Memorial Day 2016

 This is a repeat of a 2011 post that well bears repeating:

Memorial Day has traditionally been celebrated as the beginning of Summer. No, not the actual date summer begins, but the official day when the seasonal holidays start and the barbecues begin, beaches open, playgrounds are filled with children, parks, lakes and pools ring with the laughter and mirth of kids and adults alike. The sweet smoky smell of hot dogs, hamburgers and even marshmallows over a fire waft through the air, an odor that beckons each and every one of us to childhood memories no matter our age.

But wait, somehow, in all of the fun and frivolity, many seem to have forgotten the solemnity and sacred meaning of Memorial Day. What it should mean to every American. Memorial Day is a day set aside each year to remember the fallen warriors of our country; those who made the ultimate sacrifice to give each of us freedom, and the ability to reach out for the American Dream. No, they didn't give you the American Dream, you have to work for that yourself. But they gave their lives to assure you had the freedom to reach out for it, free from oppression, tyranny and grave injustice as is the case in so many other countries.

It doesn't matter whether you call it a war, police action, or what name you pin on combat. Or any other action that places our military men and women in harms way to defend freedom. Men and women gave all so that we might live free. They didn't do it for fame or glory, or a medal to pin on their uniform. Medals usually came too late to shine in a parade; many were laid on rows of caskets at ceremonies in such places as Arlington and Fort Rosecrans. The Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Coast Guardsman, Air Forceman or Merchant Marine never saw the glint of the Silver Star or Purple Heart or other medal in the sun as it laid upon his casket. But the family knew the bravery that he or she displayed many days or weeks or months before this day came to pass.

Most of our fallen warriors did come home, to be interred in their beloved country near family and loved ones. But many didn't and are buried on foreign shores in huge cemeteries, marked by simple crosses and markers, the only remnants of fierce battles, where Americans shed their blood to give freedom to others in a foreign land. They didn't know the people, but knew freedom was as important to them as it is to us. Freedom, the one thing that is perhaps as much important as life itself.

In my humble opinion, the three most important things are life, love and freedom. Without them life is just a bleak and somewhat hopeless experience. With perseverance and luck, many find love, but it takes a very special person willing to lay it all on the line to fight for your freedom. When you realize the warrior doesn't know you, or the individuals they are fighting for in most cases, it makes it even more impressive that they are willing to sacrifice all for others, to give them a chance at a better life.

On this Memorial Day, I will remember my brothers who have fallen in Vietnam, as well as all those who have fallen before, and after, in every war and conflict. I will remember those who have been ravaged by the remnants of war, and who have died as a result of service-connected injuries and illnesses, those who never appear in casualty rolls, but who are casualties just the same.

And some special prayers to several brothers who are very close in my heart today and always will be. Rest well my brothers; we'll all be crossing the bar to join you some day.

And, just in case anyone ever forgets:

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

PTSD...Just how "POST" is the trauma?

We've all heard the term PTSD..Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Most people never really heard much about it until about quite a few years following the Vietnam War, although it's nothing really new. It's been around under different names since time immemorial, I guess, and in different vestments and colors. In other wars, people became "shell shocked" or simply traumatized or suffered "combat fatigue" but nobody took into account what happens when the horrors of war. or anything else that befalls a human being, for that matter, is bottled up inside and comes back to haunt you again and again.

As for Vietnam veterans, it just seems that it became more widespread, as they tried to cope with a society that for the most part, hardly welcomed them home with open arms, and who had little mental health services, or others to talk to about their experiences, and were thrust back into and tried to assimilate "normal" societal behavior once again.

PTSD comes in many forms and shapes and isn't limited to combat vets. It happens to crime victims, accident victims, and people from all walks of life. Some people say it sneaks up on you when you least expect it, with nightmares and visions of the past, and others say it's a living thing that you walk with every living hour. Everyone handles it differently, and nobody can tell another exactly what or how to feel when it comes along, since it, unfortunately, is one of those personal things each one experiences differently. Like pain, each has some different degree of tolerance, a level that can bury some, or all, of that experience in the subconscious, most or all of the time, but unfortunately again, not forever.

I once wondered why the veteran suicide rate was so high, and then started thinking whether anyone ever looked at an overall PTSD rate rather than just a combat veteran rate as a total? It's easy to look at numbers when you have a figure that is in hand, such as vets, as you know the numbers who were exposed. But how about others who have had episodes and experiences in civilian life, that rival the trauma of war? What is the rate of alcoholism, drug use and suicide among that group? I don't think anyone has ever done a study to see how that fits into the total equation! Plus, we see the numbers used by the VA may be more or less skewed, as they have been deemed unreliable for many years, while they denied many of the PTSD cases as factual, which were really true cases. Many more await in the wings.

So, how long does PTSD take to manifest itself? In some cases, it's almost instant. In some cases, years. In some cases, it just jumps out at no specific time, and in a very few cases, it remains dormant for decades, and then manifests itself and nobody can understand why the person acts as they do. Strange thing for sure. Remembering like it was yesterday yet wishing it was tomorrow.

Is it really POST? Or is it simply a reliving of the stress and trauma every day, in a mind that simply rewinds to that time or event over and over again? In your mind it reoccurs and it's now, moments ago, today. But even if you think it was yesterday, I guess that would mean it was in the past, but just how far is POST. Yesterday, last week, last month or for some of us, forty or fifty years or more ago? Or more? And for the returning veterans of today, it's likely going to be a lot sooner than later that they will see the effects of PTSD if they are prone to it at all. Maybe it should be Personal Traumatic Stress Disorder...as that's what it seems to be..very personal indeed.

So, it's a personal thing. I know many times I and others have said, just get over it. Move on, the war or the event is over. But frankly, it's like an ugly tattoo. Once it's there , it's forever. You don't have to look at it every minute, but it's not going anywhere. The best you can do is focus on the good things in life and try to filter out the bad. Find love and someone who loves and cares about you, and love and care about them. Find your soulmate if you can, and you'll find an inner peace you've never known before. Stress is a demon that takes a lot to tame and it isn't an easy fight. Kind of like St. George and the dragon I guess. But as I recall, St. George did win in the end.

Oh, yeah. Would you do me a great favor? Next time you see a veteran, especially one from the Vietnam era, tell him or her "Welcome Home." You might see a tear in their eye, or a grin, or smile, or even a shocked look. You see, we were never given a welcome when we returned home, and it's become a tradition for us to welcome each other home, even now, as a way to honor the service each has rendered to our country, and to say that welcome we never received when we returned. Of course welcome every service person you meet and thank them for their service. Because without dedicated men and women willing to lay down their life for this country, you wouldn't be reading this, nor would I have the opportunity to write it either.

God Bless America and keep safe our warriors!

Veterans Unite Now or Shut Up Later

Military Veterans will get one chance to vote for the new Commander-in-Chief on November 4th. One chance to have their say in how their benefits will be for the next four years and maybe long beyond that. One voice to give Washington direction as to what YOU want out of the Veterans Administration in the form of health care and support, benefits, compensation for service connected injuries and illnesses, rehabilitation, prosthetics, hearing, vision and dental and family benefits. Those things you and fellow military fought, suffered and died for the right to have!

Only one man in the running has the slightest clue what the military is all about and his name is John McCain. For want of a better description, and for brevity, John McCain has "been there and done that." He has been a warrior, a POW, a Senator and a proponent of veterans' rights. His opponent in this election, Senator Obama, has never served this country's armed forces, never been in combat, is a fledgling politician and doesn't know a damned thing about being a veteran or our health care system. That in itself should scare veterans to death!

It shouldn't matter whether you're a Republican or Democrat, folks, that should scare the hell out of you. Mr. Obama knows nothing about the military or the VA or veterans!

Anyone who says they'll have great advisers, and those are the ones they will count on for advice, is full of crap when it comes to us veterans. Remember what happened in Vietnam when we had all those armchair advisers directing the war from Washington? And how about those advisers sitting in plush chairs in Washington and Virginia while troops are taking incoming in Iraq and Afghanistan? And all the blue suited advisers while you're laying in a VA or military hospital, trying to recover from injury or illness, while some senate or congressional committee argues over whether they should fund enough so you can get a decent prosthesis this year?

VA health care is going downhill fast once again. For example, I used to get to see my neurologist every three months, then every four, then it was bumped to every six months. Now they don't make appointments and you have to call and try to get in and they're overbooked. My November appointment was never scheduled and the earliest I can be seen is March. That will be over ten months between neurologist visits! And, they never refilled my medications, twice! So I had to call in twice about that too. If you're not on top of them, frankly, you're going to fall through the cracks and you're screwed!

Plus, they have all new doctors every few years, using residents from the local university medical schools, which means we're getting trainees essentially. By the time you get comfortable with a physician, they're gone and you get a new one; I've had three and onto number four in March, the last at my request as docs who forget to refill prescriptions, tell you they don't believe in meds that have helped you in the past, and have to have a med student present to grandstand with at every visit somehow don't seem all that positive for me. So you walk out with a feeling that you haven't been helped at all. Kind of like facing the enemy and the only good thing is their Kalashnikov was empty.

I can't get to see a cardiologist even though I have a stent implant, since there aren't enough cardiologists in the system to go around. Bet those fat cat politicians in Washington have plenty of cardiologists lined up waiting for their butts when needed!

Care used to be excellent, but it is failing. The in-patient room I was in a few months ago was dirty; your feet stuck to the floors. The bathroom was nasty. You could write your name in the film on the windows. You couldn't understand the nurses on the night shift; none of them spoke fluent English. But they did swab your nose daily to test for MRSA. What about cleaning the damned room? Maybe that would help reduce infection potentials?

They tout the suicide prevention programs, and how they want to help all the troops with PTSD before it ends up like 'Nam? If they handle it with the same bureaucratic bull crap and bungling as everything else, it won't help a whole lot. They'll tell a great story to Congress and the Senate about the wonders they're accomplishing, while military personnel are coming home and offing themselves in a distant field or side road, because they never had anyone who really understood what the hell they went through. And it's been reported the VA under reported many suicides. Why? Probably because they didn't or couldn't do the job they were supposed to do. Funding or flat out F**k-up? It doesn't matter, but there are many families grieving that shouldn't be. And until the funding and people are in place to recognize those who need help and then help them and their families as needed in a timely manner, things won't change.

Truth is, the VA has some wonderful programs, people and facilities, but the system is busted and needs to be fixed before it falls apart. It's fragile, and if it's not fixed, it will crumble fast. I'm seeing that first hand, and I sure don't want to be a service casualty a second time, this time due to lack of medical care funding and follow through.

Fund it, fix it and hold it accountable. Simple enough even for a bunch of stupid politicians!

The VA states the problem is the influx of troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. But wait, they didn't expect this? Once again, no leadership at the VA and no foresight. That's something I'm sure John McCain will provide, leadership and someone to kick butt and get this house in order!

Regardless, if you don't get out and vote and make the right choice, you'll see this get worse and worse. Add to that the increased taxes you'll be seeing, and the problems will compound. The taxes won't hit us older people nearly as hard as they will our children and grandchildren, as they're the ones working and coming up in the world.

I can look them in the eye and say I voted for the man who could do the job for the veterans who gave so much for this country...will you be able to do the same?

What Do We Learn from War?

It seems we have a penchant to go to war pretty frequently, sometimes for reasons that almost everyone agrees on, and sometimes for reasons that seems to divide as many people as unites them. Why do we do what we do and go to war? Why do we send our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers into harm's way? Why has it always been this way? I'm certainly not a historian, just my take on what's been happening over the years.

Sometimes it's to defend ourselves from tyranny, as it was in the earlier times of our nation, and the Revolution, or because parts of our own nation didn't agree with how each side handled government, and split into several factions, pitting brother against brother in the Civil War.

Sometimes it's been to prevent the global spread of a power such as Germany and the Japanese in World War I and World War II. Sometimes it's been to prevent an aggressor from taking over the land and freedoms of our allies, as it was in Korea, and sometimes it's been to secure the freedom of others who are oppressed under communism or a dictatorship, such as Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

In everyones' eyes, except the British, perhaps, America won the Revolution and became independent. No questions there. Depending on where you ask the question, north or south of the Mason-Dixon line, either the North or the South won the Civil War. Actually the North came out on top, but in my mind, most of the reasons for fighting were never a reason to lose family or fight over, other than perhaps a brawl on the back porch after drinking. It was a draw that left wounds that still fester in some areas to this day. Thankfully, those wounds are finally healing faster than in the past....

World War I and World War II were wars that were basically started in Europe by Germany and had our involvement to stave off takeover of Great Britain by Germany. Although WWI lasted from 1914-1918, we entered in 1917, and a peace treaty was signed in 1919. WWII actually started in 1939 and our involvement didn't officially start until December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Had the US not entered the war, Germany would have steamrolled over the rest of Europe and Asia, continued weapons development, mass genocide and perhaps become unstoppable. No question we had to get involved in a big way. As for the Japanese, they decided their own fate with the attack on Pearl Harbor. The dropping of two nuclear weapons ended the war with Japan with their surrender on August 15, 1945.

So, two more wins, for the American and Allied side as it were. Then as for Korea, I don't know whether that was a clear win, but South Korea remains a free nation after fifty something years, so as far as I'm concerned, we won there too.

Vietnam was a quagmire, a political war that had been fought for eons long before we entered it. A nation in chaos and unrest for centuries and, in my opinion, nothing we did was going to change that as long as politicians pulled the strings. As young warriors we entered the fray ready to change the world for the better and kick butt, and thought the Washington political machine was behind us all the way. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The tide of war could have been turned in six months and the communists routed, had the politicians listened to the military who knew what needed to be done to "clean the clock" of the enemy. But no, it became a political war with air strikes requiring permission and bombing runs cancelled and targets requiring surgical precision for acquisition. But only for the Americans and not for the other side, as always. We play by one set of rules and the opposition has no rules at all. Many people at home opposed the war, although I'm not sure to this day whether they were really opposed to those who gave so much in fighting oppression and tyranny. After all, they were being lied to daily by the same politicians who were directing fire when they hadn't a clue what the hell they were doing. Not fit to be politicians nor military, yet trying to be both and killing and maiming thousands in their stupidity.

Let it be known that we did not lose the war in Vietnam. The politicians finally decided to back out of something that we could have won, but decided to play with for too damned long. Like a dog who grabs a snake by the neck and could have killed it with one bite, but decides to play with it, gets bit too many times, and eventually slinks away. We gained freedom for many thousands of Vietnamese and those in neighboring countries, and paid a heavy price for doing so. A very heavy price that was way too high for what the final outcome was. But, again, the warriors didn't decide the outcome, the politicians did. And, other than a few, like John "fond of Fonda" Kerry, (The thought of those two people nauseates me) all did what had to be done in the name of God and Country.

Then there was the Gulf War, which was won swiftly and decisively. Yet, once again, the politicians screwed up and decided to quit before cleaning house completely. With Iraq in the cross hairs, we left the sands and came home victorious and left Saddam Hussein still in power when we could have marched into Baghdad all in one fell swoop.

So here we are in Afghanistan searching for terrorists and fighting al-Queda and in Iraq fighting God knows who today or tomorrow. We toppled Saddam Hussein effectively and have a mess to clean up. In my opinion, it's turned into another Vietnam, which is a shame. We've traded jungle, mud and monsoons for desert, sand and wind. I would have thought we would have learned something about fighting insurgents and guerrillas by now. These people are insane! They don't care about life! They're freaking crazy and don't care if they die or you die. They murder their kids if they don't agree to marry the right person and kill their wives if their veil is off center! They kill because someone mentions another religion or says a word wrong. They are crazy! And, once again, the damned politicians want the military to fight surgically clean! While the other side fights as dirty as possible and kills and maims at will without regard to anything, we're in there with a scalpel and criticized when a round goes astray. Then we compound it by court martialing our military on charges of murder for doing their job. Yup, throw the good guys to the wolves when you can...why not a couple of stuffed suits from Washington who are really the guilty bastards, just as they were back during Vietnam?

Sad to say, we'll be over there for awhile. At least until the politicians get their fingers off the trigger and let the military make the real decisions. With God's blessing John McCain will be at the helm, and a real military man will make some decisions to kick ass, and then come home sooner rather than later. Make the Iraqis take charge of their affairs and lead the way.