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Robert
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Dec 19, 2023 12:40PM
Thanks to all member Military Veterans and your families for your service and sacrifices for our country. I'm a Vietnam Veteran and I know what it takes to serve.
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I joined the Air Force just before the end of Vietnam and retired after 23 years. Thankfully the general public changed their view of military after Desert Storm and the ensuing conflicts in the Gulf.
All the men in my family are vets; I am thankful every day, first that they made it home and then second for their service in protecting our country!
Kevin wrote: "I joined the Air Force just before the end of Vietnam and retired after 23 years. Thankfully the general public changed their view of military after Desert Storm and the ensuing conflicts in the Gulf."One thing the baby boomers have to admit the treatment of returning Viet Nam veterans was a disgrace. I bet that all those people who disrespected the returning viet nam veterans would never admit to such behavior today.
Oh I’m sure they passed on their same attitude toward the military to their offsprings.
My father was a Marine and fought the n the Phillipines during ww2. He was a machine gun operator and is buried at Arlington.
Sometimes those in power have chosen to do wrong but you don’t hold others responsible for them. Like, now, what is happening in Israel.
Geraldine let’s save the Israel conversation for my other New Group The Great Debate 2024, which is under construction and will be launched shortly. I’m sure you’ll be the first to join!
It’ll be good to have a place where we can speak about serious matters with each other.
I appreciate your service and thank all of you who have served. I am mom of a paralyzed veteran (since 1997.) There were some very difficult years but these days what’s hardest is dealing with the VA system. I hope you’re all well, and wish you and your families a healthy, happy 2024.
I know what you mean Chriss. I have fought with the VA for years, but the last couple of years has gotten better for me anyway.
I was an early teenager when I became aware of the war in Vietnam. There were the hippies. The younger generation were protesting. Was the war in Vietnam unjust? Any more unjust than other wars? I never looked down on men going to war in Vietnam either. In fact I always thought that all the Americans sent to Vietnam were brave. I wondered if those who sought to avoid going to Vietnam were actually just not courageous. I was afraid for my younger brother. I kind of think that the media at the time were involved in it all.
I served two tours in Vietnam. It was strictly a political war with no insinuative to win. Like many others I was exposed to agent orange and suffer from health issues to this day. I’ve been asked if I would have gone if I knew then what I know now. I wrestle with that question everyday.
It is what it is. Did we learn anything from that? Obviously not, and The Beat Goes On- Sonny & Cher 1967 I believe.
The only boots we should ever have on the ground is on our own soil if we are attacked. Everyone else in the world should be on their own. We have shed enough American Blood in shit hole countries that don’t give a crap about us.
It’s totally useless to wrestle with what might have been. Personally, I Refuse to do so. .
You got that just right Robert. I just bought 2 of your books and I am looking forward to reading them.
Well thank you Carolyn I hope you enjoy the books. Don’t forget to read my Free short stories at our topic In Your Shorts. Nothing to click on, just start reading.
My grandfather flew a B-17 in the European theater in late WWII stationed in England. As a result, I do become fascinated with stories from that era and locale. They are at times horrifying and tragic yet inspiring. One favorite that comes to mind is Corrie ten Boom's "The Hiding Place." I was fortunate enough to also visit Corrie's family home in beautiful Haarlam in The Netherlands, which is the setting for her story.
My dad was AF and retired when I was a teenager. My (second) husband also retired AF in 2002.
My dad was in the Navy and my stepdad was in the Air Force. I have uncles that were in the Marines and cousins that were in the Army and was a SeaBee. I also have a really good friend whose daughter is in the Coast Guard. I am thankful for each and everyone of them and for all who have served or are serving our country.
I went to the VA Clinic this week for my annual check up. While I was there I ask the Doctor if she could renew one of my prescriptions from 30 days to 90 days. She told me. She would try, but there is a drug shortage. She explained that since we do not make anything here anymore, the bulk of our drugs come from China and India. What’s worse is we don’t even know what’s really in the drugs. Unbelievable!
Ruth wrote: "This is ridiculous. This is 100% on Biden. The buffoon tried to lower Americans prescription cost by buying from China, Indonesia, Japan and others. Now who is in control of our health? Yup. They c..."Actually you can blame deregulation for the problem and that is all on Trump and the Republicans. Deregulation saves money they claim and is unnecessary. But if it wasn't necessary it wouldn't have been made law previously. It is also Trump who is buddy buddy with the dictators of the world
Okay everyone, no politics in this group! If you want to discuss politics post on my other group The Great Debate. Thank you for your cooperation.
Robert wrote: "Okay everyone, no politics in this group! If you want to discuss politics post on my other group The Great Debate. Thank you for your cooperation."Thanks for that Robert. I'm an Air Force vet, served four years honorably between wars.
My healthcare is through the VA due to me wrecking my knee coming off a ton-and-a-half truck while I was in. They offered me full care ten years ago, and I jumped at it.
Lots of not-so-fun interactions dealing with them over these years, but I'm so grateful for what they've done for me and continue to do. There is no health organization in this country that makes it easy to do business with them, so I try to take it all with a grain of salt.
Next year I have to try to figure out the intricacies of Medicare and the VA both, and I'm not looking forward to it! Double trouble. 😜
I am 60 percent disabled with a heart problem the VA claims was probably a result from Agent Orange exposure during Vietnam. I don’t if that was the cause, but who am I to dispute the government. They put me on heart medicine 15 years ago, and I haven’t had an issue until recently. Now I’m scheduled for more tests, so it’s a wait and see what they find out.
I hope the tests come out good, Robert! I was just bumped to 20 percent due to the deterioration of my knees. Will eventually need to get the left one replaced as well, not looking forward to it. Got enough going on now, with Crohn's disease, AFib 24-7, thyroid and anemia (the last two under control). Every penny of my taxes over the last 50 years is going to my care now, so I try not to feel guilty, but still do.
There were still more than a few Vietnam vets finishing out their years to retirement when I was based up at the missile sites in Montana - they were the ones nobody messed with.
Dang Lisa, after reading your ailments my heart problem doesn’t seem that bad. In fact I didn’t even know I had one. Lol
I can always find a vet who is worse off than me, and more deserving. I refused to get VA for awhile because I didn't want to take away VA money who needed it worse. Then I found out my chemical disability was coming from the settlements from the chemical companies that produced Agent Orange. They had never tested it on humans before supplying it to the military.
Ruth - like Robert, I felt like there was always a vet more deserving of me, especially the ones that were in combat. The guilt wracks you, I can promise, for taking the help AT ALL. But my receiving that help takes nothing from other vets, and comparative pain is always a losing game on both sides. Age brought me that much, but financial realities brought me the rest of it. If it helps, those who are more profoundly disabled, as shown by that rating percentage, get priority over the rest of us. Always.
Sorry - more deserving "than" me, not "of" me.
Ruth - your daddy deserved every cent he got, and so did your family for what he went through. I can almost promise you that every vet has felt the same guilt I feel, but has to get over it in the end. It drives us to always justify, and to always think the other person is saying we don't deserve it. Because we don't think we do. It's treacherous waters.
Joan wrote: "Ruth wrote: "This is ridiculous. This is 100% on Biden. The buffoon tried to lower Americans prescription cost by buying from China, Indonesia, Japan and others. Now who is in control of our health..."Exactly, Joan. Plus, we still manufacture many drugs here in America.
Robert wrote: "I went to the VA Clinic this week for my annual check up. While I was there I ask the Doctor if she could renew one of my prescriptions from 30 days to 90 days. She told me. She would try, but ther..."I'm having a problem with one of my meds as well. I am on an everyday asthma inhaler and it hasn't been in stock for 3 months. Luckily I've been good and I have my rescue inhaler but they have no idea when it's going to be in stock again. UGH!!!
Robert wrote: "I am 60 percent disabled with a heart problem the VA claims was probably a result from Agent Orange exposure during Vietnam. I don’t if that was the cause, but who am I to dispute the government. T..."I hope your tests go well Robert!! My best friend's dad passed away in 2009 from Agent Orange. And she got tested because they say that she's an agent orange baby. She has some health issues because of it.
As an older veteran it is getting extremely difficult to keep up with the VA website. It constantly changes making it more harder to schedule appointments and order prescriptions. If it were not for my wife who is younger and more computer savvy, I would be screwed.
The VA got better for awhile, but now it's getting worse than before.
I’m so sick of dealing with the VA I wish I would have fled to Canada instead of volunteering for Vietnam!
I can remember going to the VA with my dad when I was young. He would get us up at 3:30 am to drive 2 hours to Dallas to be there at 6am. Appointments were set, but if you were t there early and they decided to move you appt to earlier, the. You missed your appointment. If he had a 2pm appointment, he would have to be there at 6am because if the dr decided to move you appointment to say 8am, you would miss it. We would sit in the waiting.room all day waiting for him to go in. It’s an absurd way to treat the men that protected our freedoms.
It took me three days to get an appointment to see my VA doctor. I don't have anything wrong, but they won't renew my prescriptions without seeing my doctor. The soonest I can see my doctor is Dec. 17th. Hope I don't kick off before then.
That is ridiculous. Bureaucracy times 10.
To all Veteran members and your families, thank you for your service!
Absolutely so very thankful for our military…alive or passed, foreign or stateside. Each single person that steps in, for whatever their reason, makes certain sacrifices to do so. We absolutely could not be out today buying burgers, shopping for shoes, etc if these people hadn’t served. We have to watch and be vigilant now not to blow it. Our kids and grandkids deserve freedom too. I hope the country watches New York…it won’t be what was promised. I had a professor that lived in a socialist country in the late 70’s for research purposes. She lived there one year. She said the country took 70% of her pay. They issued vouchers for different things you could buy. Specifically groceries. Every Tuesday (they was the day given to her group) she walked into the “grocery store.” You had to buy specifics things…all told to you. She could buy four potatoes…no more, no less. She was a single woman and had four potatoes to last til next Tuesday because you weren’t allowed to go into the story other days. If you had a husband and six kids, you got 4 potatoes. Woke yet???? We don’t want our freedoms taken.
Yes, so very grateful for all who have served.
I cannot believe a group of Democratic Senators and Congress people are telling our military they do not have to follow orders they don’t agree with. These are ex- military people and this is treason. It’s not up to the individual military person to decide what orders they want to follow and the ones they don’t. The military follows orders or people die. That’s the bottom line!
FACTS 18 U.S.C. § 2387 makes it a federal crime to interfere with, obstruct, or undermine the loyalty, discipline, or effectiveness of U.S. military forces.
We have sitting Members of Congress encouraging troops to ignore lawful orders.
A person who advocates for military members to defy orders could be called an insubordinate or a seditionist. Advocating for the defiance of lawful orders is a form of insubordination. If the advocacy is considered a deliberate attempt to incite rebellion against the authority of the state, it could be called sedition or seditious behavior.
