[zot]

This is what I remember on Memorial Day and why.

[zot]

Memorial Day ping.

[rktman]

Thanks to Ben for this piece. Sadly, that time period wasn’t the best time to be in uniform regardless of you duty station thanks to the socialist communist POS agitators. Still proud to have served. And, there was a lot of good done. Thanks to those who gave all.

[Mustard]

In the spring of 1975 as the Vietnam war was winding down I was a young USAF loadmaster, and we were evacuating orphan refugees out of Vietnam. I was flying C-141's but we got word in the middle of the mission that a C-5A went down out of Tan Son Nhut. Everybody was freaking out that it was a Viet Cong sapper that got onboard to sabotage the aircraft but it wound up being a rapid decompression due to faulty locks that blew out the pressure door. All three loadmasters, pilot and a flight engineer died in the crash along with half of the orphans and many civilian USAID personnel who ran the orphanages and refugee program.

American military personnel die every day in training and relief missions in an effort to make this world a little more secure and safer. Along with those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to this country in time of war, this Memorial Day I also honor all those who gave their lives on routine training and relief missions in service to this country.

RIP Airmen

Link

[Interesting Times]

Memorial Day ping.

[GreyFriar]

zot,

Thank you very much for posting your Vietnam memories.

Grey Friar

[Future Snake Eater]

"Why are you here?" I said, "We don't want you to be conquered by Communists. We want you to be our friends." He nodded and said, "We see what you do." I replied, "What do you see, Papa-san?" He said, "I think the American is the only soldier ever to come to Assam and bring his own food." I said, "Yes, we bring our own food." He said, "And no other soldier ever did this …" and waved his hand toward the scene in front of us. There was the sun-shelter tent over the doctor and his technician treating patients, and another over the dentist and his technician doing likewise, and over there a half-dozen GI's with their helmet liners on the ground full of soapy water, washing the little children and drying them with big bath towels. Washing with surgical soap and doing it again a week later would cure 95 percent of their skin diseases. As we were leaving, the old man smiled at me and his eyes said, "We see what you do."

Very interesting difference from what I saw in Iraq. Over there it's more of a "Why aren't you doing more? Gimme gimme gimme!" attitude. It makes it very difficult to want to do anything for anyone in that hellhole.

[conservativesister]

49 years ago my brother was killed in Viet Nam, headed to the grave to put a US flag on it!

[conservativesister]

49 years ago my brother was killed in Viet Nam, headed to the grave to put a US flag on it!