remember when?

[davblay]

Any of you Viet Nam Vets noticed that in the past few months that people will come up to you and shake your hand and thank you for your service in Nam? It only took 30 some odds years for us to get that respect, but it is welcome and makes me proud to be a Marine of that war! I hide that fact for years so as not to get a conflict started! If you guys remember, we had to travel in civies so no one would know we were in the military to avoid conflicts at some airports!Thank God those days are over! Semper Fi, Marines!

[bigdog43701]

that's a sore subject. for years people have come up to me saying, "welcome home". i would ask if they were there and they said no but... they always seemed hollow. last november, at the Dedication cerimony for the Marine Corps Museum i ran into a Captain i served under while there. i still recognized him and him me. he stuck out his hand and shook mine and said, "Welcome home, Marine". my knees got weak ans i had to sit down, the wife said i turned white as a sheet. i looked and the Captain and my wife and said, "I'm finally home."

[davblay]

Yeah, I know what you mean, but I mean since 9/11! People seem sincere and honest when they say "Thank you for your service"! But I have noted that most of them are younger!

Then again, have you ever noticed that a lot of us Viet Nam vets are working for the hippies and draft dodgers of the 60's and 70's? They still don't get it, do they? We fight to give them the rights they enjoyed in those days, and they still can't thank us for our service, even now!

[bigdog43701]

I Hear You Brother...i Hear You!

[semperfi170]

The hippies, draft dodgers, flower children, etc. will never really get it! After all what did they sacrifice? I have noticed it is mainly the younger generation that is thanking us for our service, not our contemporaries or the older people. One thing happened to me two years ago when I was in DC for a business conference. I dedcided to get some water from one of the stands near the Memorial and was standing in line, when this younger man with his little daughter, notices my hat, obviously military by his bearing & appearance, says to me: when did you serve in our Corps? I told him where & when, and he proceeds to thank me for serving and being a part of the long line of Marines that have helped make the Corps what it is. Talk about a great welcome home from a Marine serving today and carrying on our proud traditions!

[sgtslimpickens]

I am sorry that your generation did get the respect they deserve... I have always admired those that served in Nam. On many occasions I have had the chance to thank and welcome home those that have served before me. Many a times it are those that are on their bikes and have their Service emblem on their jackets. To all of you that have served, before or after me, thank you. And if you ever make it to CO Springs, the first round is on me.

Thank you, and welcome home.

[fmoyer]

Not too long ago my grandson and I were having a hambergar at McDonalds I was wearing my Marine Corps hat and was very surprised when a young man and his family came to the table and thanked me for my service. First time that has ever happened but made my day.

[drumcorpssnare]

I was taught at a very early age to recognize, approach, and thank our veterans.
I must have been younger than five, because I was with my grandfather, who passed in 1960. He pointed to a sailor in the bank, and said, "Go shake his hand and tell him Thank-you." So, I did. I vaguely remember afterword, asking my grandfather why he wanted me to do that. He talked to me (for what seemed like forever) about him having been in the Navy and Marines. And I knew my dad was a Marine. And just the whole bit about defending our freedom, etc.
Quite a lot for a little kid to absorb. But, it became a habit. And to this day, I make it a point to greet and thank any and all veterans I see. I especially enjoy talking with WW II vets, even though they and I often end up just a little teary-eyed.

...to all our veterans, from 1775 to today. Thank-you, and God Bless You.
drumcorpssnare

[iamcloudlander]

In April I attended a local air show and I just happened to wear my new vietnam veterens hat which I purchased from sgt grit. I was overwhelmed by the "welcome homes" I received from all ages. Since then I have attended a veteran weekend at the local museum and I took my grandsons and was once again overwhelmed by the generosity of the merchants at this event as they showered my grandsons with all sorts of free gifts telling them that this was because their grandfather had helped make all this possible and was a part of history. I was never so proud as I was just by the looks my grandsons gave me. They made all the years of hiding being a vietnam vet fade into a memory.

[devildog1986]

Thank You for what yall did over there i have always been fasinated with that war and i have been wanting to thank a Nam Vet besides my Grandfather

[FistFu68]

WELCOME HOME MARINES,PAST,PRESENT,&,FUTURE

[drumcorpssnare]

Friday evening, 5/18/07, a saw on old Leatherneck wearing a ball-cap w/ the EGA. I gave him a thumbs-up and said SEMPER FI. He nodded and smiled. I asked if he served in Korea. (he looked about 70)
"No, I served in WW II. I was on the Canal." I stood up, shook his hand, and said, "God Bless You, Sir" Then I said, "So, you remember 'Washing Machine Charley?" He chuckled. "That was funny....but the damn Jap Navy shellin' us......that's the first time I met Chesty Puller." I said, "Oh?"
He said, "Yeah, we had a kid was shell-shocked. Crying...ya know. Chesty sat down with this kid, and told him, "Old man, you're gonna make it through this war, just like me!"
Then he said, "Chesty was 1st Bn., 1st Marines ya know..."
I told him I knew that, and he said, "Well, I gotta go...."

I never even got his name. Doesn't matter. He's one of us!
drumcorpssnare

[ggyoung]

I was always proud of my 26 months in Vietnam and I always said so. It was a just and noble cause. It's sucks that the polytissues got mixt up in it. But I am from a place were the people were proud of there sons going off to war and they showed it.

[Chamorro]

I was not on the "ground" because my sibling was there, but I was with 3rd FSR in Courtney shipping the meds, food, fuel & ammo, '68-'69. Not to mention keeping the nesans in line.

[dt9615]

I am a Marine from the Gulf War era. While I was never deployed to a combat zone, I am proud of my service while in our beloved Corps. I have always felt it unfair that our troops got huge "welcome home" parades when they returned from that conflict (sorry but I can't in good conscience call it a "war" when it only lasted 100 hours on the ground) while our Vietnam Veterans got nothing but spit on and called names like "baby killer." Whenever I see a Vietnam Veteran, I make it point to walk up and say "thank you" to them. If we are in a place that serves drinks, I always, and yes I do mean ALWAYS, buy them at least one drink to show my appreciation to them for their service. I usually get a startled look from them at first since they are not used to people thanking them, but then they warm up after that. I have made many new friends and aquaintences from all branches of the service who served in Vietnam from this simple practice. Imagine my surprise one evening when in a bar, I said "thank you" to a Vietnam era soldier and bought him a drink, only to have him in return buy the next round! He explained that although I was a Marine and he had been in the Army and I did not serve in Nam, he still appreciated one service member walking up and thanking another for his service in what was an unpopular war. All I have to say to any Vietnam Veteran are two things: 1. Thank you more than I could ever actually verbally express. and 2. For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will NEVER know.

David Trousdale
LCPL USMC (1989-1997)

When I get to Heaven, St. Peter I will tell "One more Marine reporting, Sir. I've served my time in Hell."