Bagpiper: Honor to the Fallen

Bagpiper has been witness to hundreds of soldiers' memorials

Vietnam vet says all of them should get the attention that Fort Hood shooting victims have received...>>>>>

A Journey Back, 40yrs. Later

Troubled vet journeys back to Vietnam -- this time to offer helping hand

Kevin Roberts, now 64, will build houses for poor families along the Mekong River

He is a former Marine who has lived with battleground nightmares for 40 years and now plans a return to the land that haunts him.

Snip

As for a sense of closure: "I hate that word," he says without hesitation, thinking both about the war and his 13-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who died in 1995 from a congenital heart problem.

"I was there and did what I did; that's not going to change," he says. "My daughter died and is not coming back. Things like this don't close."

So why, after years of heroin addiction, alcoholism and untreated post-traumatic stress disorder, has Roberts decided to do something good in the land he remembers as bad? And how will it affect him?

Snip

Next week, he'll pick up a hammer and saw for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project 2009, an annual weeklong affordable housing project led by the former president. Roberts will join a team of about 20 volunteers who will construct houses in Ke Sat village, just outside Hanoi, November 15-21.

His daughter Mary organized raffles at the Starbucks where she works to raise money to defray his costs. "He really wanted to go," she says, "and I am so proud of him."

The tough part for Roberts will begin after the back-breaking work is over. He plans to hop on a motorcycle and fly like the wind south to Da Nang, where he learned the meaning of fear.

Snip

But nights were another thing. The war was full throttle after the sun went down. Small-arms fire rattled the valley below and artillery rounds tore through the air overhead. Roberts learned to await the thud of the impact somewhere in the near distance.

"We expected the enemy to attack every night, and we spent entire nights listening to the darkness."

Snip

Roberts is on his way back to the land where he was sent on a mission of destruction more than 40 years ago. This time, his task is quite the opposite, though the journey may be no easier...>>>>

Everyday Is Veterans Day

More than just a holiday now, Veterans Day has become every day

With two wars and the recent attack at Fort Hood, there’s more public concern about the treatment of vets. The Obama administration and Congress are doing something about that.

Snip

One troubling sign here: Iraq and Afghanistan vets are likely to become homeless sooner after they’re back in the US than veterans of previous wars did. The state of the economy no doubt is a factor, but so are the multiple combat deployments many are required to make — an important difference with Vietnam where draftees did their one tour and came home for good.

It’s no coincidence that the suicide rate among solders today is 11 percent higher than it was in Vietnam.

Snip

Obama recently went to Dover Air Force Base to witness the return of GI’s who’d been killed in Afghanistan. As there has been with former presidents, there was talk about whether — as a civilian, even though he is commander in chief — he should have saluted the caskets.

But one Marine Corps gunnery sergeant and Iraq war vet I know says he’s OK with that, pronouncing Obama’s salute “impeccable.” That may not mean much to most civilians, but it counts with those in uniform … whether or not it’s Veterans Day...>>>>

Another 'Nam Vet Dies Alone, This One Homeless.......

This is the second 'Nam Vet found to have died alone and remains found way too late. The first, to make any news, was only a few days ago having died in his apartment in NYC, lying there for a couple of months with no one checking in on him even after a foul odor was noticed!

When Bodies Go Unnoticed { NYC Vet }

The second in Florida:

Skeletal remains believed to be missing homeless veteran in Riviera Beach

The police made two announcements about Gary Dale Wilson this week, back to back: Person lost, remains found.

Person lost: Homeless, veteran, 61, 5-foot-10, 140 pounds, missing two months, very ill, needs medicine.

Remains found: In woods, south of Martin Luther King Boulevard. Near a dozen bottles of medicine and cans of liquid food and a little wooden shelter just big enough for someone to sleep comfortably. Still seeking his family........Rest Here

Then we have a still living Vet fighting for himself and his brothers and sisters to be recognized for what they're going through.

Gulf War Veteran Tractors to DC

See his location and progress

Nancy Murdy Logsdon wrote The Forgotten Soldier in honor of her long time friend, Matthew Letterman from Willow Springs, MO. Matt is a Gulf War Veteran from 1990-1991 who suffers from Gulf War Illness. Almost 19 years later, he still has not received benefits from the VA.

Matthew Letterman..The Forgotten Soldier


Just think of the many, who served this Nation, our brothers and sisters, that have died alone, many homeless, and never known about!

Or how about the total lack of coverage on those who served in the first Gulf War and many now suffering from a variety of devastating ailments much like our brothers of 'Nam and Agent Orange, the Vietnamesse are still seeing the results of today!

I post this news up, about these three brothers, as a 'Nam Vet myself, as a reminder to our returning veterans of the present two conflicts and occupations, that they continue what other Veterans before them have had to do, Fight A Nation they serve, who quickly loose interest after the cheering of Wars of Choice dies down, and they don't uphold their end of the contracts of those who serve them, and to watch out for each other!

Deja Vu All Over Again

In Honor To A "Brother"

Family perseveres to get vet's name on Vietnam memorial

Enrique Valdez, who became a quadriplegic when his spinal cord was severed by shrapnel in Vietnam, "couldn't cough by himself" and relied on others "to press on his diaphragm to help him," his daughter Tina recalls.

The Santa Fe veteran also suffered bouts of pneumonia "due to his war injury. The paralysis affected his lungs," she says.

So when the former Marine succumbed at age 56 to pneumonia in 1994 — nearly 25 years after he was wounded — his children asked to have his name added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. After all, his death certificate said his passing was directly attributable to his spinal cord injury, which he suffered in combat......

Quiet the Riff and Come Together!!

Old, new vets clash over IAVA chief comment

With five words, the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America opened a rift among veterans groups that could derail efforts to improve mental health care and other benefits........

The phrase “Unlike during the Vietnam War” is being taken as a jab at the professionalism of Vietnam veterans. Joe Morgan, a Vietnam veteran and president of Veterans of Modern Warfare, said Rieckhoff’s statement has “stirred a fierce and justifiable outrage by all veterans, not just the Vietnam veterans he maligned.”

The head of the nation’s largest organization for combat veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, also criticized the statement, saying Rieckhoff “doesn’t need to be reminded that every entitlement, every service and every program Iraq and Afghanistan warriors enjoy — many of whom are VFW members — is because previous generations of, as he regrettably put it, ‘nonprofessionals’ demanded and fought to be properly recognized and respected for their service to our country,” said Glen Gardner Jr., VFW commander. “He owes a sincere apology to our brethren.........”

“A broken promise for one veteran is broken promise for all veterans,” he said.........

For those of us 'Nam Vets who noticed, what little money and support the country was willing to pony up back than started the shift to us from the Korean Vets, over the years as costs started rising countries willingness didn't. Many of us that started into advocacy and activism to fight for what the country owed did so for All Veterans, those Fights Continue, Proactive not Reactive. But what has been won, and shouldn't even needed to be fought for, has benefited All Veterans Since, and the battles being fought for for this new generation, still in or now vets, are being fiercely fought for by us older brothers and sister Vets!!

We serve a Country and it's Constitution, we take an Oath of service to, All of us, that most don't. Those that don't haven't a clue, and it's extremely hard to explain to closed ears, the results of these Wars of Choice or any War. They, and we, hire mostly representatives who share their lack of knowledge, and have way to many who try and use 'Strong National Defense' as their political catch phrase! Very few than want to pony up the costs of those results of as they stick on their flag pins and use empty words and other symbols to one up on their patriotism!

So please, younger brothers and sisters, remember that and choose your words clearly for this unique community of soldiers and sailors you joined, a very small percentage of the whole country! We get enough 'nixonian verbal spitting', from the 'rambo chickenhawks' and even some veterans still in denial about 'Nam it's political and economic purpose to the few, and what went on during!!

Oh and by the way, Paul's words weren't any different then those used many times over these 30plus years as this country stuck itself in denial and kept trying to denie the reality of 'Nam! And our recent history is the cost of that denial!!

Former POW Philip Butler: Prosecute Bush

Phillip Butler: Congress must prosecute Bush

01/14/2009

I , Phillip Neal Butler, having been appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.

I first took this oath in 1957. Upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1961, I had the honor of repeating the oath as I was commissioned as an ensign. I served 20 years as an active duty commissioned officer. During that time, I became a naval aviator, flew combat in Vietnam, was shot down over North Vietnam on April 20, 1965, and became a prisoner of war.

I was repatriated Feb. 12, 1973, having served 2,855 days and nights as a POW — just short of 8 years.

The Vietnamese were not signatory to international treaties on treatment of prisoners. They pronounced us "criminals" and freely used torture, harassment, malnutrition, isolation, lack of medical care, and other degradations during our captivity. I was tortured dozens of times. But I often thought of our Constitution and the higher purpose we served—a purpose that helped me resist beyond what I thought I'd ever be capable of. We POWs often reminded each other that our country would never stoop to torture and the low level of treatment we were experiencing at the hands of our captors.

This oath, the same one sworn to by all officers, government officials, presidential cabinet members, senators and representatives of our nation, has had a powerful affect on me. It has given me an over-arching purpose in life — to serve the greatest and most influential legal document ever written. The only different oath is specified for the president. Constitutional Article II, Section 1 (8.) mandates that he or she will "... preserve, protect and defend the Constitution."

So what in the world happened during the eight years of the Bush administration? He and his subordinates trampled our precious Constitution and the rule of law into the ground while our elected members of Congress have stood idly and complicitly by. Our highest elected officials have utterly failed in their duty of greatest responsibility.

During these years, we have seen gross attempts to institutionalize torture. Our Article VI (2), commonly known as the "supremacy" clause, clearly states that treaties made shall become "the supreme law of the land," thus elevating them to the level of Constitutional law.

The Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners, ratified in 1949, says, "No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind." This and numerous other ratified treaties clearly stipulate that "prisoners" is an inclusive term that is not limited to any nation's uniformed combatants.

Gross Bush administration crimes, in addition to authorizing torture, include: 1) the use of "signing statements" to illegally refrain from complying with laws; 2) authorization of the illegal suspension of habeas corpus; 3) authorization of wire-tapping and other intrusive methods to illegally spy on American citizens; 4) unilateral declaration and pre-emptive conduct of war in violation of U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 8 (11).

The violations have reduced our nation to the level of international pariah. We no longer set the example for other nations. We no longer stand on a firm foundation.

I despair when I think of the personal sacrifices made by so many in U.S. wars and conflicts since 1776. Our forefathers would surely be angry and disappointed. I think they would call for redress by punishing those who are guilty.

The only way our nation can right itself is for Congress to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes.

I therefore call on my elected representatives in the Senate and House to bring criminal charges against President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, legal counsel William J. Haynes and David Addington, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and potentially other high officials and uniformed officers. There is no other option if they are to carry out your responsibilities.

This was adapted from a statement Butler recently provided to Congress. He was a light-attack carrier pilot in 1965 when he was shot down over North Vietnam, where he spent eight years as a prisoner of war. He was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Heart medals. He later earned a doctorate in sociology from UC-San Diego and completed his Navy career in 1981. He founded and owned a management consulting and professional speaking business. He lives in Monterey.

Tad Foster's Memorial Day Drawing

Tad Foster, Vietnam veteran and author of The Vietnam Funny Book: An Antidote to Insanity, drew this for Memorial Day 2008.