Posted on 05/29/2017 8:34:13 AM PDT by impetrio1
As I remember it, getting a dishonorable discharge requires quite a bit more than an ‘infraction’. A bad conduct or general discharge would be more likely for more minor offenses. Dishonorable is the bottom of the barrel as far as discharges go.
I hear you. Thank you.
Agreed, TN.
Thank you. Well put.
Thanks, especially for ignoring the spelling errors.
I was typing with my fist.
;)
‘That was there, and this is here. That was then, and this is now’ has always been my attitude.
I was in combat up to my ears in RVN (1/1 CAV, Americal DIV), and I’m the biggest scaredy-cat I knew.
I’d never even thought about PTSD until it was made an issue after the war.
Counseling? No thanks. Don’t need it.
You’re welcome. I didn’t even notice any spelling errors. Lol.
The problem is many of the vets claiming PTSD were REMFs that never even came close to combat. Personally, I’m sick to death of the bellyaching. My father flew 30 missions over Europe during WWII and I never heard him bellyache once.
A very good description.
WWII vets sometimes, but not always, had a period of rest after the battles that they were in. Battles with an identifiable enemy and usually a front line of some sort. Those who were involved in continuous fighting were candidates for battle fatigue, the old name for PTSD.
The pace of fighting in Vietnam was often much higher with troops being ferried from one fire fight to the next. No real front line, and an enemy who would meld into the local population. And courtesy of Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara no plan to win, just fighting with no foreseeable end.
I agree about the REMFs. They are good at being Monday morning quarter backs, too.
Your Dad and mine and most WW II vets never bellyached. My Dad was in CBI and the only thing he ever mentioned, and that was not meant to be construed as a complaint, was having to eat monkey meat when the Japs chased them out of a part of Burma.
I’d suggest you read post 19.
The army is much smaller today so fewer are doing more. There were 15 million Americans in uniform at the height of WWII in a population half of what it is today. There are are fewer than a million and a half active duty military today.
Yup.
Bless you for your oversight.
:D
;)
My dad was in a AAA unit in WWII, anti-aircraft artillery. North Africa, Sicily, Corsica, south of France and then up into Germany. When there wasn’t enough Luftwaffe to keep them busy they fired infantry support.
Occasionally they would get someone assigned to their unit who was suffering from ‘battle fatigue’. These were infantry types, some who had been fighting non-stop since landing at Normandy. The theory was that if you got them away from the front they could continue to contribute.
He said that one had the classic thousand yard stare. You could have positioned him like a Gumby and he wouldn’t move an inch. Another couldn’t sleep, and when the big guns started firing he would pace non-stop. Not real good when you’re assigned to an artillery battery.
Both were sent somewhere else after that experiment, maybe shipped home.
Your dad understood.
General Patton was suffering from a form of “battle fatigue” when he slapped the two soldiers in Sicily.
It can happen to anyone. General Patton was suffering from a form of “battle fatigue” when he slapped the two soldiers in Sicily.
Actually he still understands, he’s very much with us at 96. He even keeps in touch with a 98 yr old who was in that battery with him. They both remember those days more easily than they do current events. But don’t we all...
Dad was in the 7th Army and Patton commanded it until some time after the slapping incidents. Patton likely would have been scheduled for reassignment in preparation for Normandy anyway but slapping around subordinates and suggesting that they should be shot wouldn’t have helped him any. I may have learned about the battle fatigue soldiers in my dad’s unit by bringing up the Patton incident.
Patton’s replacement was Alexander Patch, a very capable General who had commanded the battle for Guadalcanal when the Army landed. Dad says he preferred Patch as commander for reasons having nothing to do with the slapping brouhaha. Years later, in Vietnam, my dad served with Patton’s son, whom he found to be an excellent officer.
Thanks for sharing that. Your Dad is quite a man. Best regards to him.
You know WW II history. FYI if you’re interested, I just
finished “Marshall and His Generals - US Army Commanders In
World War II” by Stephen R. Taaffe. It is excellent!
Regards-
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