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“Inside the Vietnam War”
I haven't been able to find anything on their website yet but I have information from multiple sources that National Geographic will be broadcasting their “Inside the Vietnam War” special tonight. Among the people you'll meet is our own R J Del Vecchio, at least one of who's combat photo's they used. Del attended a pre-showing party for the special, saw a shortened version of it there, and was favorably impressed. You'll have to check your local listings to find out when it's on in your area. Don't miss it. |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on February 18, 2008 at 03:23 PM in Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack |
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Not So Fast There, McCain!
Up front, as a Vietnam veteran, I will readily concede that I respect John McCain for his service to his country, first as a naval aviator and POW in Vietnam, then for his long years in our national Congress. I even will admit to the fact that I somewhat admire McCain’s desire to effect some sort of political reconciliation with the Democrat party. That being said, I must also make it very clear that I do not support certain decisions McCain has chosen on his pathways to political advancement. |
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Contributed by Russ Vaughn on January 22, 2008 at 06:57 PM in John McCain, Politics, Russ Vaughn, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack |
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Another site you should be familiar with
I took my own damned sweet time getting it finished but I want to make sure those of you who care about our troops know about the site I created for Marsha Burks Megehee, whose work has appeared on Old War Dogs on occasion. With John McCain starting to look like a serious contender you're going to start hearing a lot more about our Viet Nam War POWs. What you won't hear as much about, except on the blogs, is the POWs Nixon left behind in '73 and the fact that Senator McCain knows about them and has been perfectly content to ignore the issue. I personally admire the man John McCain was 35 years ago but not the man he turned into in office and if Fred Thompson drops out of the race for the Republican Nomination I'll choose one of the other contenders to lend my support to |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on January 21, 2008 at 06:28 PM in Caring about our troops, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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R J Del Vecchio: "Setting The Record Straight"
Del emails:
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Contributed by Bill Faith on January 2, 2008 at 09:46 PM in Jean Fraud Kerry, R J Del Vecchio, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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A Painful Lesson Learned
The heartfelt, emotional post, “Today I Met the Finest,” is a fine tribute for Veterans Day and one particular comment reminded me of one of the most important lessons learned from the Vietnam War. The author writes,
That brought a lump to my throat because that was one of the most painful aftereffects of my service in Vietnam, rejection by the vets of WWII and Korea, whom I had grown up lionizing, and whose own service and sacrifice had inspired my own willingness to volunteer. It is still painful to remember that my generation of warriors was dismissed by our own heroes as drug-addicted losers and even worse: war criminals and baby killers. That, in spite of some of us having faced combat as fierce and deadly as anything they had in their own wars. My 82d Airborne roommate at Fort Bragg in 1967, SSGT Charley Morris, (R.I.P. Charley, and Happy Veterans Day) who had won the Medal of Honor serving with the 173d Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, was every bit as much a hero to me as Audie Murphy was to them. |
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Contributed by Russ Vaughn on November 12, 2007 at 12:10 AM in Russ Vaughn, The American Warrior, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack |
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Journey From The Fall
R J Del Vecchio emails:
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Contributed by Bill Faith on November 12, 2007 at 12:04 AM in R J Del Vecchio, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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How to help lose a war without really trying
Prerequisites:
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Contributed by Bill Faith on July 5, 2007 at 08:37 PM in Books, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Vietnam and communism's victims
R J Del Vecchio emails:
See also: Vietnam Plays U.S. Like A Fiddle
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Contributed by Bill Faith on June 17, 2007 at 09:07 PM in Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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'Earthquake McGoon' home at last
See previous: Legendary pilot 'Earthquake McGoon' heads home
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Contributed by Bill Faith on May 30, 2007 at 02:30 PM in The American Warrior, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Colonel Bud Day, American Patriot
Many thanks to Rurik for permission to copy his Veteran-American Voices review of an excellent book we were both privileged to receive review copies of. I may or may not manage to put together a review of my own later, knowing that anything I do will suffer greatly by comparison to Rurik's piece. In the short term, I'm nowhere close to done with my copy, due in no small part to the fact my sister and nephew both recognized it as something they'd enjoy. I have read enough of it to know I heartily agree with Rurik's recommendation to buy a copy at the first opportunity. (I've provided a convenient link for that purpose here.) For now then, Rurik's review:
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Contributed by Bill Faith on May 18, 2007 at 12:56 AM in Books, George Mellinger, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Marine Corps, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack |
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Did we learn anything?
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Contributed by Bill Faith on April 30, 2007 at 04:40 PM in Dem Perfidy, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Two Birthdays
[Written by Arch Arthur, Maj., USAF (Ret) at the webmaster's request.]
Arch Arthur is a member of a small group of people who have two birthdays each year - one natural and the other miraculous. His natural birthday was February 4th, 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama. That life should have ended over North Vietnam at 0645, April 28th, 1972 when a Soviet SA-2 tore through the belly of his F4E. Here is what happened 35 years ago today. In 1971-72, Captain Arthur was a weapon systems officer (WSO) in the 366 Tactical Fighter Wing assigned to a special unit called, “Stormy” whose job it was to locate targets and lead strike flights in heavily defended areas. Mission profile: single ship, fly to the assigned area, perform 20 minutes of armed visual reconnaissance, rendezvous with strikers, mark a target, control the strike, assess bomb damage, hit the tanker and do it over two or three times per sortie. In April of 1972, the situation in South Vietnam was grave. North Vietnamese launched an offensive to coincide with the monsoon season. They attacked Quang Tri Province from Laos and across the DMZ. Other units followed up with attacks on Kontoum and Pleiku. Unlike Tet, these attacks used massed armor and long-range artillery. Weather precluded close air support. Outnumbered and outgunned, the South Vietnamese fought courageously but fell back. Each time they tried to mount a defense, NVA gunners smashed them. On the 28th, Captain Arthur was scheduled for the dawn patrol in the back seat of Stormy 01. We’ll call the pilot, “John” (not his real name). The US Commander of I Corps called John and told him, “You have got to find and kill those 130 MM guns.” Everyone knew that Hue was under siege and DaNang would be next. Weather forecast: 1000’ overcast, 3 miles with light rain. Arch called and had special low altitude munitions loaded on their assigned strike flights. As they suited up, John pointed to Arch’s “Stormy” patch and said, “I wouldn’t wear that today.” The clear implication was that this may be a one-way mission. Without speaking, they walked down the bravo ramp in a light rain to F4E 68 0308. At 0600, Stormy 01 lifted off Runway 36R into the clouds. Things began to unravel early. Descending over Quang Tri City, they broke out at 15,000’. They were a relieved to be able to work in visual conditions but, their strike flights had the wrong munitions. What they saw below them was horrific. QL-1, the coastal highway, resembled a stream of ants. The road was jammed with people, vehicles, livestock, carts and bicycles. Occasionally, they could see explosions. Fires burned everywhere. Stormy 01 flew out Route 9 toward the Laotian border, looking for artillery and armor. They flew an erratic path at 450 knots, 4 Gs and remained above 4,000’ to avoid small arms and light anti-aircraft fire. The roads were wet deeply rutted, but they could find neither 130 MM guns nor tanks. Working toward the DMZ, there was no trace of the enemy until they surveyed the DMZ road south of the old USMC firebase at Con Thien. Parked within its perimeter were five tracked vehicles with twin 57 MM guns firing at them. They recognized the ZSU-57-2 by its muzzle flash – a 25’ long tongue of flame which looks more lethal than it is. With a low cyclic rate of fire, lack of radar and visible projectiles, 57 MM was easy to avoid. Arch marked the location on the inertial. John and Arch asked themselves same question, “What‘s up there that they don’t want us to see?” Stormy 01 proceeded to the east and circled back for a second pass was at 50’ and 500 knots, several hundred yards south of the guns. In the center of the battery was a dozer trench containing a van. The third pass, right over the trench revealed a Surface to Air Missile (SAM) radar van. The NVA were trying to set up a SAM site in the DMZ. This new site extended coverage miles into South Vietnam. The ZSU-57-2s continued to fire. John called the strike flight with rendezvous instructions and Arch prepared a target brief. They discussed the threat the guns might pose to strike aircraft, deciding to drop two cluster bombs (CBU-52s) on the guns. One problem in Stormy was task saturation. Both crewmembers were very busy that checklists were sometimes overlooked. One first CBU pass, John rolled into a 45° dive and tracked the target to 5,000’. When he released he said, “Shit!” He had forgotten to arm the weapon and the clamshell never opened, detonating low order beyond the target. It was Arch’s responsibility to read the checklist. Pass number 5 was the last opportunity to suppress the defenses. John was slightly shallow and had to press to 4500’. Before the radar fuse armed, it was below fuse function altitude the last CBU did not open either, hitting the same hole. A pity, either pass would have killed the AAA. Fuel state was becoming a problem. John called the strike flight and asked how far they were from the target. They Strike lead expressed confusion and John told them bluntly to get to the DMZ without delay or Stormy would be out of gas. At that point, Stormy 01 had their first tracking indications from an SA-2 site in North Vietnam. The fast FAC set up to mark from the south, pulling off to the east – toward the water. As they rolled in SA-2 site at Bat Lake lit them up. John marked the target and came off low. In response to classic indications of an SA-2 launch, Arch employed appropriate electronic countermeasures. At about 1500’ they descended below a temperature inversion that trapped smoke below it and severely restricted horizontal visibility. Passing a certain altitude, SA-2 indications disappeared as they expected. The strike flight was not yet in position to attack or even see Stormy 01’s mark. On the 7th pass, John told the strike flight that this would be his, “Last pass,” since he was, “no shit bingo!” Stormy received the same SA-2 indications as they had on their 6th pass, John performed the same evasive maneuver and Arch employed the same countermeasures. Again the radar warning ceased at the expected altitude, but this time the NVA launched three SA-2s missiles passing well above and behind the FAC. Although the missile site was at their 4 o’clock, both Stormy crewmen were looking at 8 o’clock to see if their the strikers were the targets. It was a clever ruse and it worked. Those missiles were not being guided at all. Arch knew something was wrong with the warning indications. There was a light on that should not have been. As he looked at the panel there was a sudden impact that lifted the aircraft’s tail. In his center mirror, he watched the rotating beacon disappear in the fireball. Looking north, he saw a second SA-2 a few hundred meters away pulling lead. The missile entered pitch oscillation and passed in front of and below the aircraft and detonated. The NVA weren’t using radar; it had to have been a visual shot. Startled by the second missile, John asked, “What was that?” “An SA-2,” Arch answered and noting some 12.7 MM rounds passing his canopy added, “take it down, we’re getting hosed!” “We’re at 50 feet,” replied the pilot, “and I’ve got a fire light on the left engine.” “Fuck it!” Arch replied, “We’re in North Vietnam!” Stormy 01 crossed the beach at 50’ doing 600 knots with both engines in full afterburner. As they turned south toward DaNang, they began to deal with their emergency. John tried to retard the left throttle but it would not move. Fire in the left engine bay had moved forward to the fuel control about 5’ behind Arch’s ejection seat, wielding the flex cable. John switched off the Left Master Switch closing the left engine fuel valve. Before the switch closed, the right engine fire light illuminated, followed by a “Check Hydraulic Gauges” light. PC1 and PC2 dropped to zero, leaving Stormy 01 traveling at 600 knots (150 knots above survivable ejection airspeed) with both engines stuck in full A/B and no flight controls. When power control systems fail, the leading edge of the stabilator drives down causing the nose to pitch up. John and Arch became cargo. This instant is when life one was ended. One of two scenarios would occur:
The F4 is a large, rugged piece of military machinery designed by some very smart engineers. It held together. At 600 knots, it climbs rapidly, slowing the aircraft and carrying the crew away from the planet. While John was handling a rapid series of aircraft problems, Arch was in the rear cockpit working through his own emergencies. When the utility hydraulics failed, the radar antenna drive died. Arch, the consummate air-to-air radar operator, switched his radar off to avoid damage. Training is a wonderful thing. Passing the vertical at 450 knots, John realized that ejection was survivable and they would never be farther from the enemy. “Eject!” he told his WSO. “What?” replied the back seater. “Eject, eject, eject!” John repeated. Arch heard the first of the three confirmations, assumed the position, closed his eyes and pulled the lower handle. The rear canopy came off as the rear seat shoulder harness locked then the rocket motor fired. G onset in a rocket seat is smooth compared to the ballistic seats used in training. 1.4 seconds later, his main parachute opened. Arch recommends rolling up one’s collar to avoid rope burn from risers. John saw the rear seat fire and reached for his lower D ring. When he pulled it, he expected his seat to fire instantly, but nothing happened. A 1.6 second delay on the front seat applies even if the rear seat is gone. John moved his head to look down. At that instant, his seat fired compressing his vertebrae and causing considerable pain. Unlike his WSO, John had completed airborne training. In his judgment, opening shock at 450 knots was severe. Arch looked up and counted his 28 risers, released the 4 rear risers to enable steering then looked down. His toes were over the South China Sea, but heels were over the beach, a beach owned by the North Vietnamese. When he looked at John several hundred feet above, he saw that his raft and survival kit were deployed. He deployed his kit and inflated his life preservers. Their aircraft had continued to climb until it ran out of airspeed and started down, passing fairly close to its former crew. About 60’ of flames streamed from its belly, aux air doors and rear fuselage. It hit the water at 90° in the mouth of a river. Everything was quiet. Below them a pair of search and rescue aircraft - A1Es callsign, “Sandy 21” had seen the F4E impact and began a climbing circle around the crash site. Arch prepared for his water landing, rechecking his gear and thinking through all the procedures he’d been taught and practiced. He worked clear of his canopy and slid onto his raft. As he cut himself loose from the risers, he heard the first shell explode. John and Arch were about 1000 meters off the beach. The NVA had them in sight and were trying to kill the two wounded survivors with mortars and artillery. When the Jolly arrived 30 minutes later, the mortar fire increased in accuracy and intensity. They put a PJ in the water to help John on the penetrator, then he swam over to help Arch. Being hoisted aboard the HH53, they could hear the distinctive crack of 12.7 MM heavy machine gun fire. The SAR forces ignored the ground fire and did their job. They also gave each survivor the traditional bottle of Champagne, which they drank immediately (at 0700 local). Back at DaNang, the flight surgeon came aboard to see if he could participate in the party that was building. To cut the “chill” of these wet aviators, he provided a bottle of cognac, which Arch and John split. Intelligence debrief was a bit more contentious. The intelligence officer insisted, “Stormy 01 was hit by an unguided rocket”. Arch knew better. “Unguided rockets” he noted, “do not pull lead.” These were SA-2 Guideline missiles that both men had seen many times before. Something was wrong. Arch discovered the Intel problem on his way to Bangkok later that week. At the O-Club at Tan Son Nut AB, he met a 7th AF Intel Captain who told him that they had discovered the visual tracker at the SA-2 site at Bat Lake about a week earlier. “Why didn’t you get the word out?” Arch asked him. “Captain, you didn’t have a need to know,” the Captain replied. Arch’s response was swift and non-verbal. Officers at a nearby table were able to take Arch’s crutches away from him before he killed the Intelligence puke. |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on April 28, 2007 at 02:26 PM in Arch Arthur, The American Warrior, US Air Force, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack |
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Some pictures to accompany "Two Birthdays"
I'm posting some pictures associated with the above post separately so those of you on dial-up have the option of reading the post without spending several seconds downloading the pics. (This post is predated to keep it below the other one. It's actually a little after 4:00 as I'm typing this.)
Arch sent this one separately in a mail titled "Real heroes pictured below":
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Contributed by Bill Faith on April 28, 2007 at 02:24 PM in Arch Arthur, The American Warrior, US Air Force, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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I guess everyone's supposed to say The problem is, I was always taught "Boy, if you can't say something nice just keep quiet." ... Gimme a minute. ... Got it!: Harry Reid probably liked him! ... There, that's over with. I'm not going to invest a lot of time and space in this post; just go read some posts where we've mentioned the guy in the past: |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on April 24, 2007 at 12:19 AM in Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Military Order of the Purple Heart & Gathering of Eagles
The following article was written by Henry J. Cook III, Senior Vice Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. It was intended for use in their organizational publication. In light of certain parties claiming that they had convinced MOPH to drop their support, Mr. Cook asked that it be posted on the GOE blog as a reaffirmation of MOPH’s support for the Gathering of Eagles. Thank you William "1stCav" Page for bringing it to my attention.
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Contributed by Bill Faith on April 15, 2007 at 08:37 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Boomer: "Air America 1, NVA 0"
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Contributed by Bill Faith on April 6, 2007 at 01:41 AM in Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Ripley At The Bridge
Click here, follow the links. Regular readers of this site may wish to note that Arch Arthur, William "1stCav" Page, and yours truly all have very intense personal memories of the '72 Easter Offensive. Lord, was that really 35 years ago? It seems like last week. Some days it feels like yesterday. |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 31, 2007 at 02:13 PM in The American Warrior, US Marine Corps, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack |
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A Young Man To Watch
72nd TCS reports:
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 27, 2007 at 05:07 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Patriotism, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Poem: A Gathering of Eagles
Marsha Burks Megehee left this as a comment on Awesome Gathering of Eagles video but it deserves better than to languish there unread:
*** Update: Marsha has sent me several more poems, of which I'll plan on posting one every few days at http://www.oldwardogs.com/marsha_burks_megehee/index.html, and I'm impressed enough that I've offered to create a separate blog for her if she says she'd have time to post to it. More on that later if she accepts my offer. *** Update 2: It turns out there's already a nice collection of Marsha's poetry at http://poetwarrior1.tripod.com/. I'll still plan on posting a lot of what she emailed me and also posting excerpts and links to that site as time goes on. *** Update 3: Marsha has seen the light about the advantages of having both a blog and a static web site. I haven't made any promises about when I'll have it ready but I'm going to set up a blog for her under my TypePad account. Address and details to be announced later. |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 26, 2007 at 03:57 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Marsha Burks Megehee, Patriotism, Peacenik Stupidity, Poetry, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Awesome Gathering of Eagles video
Boomer emails:
Read the whole Old War Dogs Gathering of Eagles collection in one place here, and don't forget about the Gathering of Eagles blog here. |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 25, 2007 at 12:33 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Patriotism, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack |
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Despite my distrust of the media....
....there are a few that get it right.
The quote is from my good friend, Bill Faith. His expression reflects the feelings of many Vietnam vets. For most of their adult lives, they have quietly gone about their business, avoiding the limelight and staying far away from the turmoil of politics. Scarred by their experiences returning to a nation that rejected them and despised them, they wanted nothing more than to go home and be left alone. Read the rest at Media Lies. *** Bill Faith adds: Thanks, Anti. Del emailed me a copy of that column and I decided to take a short nap before I posted about it. I'm glad I did. You handled it much better than I would have. |
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Contributed by antimedia on March 22, 2007 at 10:33 PM in Antimedia, Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Patriotism, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Reflections on the Gathering of Eagles (Epilogue)
*** See also: Smash - The Infiltrator |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 22, 2007 at 01:06 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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01.01.04 AE
1st year, 1st month, 4th day, Age of the Eagle. The tide has turned. I'm proud to be an American again.
"Let us make it clear, we've all come here ***
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*** Don't miss Antimedia's great related posts here and here. ***
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 20, 2007 at 11:59 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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A Gathering of Eagles
The commies came, the commies saw, Our eagles gathered by the Wall, A thing we all must understand, Fly high you Eagles, soar, from your lofty, special station, Russ Vaughn |
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Contributed by Russ Vaughn on March 20, 2007 at 10:58 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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The Day We Took Our Country Back -- Part 2
This Is The Dawning Of The Age Of The Eagle. Aquarius can kiss my ass. (This post will remain at the top of the site all day. Original timestamp 2007.03.19.00:29) "Let us make it clear, we've all come here
Do read the whole thing, won't you? ***
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There are lots more where that came from. Click here. *** Email from R J Del Vecchio:
Provoking: Click the thumbnails, then click the image that comes up, to see them larger. *** In a separate mail Del writes:
*** I just posted Old War Dog Arch Arthur's After Action Report here. You'll enjoy it. *** Michael in MI has a great "Go read these GoE posts" roundup here. Don't miss it. The Big Dog's post here is also quite worth a visit. ***
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 11:59 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack |
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Arch Arthur: "Protesters, for, against war, face off"
Another letter to the editor about biased media coverage of the Gathering of Eagles, this one from our next-to-newest Old War Dog:
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 07:41 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Media Perfidy, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack |
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Max Friedman: Identifying the Anti-War Protesters
Email from R J Del Vecchio:
I emailed back and learned that Del got this straight from Max and has his permission to pass it along:
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 07:04 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Media Perfidy, R J Del Vecchio, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Arch Arthur GoE After Action Report
Compiled from two back-to-back emails from Arch:
Click the images to enlarge them in a new window. Click the image on the page that takes you to to enlarge them to full size.
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 03:47 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Four Years In. 300? It's Just a Movie.
Jules Crittenden emails:
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John Eade hasn’t seen a war movie in more than 40 years, but he’s thinking about seeing “300.” I kind of get that. There is something about the Spartans’ simple illogical willingness to die at Thermopylae that I suspect speaks across the centuries to a lot of combat veterans. It is possible to understand how glad they felt about the opportunity that presented itself. But it’s the kind of thing that, if you try to discuss it with people who haven’t experienced it, places you at risk of being considered seriously disturbed.|
Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 02:57 AM in The American Warrior, US Army, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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The Day We Took Our Country Back
Forty years lost in the wilderness. Forty years in exile. Behind us now. Yesterday we took our country back. It's in the air. I can feel it. Can you? This post will remain at the top of the site for the remainder of the day. Please scroll down for possible newer content. Actual timestamp 2007.03.18.01:35. Please consider this post an extension of my Eagles Up! post. Click the eagle to see the entire Old War Dogs Gathering of Eagles series on one page.
"Let us make it clear, we've all come here
*** Don't miss the great video Antimedia posted here. ***
We did it once and we can do it again. And again. It's time to decide we're mad as hell and we ain't gonna take it any more. If we don't this country's headed straight to Hell. We have to care enough to save it. [Yes I realize I'm using "we" rather generously. I sat on my ass in front of a PC, waiting for my next Disability check, telling everyone else to "Be there!" Maybe the reader will grant a sick old vet credit for caring enough to do that. I'd have been there if I could have. I'd like to believe there was at least one person at the Gathering who wouldn't have been if not for my efforts. If there was it was worth every second I put into it.] *** Michelle's GoE blogburst post which I linked to last night, has been updated big time. (Thanks for the link, Michelle. Luv ya. Thanks for helping spread the word and for showing up yourself.) Check it out. ***
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*** Don't miss Smash's posts here and here. I'm sure he'll have more later. *** Aside from their stupid choice of vet pictures al-WaPo's GoE coverage here ain't half bad. Check it out. (H/T: Jules) *** I guess the weather was a little nicer in Tucson but the atmosphere was about the same. Don't miss this post at Speed of Thought. ***
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Contributed by Bill Faith on March 18, 2007 at 11:59 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack |