Rere brought up a very good subject that I responded to on her PDA. I would like to expand on this theme a bit more.
She mentioned that there are a lot of surviving veterans that go through a hell every day of their lives and there is no day for remembering them and all they gave for their country.
Her husband is one of those survivors and so is my husband Glen. They go through life with the action they saw very real to them even 30 some years later. It affects every day of their lives.
Noone ever says much about them because for a long time the survivors were considered to be a candidate for crazy behavior. TV portrayed Viet Nam vets as crazy people who might flip out and kill people because they were lost in their memory.
Glen was in Viet Nam for 2 years and he came home in a full body cast after being in a deusenhalf (1 1/2 ton truck) that was blown up. When he could he went right back again.
He was on guard duty at the White House at one point and his own brother was a protester on the other side of the line that day! He was put through alot with cleaning up orphanages that were bombed and he was a door gunner on a helicopter who went in and rescued the soldiers who got cut off. He saw many friends fall in battle.
Glen was on airstrips and other areas when they sprayed the Agent orange. His diabetes was attributed to Agent Orange. It also causes skin cancer and alot of nasty things.
He has told me alot but I know there are things he will never tell anyone. He lives in fear that someone will attack his family. Every time there is news on about a new war or military action he is on alert. He questions every movement around our home.-PTSD post tramatic stress disorder.
These guys and gals live with this every day. It isn't something they choose to do but it affects their life every day. They deserve some recognition too.
I know there are so many who live with not just bad memories but live with the reality everyday in a way we can't even begin to understand. It is a day to day thing not a once a year thing.
So if you know a veteran stop and say hi or call and ask how it's going. Just a contact of any kind not necessarily a Thank you as that is superficial. But just give them a minute of your time to visit or to listen throughout the year. That is so much more of a comfort than just someone saying thank you. Not that a thank you is not welcome but Glen brushes those off. I think it embarrasses him.
A veteran needs friends who will accept him as he is with all the problems that goes with being a veteran. They have stories to tell and enjoy sharing. It helps them to deal with everything to know someone cares enough to listen.