i miss my brothers; steve,asst.to the armed services chaplain( one of very few that had served in all four branches of the services).dave,acr gunner vietnam death helped by history in vietnam, kenny,acting commander-in-chief of army,death aided by agent orange. i sorely miss them every time someone says,"thank you for your services" i am retired 80% disabilty from gunshot wound vietnam,the republic of. when i was being medivac from japan to walter reed with all sorts of amputees/burns/injuries the pilot said that we would be placed on medical buses and enter the hospital from the rear,because jane fonda was demonstrating in the front entrance. we suffered in battle so some person could call us baby killers. that situation will go to the grave with me.
Just remember Jane Fonda and her lunancy was not the sentiment of all. It was the overhyped voices of a few who for the first time in history saw what war looked like up close. The downside is they did it from the safety if their couch on tv, not in a foxhole with bullets flying over their heads. It's easy to stand on the sidelines and scream what we should be doing.
In my opinion the bigger issue was troops fighting for a government who did not want it's own military to succeed. Countless red blooded men of honor died because of some beauraucrat in Washington, D.C. Who was more worried about reelection than winning a war that they sent our troops to fight.
But I degress, if we talked about all of the ways our government has failed to support the very troops it sends to do politicians dirty work we would be here all day. Just know that most red blooded, god fearing men and women will always feel indebted to the price you (and countless others like you) have paid so that we may sleep in a warm bed at night.
Your heroism is not forgotten. And it is always appreciated by the majority of Americans. The small amount of people who spew hatred and venom towards our military should have to walk a mile in their boots. Then they'd understand it's better to fight the enemy in their yard than on our own doorstep.
In remembrance of all those gone on before, and with respect to all of those who will pay the price so that we may continue to have freedom in the future, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.