Ed,
I have been following your posts. I was not expecting that kind of post but I am glad you wrote it. My already very high level of respect for you has been redoubled.
I respect your military service, your war service, your compassion as seen in the post I am responding too as well as years of past posts from you, and your desire to improve our nation. Would it not be nice if Ken was still around to moderate?
Ken and I disagreed about some of the things that happened between Pleiku, Kontum, Dak To and Ben Het, but heck he was in Pleiku at that time, and I was at the other end at Ben Het. We told each other what we saw...and when the parameters were so set, I never disagreed with him, nor he with me.
We posted, We PM'ed and we called each other. It was understood, we were both American fighting men and we shared the same end goal. Funnee thing. After one gunfight at Ben Het, I got medevaced to the USAF hospital near the runway in Pleiku. Ken told me he watched the dust-offs come in.
Frankly, Ken and I disagreed about some foreign policy measures. But we always could and did acknowledge the points we agreed with.
The real wonder of America is not that we fight to agree. It is that we have the right to willingly fight without government interference to disagree, and we have the same right to fight to agree.
Your positions are always worthy of consideration and I always give them fair measure. I enjoy your writings because I know your motivation is pure. And I know that our end goal is the same - Peace and Liberty for our loved ones.
We do not not have to agree on whether to run a pass play or a running play next, as long as we agree that we must support the play that is called and get to the end zone.
I was very happy for you that your reunion went well. My only suggestion is to do it again. My regular rendezvous with war buddies are a treasured piece of my life.
Ed, I have to say, I do admire your way of cutting through the BS. I agree with your comment, "that old maxim, "until you walk a mile in my shoes" applies. We've walked similar trails and we share many of the same images, the same appreciations and the same sorrows."
We can only hope that some day non-fighting Americans will come to appreciate the pearls of war experience those of us who fought those wars possess, and not disregard them without due consideration. I am certain you and I share the notion that all the wisdom regarding liberty and freedom in America and the world's wars is not locked inside Manhattan Island, San Francisco, DuPont Circle, the halls of Congress, nor The Whitehouse.
I had an experience today in Greensboro, NC that also happened to me once before in Oregon. I had filled my gas tank and was getting ready to drive off when a man about 30 YO walked over and asked what the Purple Heart on my license plate meant. I told him it meant I gave blood at the office. He did not seem to get it and I drove away. I know that many Americans neither know nor appreciate what giving full measure for liberty means. That saddens me for the fallen.
Check out this new link. During my career in SF, I knew 8 of these men. Their stories are worth reading especially for the unitiated and are available on google.
rlhtribute.com
Ed, I leave you with these thoughts tonight...
Happy Veterans Day everyday.
Thank you for your service to America.
Thank you for caring enough to share your wisdom with me.
Welcome Home Brother.
God Bless.
When we meet, the first beer is on me.
De Oppresso Liber,
unclewest
Please pardon one aside. - Mikey, you will never be able to impugn my integrity, nor my honor with your lies. In brief, and for those who do not know me here, I earned my Green Beret in 1962 and spent nearly 11 years overseas in combat zones and high risk areas. Mikey, it is enough for me to know that your contributions to my freedom are non-existent.
In 1776 America's Freedom was won by patriots. Now as then, we have cowards attempting to light the wrong way. Your ilk refused the call to arms then, since then, and you continue to refuse it today. Your posts express one common thread - Fear. You should bow to Ed's and his war buddies' sacrifices and reunion. But you cannot. In fact you can only disrespect their effort and therein lies your sickness.
Get well soon.
uw |
