 7.7 Jap rifle he never would talk about, Ed worked on B-25's. Grandpa was a heavy equipment operator, and had scars on his legs from shrapnel.

I remember one cold February morning helping the Harvey mentioned above round up cattle that had gotten out. Harvey drove everywhere in a beat to death 50's Chevy pickup, minus drivers side door, and this 10-15 degree day was no different! He showed up at my place, and I commented on the cold and wind. His response was something to the effect of "you ain't seen cold unless you were in Belgium in the winter of 1944"! That old bachelor was the toughest SOB I ever met! I bought his battle star, that had been displayed in the window while he was serving, on his farm sale.
I miss those old heroes greatly.

Andy

[Bigscot]

I never served and have always regretted it. The older I get the more I regret it.

My father and uncle served in WW2. My B.I.L. is Col in the Army, one of his brother's is a Col. in the Air Force, another brother is a Ranger, (not sure of his rank) and his sister's husband is in the Army. So I am gung ho and proud of our military and look at them in awe for what they do and have done and will do.

My B.I.L sent the link below to a couple of years ago and sends out every year. I love the story and the song and the video brings tears to my eye's every time. Especially when the older gentlemen walk out.

Check out this link for the story and then click on the video.

http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/pittance_en.htm

Bigscot

[StarMetal]

One of the hardest things in life for me to do is stand through the the 21 gun salute and folding of the flag for a fallen vet. I stand proudly.

Joe

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Mike, et al,

it's just how we were raised. God & Country & Family. I always heard it in that order.

When I die and they bury me in the VA cemetery my headstone will have my name and dates of service in Vietnam and the quote "he did not have to be called...".


Rich

[Lead Fred]

It is my feeling that our government is conditioning our kids to grow up to be wimps and woosies.

NO, as Supjects

[TAWILDCATT]

my father and two brothers were in the marines in WW1 in france,the other brother served in Haiti in 1921.my father served in WW2 also in coast guard.Me I was lucky I was AOM3C in naval air flying out of Trinadad on anti sub. most of my friends are gone I have one 90 ys old was a ranger and captured in the bulge.

[Cactus Farmer]

My Dad was in the navy off Guadacanal,my FIL won the DFC in a B-24 bombing the refineries of The Dutch East Indies and I went to Viet Nam. No one sent me a care package! I just did what I thought was the right thing to do,serve MY country,as I suspect my relatives did. I'm afraid for MY country now........God help us!
The Mayan calander ends on Dec 20,2012........we could be toast long before then..............:-(

[MtGun44]

As to the comment that this upcoming generation won't fight, there may be
some that won't but I guarantee that is not true across the board. My
nephew, Capt. Matthew Freeman, USMC earned an appointment to the US
Naval Academy, graduating with an Aeronautical Engineering degree in 2002.
He invited me and my wife, of course with his Mom and Dad and sisters, to
Warrior Day at Quantico, where we got to see him and some demos about
his training to become a Marine officer. He got selected to be a pilot and
spent several years getting trained up, with a stint as a aide to a general.
He spent some time in Okinawa flying, where he met his wife, a USAF medical
doctor. As soon as requests for ground combat volunteers came into his
squadron, he volunteered for ground combat as a "forward air controller" altho
I don't think that is the right term nowdays. His job was to call in and guide
air support for ground troups.
On Aug 7, 2009 he was leading a mission in Afghanistan and they hit a big
ambush. He led his team in clearing the nearest mud building, and fought his
way to the roof to get in position to oversee the battle to call in air support.
He managed to kill an RPG gunner before he was killed. He got the Bronze
Star posthumously.

He was a volunteer, and he fully understood that he may not make it back to
his new wife (2 wks) and his family when he went.

Just know that there are some young men in this generation that are every bit
as brave and committed to what this country has stood for as the previous
generations. We are very proud of Matt, but we sure miss that young man.

I gotta stop now, it is getting hard to see the screen.

Semper Fi, Matt.

Bill

[Nazgul]

I spent 7 years in the Marines. Met a lot of impressive vets.

My mom had 6 brothers, all of them served in WWII. My uncle Shelby was a Marine and made two landings in the Pacific. He never talked about it and had little use for us kids growing up. When I walked in the house after basic, he was sitting there, stood up, and shook my hand. I still remember that 34 years later. He wrote me letters after that, I guess he thought I was worth something as a Marine.

My father-in-law was in the Army in Texas when Pearl Harbor was hit. His unit was sent to the Aluetians where he served the entire war. He talked a lot, never seemed to shut up sometimes, never about the war though. One morning at breakfast it was him and I alone. He started to talk about the war. I listened for over two hours, he shed some tears, I have never felt more honored than those few moments with him. He is gone now, but not forgotten.

[1Shirt]

Having worn the uniform of two branches of service, and pulled a number of different duties, one of my most difficult was escorting the body of a friend, and presenting the flag to his widow at graveside. That was over 30 years ago, and I still think of it frequently. It is a great honor in my opinion to have the privlidge of escorting a fellow serviceman, and it is extremely hard to speak the words as you present the flag to the widow. May God bless all who serve today and who have served in the past.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Mallard57]

I had the opportunity a while back to work with some of the younger generation active duty kids before I retired from the Reserves. You can doubt these kids if you want too, I personally was amazed and very proud of them. I have no doubts that, "They could cut the mustard".
Jeff

[HollandNut]

I have no doubts that, "They could cut the mustard".
Jeff

Agree 100% , quite a few whom I grew up with have sons and daughters in Afghanistan and Iraq doing a superb job ..

All in how you raise them ..

Your values as a parent or grandparent are passed along to these young people ..

Dont underestimate them ..

I spent almost 22 years active Navy , and have no doubts about our military capability , it's the civilian leadership ( if you can call it leadership ) that we need to be concerned over ..

[NavyEngineer]

Here are a couple of photos that I took when my ship visited Guam two years ago. Our chaplain went into the jungle with me, and we walked right up on an unexploded five-inch naval shell. The other photo shows some of the dense jungle that surrounds the Japanese final holdout position. It's a pretty sobering reminder of the grim fighting there.

[Freightman]

I think "they will not fight" is what the media wants us to believe, like the "majority do not want guns" on my block which is 1 mile around I know no one who doesn't have a loaded gun in his house. Don't fall for the "Liberal" propaganda. I take the guns thing back the apartments across the street may be an exception.

[PatMarlin]

Didn't the world say the same thing about young American boys and girls pre WW2?

Boy did they underestimate them and got their clocks cleaned globally, eventually.

As screwed up as our world is, and as screwed up in the heads our government and political representatives are, we cannot underestimate the courage of a young American when the call comes. It's in our blood and in our genes. Runs real deep like a dormant virus.

I had the honor and pleasure of having dinner with a close friend who is my age and his family Friday night. His mom and dad was there as well. Dad is 93 years old and he landed on Omaha Beach D-day.

[shdwlkr]

Mike
I think about our vets everyday and have started back to college to get a degree that will help me help them even more. So many today feel that our returning vets can turn off all the hardships and mental stress they lived with for a very long time and once home it is all forgotten. I can tell it isn't forgotten at all.
I am very proud of a lot of our young people and upset with some others who have no clue what it means to be free. We have a Marxist and Socialist for a President now who is hell bent on destroying what our past generations fought and died to preserve. I have high hopes that he will fail.
We have no one at the nation political level who seems to understand they work for us not that they have the right to enslave us. Sad to say this been brought on by our own stupidity of allowing our politicians to take our freedoms one bite at a time.
May the good lord bless our troops those who are currently serving and all who have served in the past and will serve in the future. May we all be free next year when the holidays once again come around and that America is once again the nation to fear if you wish to bring bad things our way. May we see that those who paid so high a price for our continued freedom get all the care they need for as long as they need no matter the length of time that may be.
May the families of our service personnel realize the high price that is being paid by those who are serving and have served and always be proud of the price that was so freely given.
later

[Cherokee]

shdwlkr - my feelings as well.
US Army 66-68

[Lonerider]

Mike,
I was navy, between conficts... '77' - '81', so I have no battle stories. But I am so proud of those that serve now and those that have served in the past in what every capacity. I watch that video of a 'pitenance of time'. There was a quote that went something like this....'they died giving up their future....so we can have today'...gives me a lump in my throat. At 51, I got be so careful of keeping my personal feelings quite. Especially when most of my friends are close to my age, have never served in any capacity in any branch, and are arrogant and unappreciative for the freedoms they have! Almost a ' in your face attiude'. Like WE owe them! Makes me angry.

I too would like to believe, that when push come to shove, there will still be remenants that will stand up and be counted! I have met and got to know some of the vets that have servered or are still serving in Afganistan and Iraq.

The company I used to work for here in SW Montana, is involved with a program, helping wounded vets returning. To show their appreciation, by outfitting them with fly fishing equipment free or damn close and then setting up with any outfitter. Its a good thing. I wondering what could we do here?

Thanks for your observations and compassion.

Lonerider (Tyrel)

[Blacksmith]

I think when the chips are down the current generation will stand up and do whats right just like all the generations before them. I hope none of them will have to but if needed they will. Just like I served during Vietnam, uncles in WWII, grandfather and great uncle in WWI, two great grandfathers in the Civil War, a bunch in the Revolution, and on back fighting Indians or whatever threatened their families and neighbors. The more we are pushed the harder we push back.

Blacksmith

[nicholst55]

I am honored to be the son of a WWII Seabee, and a 20-year veteran of the Army. Mt father served in the South Pacific, contracted malaria and several other tropical diseases, and ended the war on Okinawa preparing for Operation Olympic - the invasion of Kyushu, Japan.

I enlisted when I was only 17, at the end of the Vietnam era. Surprisingly, I was never sent to any of the wars that we were involved in during my time - Panama, Granada, or Desert Storm. I spent more time in a combat zone as a defense contractor than I ever did on active duty!

Now, as a DOD civilian, I am in daily contact with soldiers again. These are some of the finest Americans I have ever had the privilige to know, trust me. Many of our military service members today are on their fourth or fifth tour in the sandbox. Think about that for a minute - that's 4-5 years in combat for the Army and Marines! Not quite so long for the Air Force.

I recently had the opportunity to stand atop Heartbreak Ridge and Bloody Ridge here in Korea, and to visit the Punchbowl. I'm 54 now, fat, out of shape, and stove-up. I had trouble climbing some of these hills, but nothing compared to the soldiers and Marines who had to storm them under fire! Tears came to my eyes as I stood atop Bloody Ridge and thought about the men who died on that windswept ridge. I was truly walking on hallowed ground.

We owe a tremendous debt to the men and women who came before us. I just hope that the United States continues to be a country worth of that type of sacrifice!

[mroliver77]

My dad was Navy in WW2. Went in 44 and stayed with his ship till it was mothballed in LA I think he said. He got home to no jobs. He had signed up for the Army in the big one and was not called quick enough so he joined the Navy. after he was home a short time the Army called and had got around to his papers. Off he went to the Army. When the Air Force became autonomous he ended up transferring to that branch and went through medic training and ended up in the Air Sea rescue outfit and got a free trip to Korea via Japan. Dad was one of a kind! He had some stories to tell when he had a snoot full! I told him once he was a hero. He said " No I just did my job. I bagged a lot of heroes and sent them home." He was big in the Legion and VFW and was very supportive of our guys coming home from RVN. I wish I had recorded some of his stories!
Jay