Are you a Veteran?

Question

if so, i just want to take this time to say thanks.

but on to the question, are you a veteran? if so, what war did you fight in? what was it like? what did you do? im very interested in any stories. : )

Answer 1

Yes I am a Veteran.
Spent 1 year in Vietnam 1968 - 69 (Soc Trang & Can Tu)
Served 20 years in the Army working in Personnel/Administration.
Been retired 20 yrs effective 1-1-08.

Can't believe it has been nearly 40 yrs since I first enlisted.

Answer 2

Viet Nam vet, 1966 - 67, Gulf of Siam and mouth of the Mekong. USN vet...20 years +.

WHAT IS A VET?
He is the cop on the beat who spent a year in Iraq sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel. She is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another or didn't come back AT ALL. He is the Parris Island drill instructor who has never seen combat -- but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs. He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by. He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep. He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come. He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs. He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known. So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded. Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU."

If you can read, thank a Teacher; if you can read English, thank a Vet
Thank a Vet, Sunday, November, 11. There's at least one in your neighborhood.

Answer 3

No.....My father was for WW2.....I was around for the vietnam war and after.

My father served this country with pride. I remember men crying seeing their numbers come up on TV when the vietnam war was going on because people didn't have a choice...they were drafted. My parents have a proud history for every battle from the very beginning of this country till now.

My Dad was in the Navy. 17, I think, when he inlisted. But there is a long history from my family that fought for this country. No great tales....no grand awards....just men who loved this country and were proud to fight and die for it.

My Dad didn't talk much about it. In fact I have a foot locker of letters I never opened and read from my Dads time in the Navy. You would probably crack-up to see his picture. It's hanging on my wall right behind me with the flag they draped over his casket when he was buried. Another frame with his bars. I still have his uniform.......my daughter is tiny....size 0-1....her grandpas uniform barely fits. He was a tiny guy.

Now....my father-n-law was on TV on a special. He was one of the first who guided aircraft on an aircraft carrier. It was a 60 min. special a few years back. WW2. They just don't talk much about it. I believe I heard more from those who fought in the Vietnam war. Stories I don't think many want to hear. Stories that destroyed peoples lives. Sometimes I don't know if we will ever understand the depth of it.

War is ugly. I don't think it went public till the Nam war....or judged as harshly till then.

Answer 4

I am a veteran, I fought in no war. During my stint, 1959 to 1962, we were at peace more or less. However, even though now in my sixties if there was a need or a call - here I am, ready to go!
When 09/11 happened I was too old but I was very ready to smash some heads..

Answer 5

Yes I am. Grenada 1983, Desert Storm, Army
My daughter is a vet, Kosovo. Air Force
My Dad a vet, WW2, Korea, Viet Nam. Air Force
My Great Great Grandfather vet, Civil War

Its in our genes I guess.

Answer 6

My husband and I are both veterans. We were in at the time
of the Cuban Missle Crises,and the start of the War in Viet
Nam. My husband was sent to Okinawa and he later stepped
back into civilian life into a reserve unit, due to his mother
being unwell. I was only assigned in the states. At that time,
women weren't allowed to be near the front. And even tho,
they are near the front in various capacities today, I don't be-
lieve, they are near the firing line or put into major danger. I
have been in contact with some women sent to Iraq and they
were living and working in supply jobs. Their danger was
when they went in a jeep or truck or Humvee to the city where
they could buy supplies that were imported.
When I was in the army, I felt I was in the safest location in
the world. Being surrounded by guns and ammunition and
hundreds of soldiers who used them. I don't know to what
extent a female soldier uses weapons in the army today, but
when I was in, we only had to know how to take them apart
fast and clean them and know how to hit the target on the
rifle range. I guess they figured we'd be back up somewhere
down the line, if necessary. I worked at one point in a comm-
unications center down in the bowells of the earth, so to
speak. So did my husband for awhile in Okinawa. That's
where information is sent with secret and top secret infor-
mation to computers for persons located in that general
map location. But mostly all we ever saw were obituaries or
sports scores LOL from national leagues or teams. So it
was never anything exciting that we'd look for arriving.
My husband was a Military Policeman, and I was a Crypt-
ographer, by job title. But I was placed in a clerk typist role
when there was a shortage in another division. They put you
where you're needed sometimes to fill a gap. So it doesn't
always mean that the job you are trained for, doesn't always
mean that you'll stay in that job slot. I know of a soldier now,
who was a recruiting officer, and he's now near the action in
Iraq with the main fighting force. So you never know where
you'll be once you're in. I hope this has answered something
you wanted to know.

Answer 7

I was in the U.S. Marine Corp - pre-Vietnam...

3 brothers in Vietnam
father in WWII
Grandfather WWI
GGGrandfathers - Civil war - both sides.
Both sides in the Revolutionary War.

All of my Uncles were in the service. Today 8 sons and daughters of cousins are serving...5 in Iraq, 1 in Afghanistan and 2 stateside.

Answer 8

28 years in the Royal Air Force, joined when I was just over 15, saw some action in Malaya Cyprus and Aden

Answer 9

USAF, weather forecaster state side-Plattsburg, NY. SAC base. Viet Nam conflict.
No fighting, just forecasting so planes could take off & land safely.
SAC base is always on high alert.
No war stories.

Answer 10

My father was in WW2, he was captured ... spent 4 years in a German prison camp. He was in the Royal Engineers, tank gunner. He married late so I was not born during the war.
My mother was in the Battle of Britain, she drove a petrol truck or something like that.. We left England, in Canada now.
Can't tell you what it was like, my father wouldn't talk about it.