My Son and War

Painfully typed in from the American Legion Magazine, Vol, 156, No. 1, pp. 30-31 | January 2004 | Frank Schaeffer

[beachn4fun]

I must agree with you a draft is a bad idea and my sons agree. They are warriors,airborne infantry and marine infantry. The last thing they want next to them is a coward that doesn't want to be there. So don't worry Jody they will take care of your freedom. They will also get the girls back when they return.

OUCH! LOL......get 'em pop! I love your sons for being willing to do what others refuse to do! I want them (and my sons) to be the defenders of my homeland!

[oh8eleven]

Thank you, I sincerely appreciate it.
My Dad and I were both USMC - he in WWII and me Vietnam.
We'd both do it again ... no questions asked, and so would many more like us.
Semper Fi ....

[Donaeus]

"You realize that with 4 years of college, 4 active and 4 reserve, you'll be 30 before you get the DD214. And the purpose of the military is to kill people and break things. That's what you're signing up for now, because the Navy may let you change your mind in the next few years, but I won't."

We need more fathers like you, your lessons will be invaluable to his success. Please thank your son for his service. God bless.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for posting this Sauropod. LOTS of work to have to hand type this article.

And thanks for the link to this on FR's Finest, Donaeus !

Great article ! ...

[Donaeus]

"Thanks. I don't mean to be so passionate about supporting our troops and their efforts in the War on Terror but I can't forget the first battle, The World Trade Center/Pentagon/Penn plane crash."

I can't either. I lost a good friend that had an office in the basement of the Pentagon that day.

Armymarinedad, you don't need to apologize for your passion. If anyone has a right to be passionate about this war, having two sons in the field, you have that right. We need all the supportive voices in this nation to stand up and keep talking and telling the truth. Thank you to you and your sons.

Sauropod, I am truly sorry for your loss. Thank you for everything you're doing as well.

I did not lose friends or loved ones on 9/ll but I will never forget being frozen in horror as I stared at the unfolding attacks, nearly unable to speak most of the day, realizing thousands of innocent people had been slain.

At the time I was working for a company that provides breathing medication for chronically ill elderly patients. A large number of the people I took care of were from NY. One woman lost 5 friends/family members that day. Some patients were so terrified they could barely function, others wanted to do nothing but talk about the tragedy. All of them feared it would happen again which sparked panic they would run out of medication. The added anxiety of going without treatment for a person who struggles to breathe is stress they can ill afford. Fighting this war is worth it, if for no other reason than never again having our citizens shuttering with dread and agony at the hands of terrorists. But I know we are accomplishing so much more than that.

[Donaeus]

Aw, it was nothing. Sauropod did the hard part--thanks friend.

[CHICAGOFARMER]

What an excellent article! Thank you so much for taking the time to type it in!

this guy absolutely nail it. bulleye

[AQGeiger]

Really? The military has been nothing but a curse to my family. One dead at Iwo Jima. Another insane for the rest of his life. My father had his life messed up because of his service. My Great Uncle who was a Captain Chaplain Catholic Priest in WWII and got the Silver Star was a near zombie by the end of his life as he couldn't deal with what he had seen.

Yeah- conscription is great! Try and get me or my sons for your army and wars.

The military which has been such a curse to your family is the only reason you are free to criticize the military.

I hate to break it to you, but the military doesn't drive people insane and doesn't "mess up" people's lives. People mess up their own lives. People allow themselves to become "insane," as you put it, by not taking care of their psychological health. It's not the military's fault that people "can't deal with what they've seen."

Perhaps you should move to Somalia or another country that is essentially anarchist and see how well you fare when there is no one to protect you.

[oh8eleven]

You go girl, we're all proud of your husband! Airborne rocks.
Semper Fi ...

[Burkeman1]

Thanks for that.

[Burkeman1]

All the men languishing in military hospitals right now with mental disorders are just slackers to you is that it? Patton slapped that soldier who was battle fatigued and he was right? Their fault huh? Try taking care of a great uncle for 40 years who saw real war. Then tell me about how "strong" you are. You are a disgusting person.

[Cold Heat]

We make collective mistakes often when we prosecute a war of any kind, and often in the course of time the purpose becomes muddied and difficult to grasp..

But for the men who fight them, the purpose is clear and must remain so.

They fight and often die for their country and their flag. A purpose and cause that is right, even when the leadership is wrong.

Great care must be used when one is critical of a war or a use of military force.

Always.......

That is what a patriot is and does.

When you take a good look at the Vietnam war and put it into perspective. You find that although we technically lost the conflict and withdrew with large losses, we actually won when one considers what the big picture goal was. We stopped the spread communism in it's tracks, not just by that one action, but by a series of actions throughout the world, both subsequent, prior to, and including Vietnam. Cuba being another one.

I am fortunate to have lived through the cold war and to have seen the fall of the "wall". And, I did my part in West Germany while we pressured the Communists of that front of the war in 1970.

Was it worth it?

Sure it was! because we are all free to talk about it now. If we had lost, we would not be talking about this now, or ever.

[AQGeiger]

I consider it a compliment that a coward of your caliber consider me a disgusting person.

Oh, by the way, my husband just returned from a year in Iraq, has fought in "real war," as you put it, has killed people, has buried some of his fellow soldiers and seen both military and civilians get blown up, shot, et cetera, and isn't maladjusted after returning. Some people are simply not cut out for the rigors of combat.

[Atlantic Friend]

You fought in Korea ?

[Joee]

WWII, Korea and Vietnam. My plate was full!

[Atlantic Friend]

Indeed it was ! Where did you fight in WWII ?

[Joee]

I caught the tail end, and remained stateside as a Rifle Range Coach at Parris Island and the remainder of that hitch as a Turn Key at the Parris Island Brig. I saw the Corps go from 500,000 to 69,000 under Truman, who I despise and hold to blame for Korea and the subsequent loss of nearly everyone I knew in the Corps.

[Atlantic Friend]

Strangely enough, Korea is probably the least well-known war of the 20th century. I find it troubling, since the issues were very clear from the start. I am an avid wargamer, and I remember a good game by Victory Games, titled "The Korean War".

To me, in some ways, the opening of the Korean War seems the exact rehearsal of Desert Storm. A powerful dictatorship invades a weaker neighbor. The USA get the UN to give a green light to a military operation, in which the US takes the lead while gathering a vast coalition of allies, each sending from a battalion to whole brigades. The early stages of war are fought from the air, as Allied forces build up...

You were deployed in Korea from 1950 to 1953 ?