No holiday can repair tracks of war (Vietnamization of Iraq vets)

The Oregonian ^ | May 30, 2005 | Andy Parker

[randog]

Our vets are little more than ticking time bombs and what better day to smear 'em on than Memorial Day!

It's articles like these that keep me from buying my local rag. Last Thanksgiving I read the editorial in the local paper (I was at my parent's house and it was lying on the table taunting me). I found out that I'm a selfish prick because I'm enjoying a truly American holiday while there's so much "pain" in the world (all of it caused by me, of course).

And they wonder why they can't give it away (it's true, but that's another story...).

[randog]

...there are dozens and dozens if not hundreds of homeless veterans...

No, that's true....if you count them right. Remember, in the gubmint's eyes, you're "homeless" if you're an adult living with your parents (which I'm sure many of the young returning vets are doing).

[ProudVet77]

As long as they don't have to come back home to people like John Kerry and Jane Fonda, these guys will be ok. It was the atmosphere that created the emotional stresses to stay suppresed which later caused problems for some vets.

[T Lady]

Logic 101 According to the Left: Columbus was a brutal rapist and murderer, so hence we should not celebrate Columbus Day; The tyrannical Puritans invaded North America, brought diseases like syphilis and dysentery and killed off the poor innocent Natives, therefore we should not celebrate Thanksgiving...it makes us all fat anyway.

...You see where this is going.

-Regards, T.

[malia]

bttt

[MrBambaLaMamba]

If Andy Parker is so concerned about the plight of local veterans, instead of being a whiny beyatch he should help out and give them a hand

[Blood of Tyrants]

I would say that a healthy dose of reality would do wonders for them.

[T Lady]

Are you kidding?! That's SO beneath him and many other members of the Liberal Establishment...they just LOATHE all things military.

-Regards, T.

[randog]

...instead of being a whiny beyatch he should help out and give them a hand

LOL!! A leftist actually help?!! No, their definition of "help" is to point and whine.

[roamincadillac]

The only similarities between Iraq and Viet Nam are the anti-American protestors.

[T Lady]

'LOL!! A leftist actually help?!! No, their definition of "help" is to point and whine.'

...With a side of blue cheese and wheat crackers.

-Regards, T.

[kas2591]

I went to see some friends at Camp Pendleton, California last week and attended a memorial service for the 462 killed while serving with 1st Marine Division during their last tour. It was a very moving ceremony.

My brother came down to visit as well. He's a retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant (Desert Storm, Somalia, Panama) who is now a police officer in Southern California. During our catching up that night he mentioned that they are starting to see Iraq Vets that are having some adjustment problems and that PTSD is a concern (at least in his department) from a tactical standpoint.

As for me I've played in the gun club a while my self so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the sound of incoming.

It seems to me that there is some validity to the concern about PTSD. Apparently the Army, the Marine Corps, and the VA feel it's true since they have begun to ramp up their efforts to aid people (how effective they are I can't gauge).

I think you're correct in the view that the media portrayal of vets as 'ticking time bombs' actually contributes to the problem by isolating the ignorant from their veterans
( I say 'their' because a vet is a symbol of our nation's/society's willingness to sacrifice as well as the individual's).

Someone made a comment that the only similarity between Vietnam and Iraq is the antiwar crowd; there's another one: the Russian Roulette type of operations where you're waiting for the IED with your name on it.

[maxwellp]

This is such a crock! Where did these military guys live before Iraq, where are their families, their jobs and why, pray tell, do they have no jobs? After 9/11/01, most Americans awakened to the reality that the VietNam war was entirely different than the war we currently are engaged in. The leftist screwballs DO NOT UNDERSTAND the American people - we love our military and will always stand by them and help in any we we can.

[kabar]

One thing that all of these subtle lefty hit-pieces have in common......the Vets and GI's they are written around are always presented as victims or perpetrators...

You nailed it. The Left loves to portray the military as victims because it fits in with their blame America views. What really gets them upset is that we have an all-voluteer force, which makes it difficult to peddle the the victim image. Now they are pushing for reinstatement of the draft, which furthers their political objectives of undermining the war effort and demonizing the military and Bush.

[American Quilter]

Shame on this journalist...

Alleged journalist.

[American Quilter]

Remember, in the gubmint's eyes, you're "homeless" if you're an adult living with your parents (which I'm sure many of the young returning vets are doing).

Good point. I wonder whether they're also considered homeless if they live on base.

[American Quilter]

LOL!! A leftist actually help?!! No, their definition of "help" is to point and whine.

Oh, no, they'll help. They'll help themselves to our money so they can throw it at their favorite useless government programs.

[ga medic]

Thank you for your service and for your comments. I guess I read the article a little differently than most here. For me it seemed to say that it is easy to appreciate how much our soldiers sacrifice in battle, we have video of fighting etc. It is harder for some to appreciate how difficult the transition back to "normal life" can be. I am sure that some fare better than others. I don't know much about PTSD but it seems obvious that the war and all of its effects don't just magically disappear once you arrive back in the US.

[AmericanArchConservative]

Amen to that! from a fellow Portlander. That mental disorder of Liberalism turns the women around here ugly, and the men into emasculated pansy twits with stones the size of raisins.

A.A.C.

"Avowed Infidel enemy of the ArabianArchPaedophiliac"

[commonasdirt]

As far as education and other retraining goes. If a vet has a documented disability of just about any kind, physical or mental, they can apply at their states dept of labor, division of vocational rehabilitation (the name may vary state to state). The money is there. I worked for the Alaska state div. voc rehab for 11 years. And if a person has no documentation of the disability we would even pay to have them seen by doctors and other professionals.