Fortunately, no one I know died as a direct result of war. I did have an uncle in WWI who came home shell-shocked (now known as PTSD) and had to be in a mental facility. Two of my best friends from my youth died in drug-related incidents after being in Vietnam where their addictions began and another dear friend who has suffered from PTSD since coming home from Vietnam.
I'm beginning to understand "shell shocked" and how it can happen. It used to be a mystery to me. Many things people go through in life can produce awful results.
Twenty years ago, I witnessed a man get hit by a van while standing on a traffic island waiting for the light to turn green so he could continue across the boulevard. He flew completely across the intersection like a dummy you would see on TV. He landed right in front of a police van that was standing on the corner. To this day, I still see that visual when I go to sleep at night. I can only imagine what horrors of war stay with someone.
Strangely no, because my father flew 95 B24 missions in WWW2 and Korean War, but, my brother had a jeep canopy somehow fall on his nose to break it in Vietnam which warped it and he received a Purple Heart for it. I saw it. He said so maybe shy to admit otherwise.
This post was edited by CosmicWunderkind at May 30, 2022 8:03 PM MDT
All of the men in both side of my family were military and, as far as I know, all served during war. I only know back to what would have been WWI. I don't know about before then. My father's family didn't come to American until right before WWI. My mother's people were pretty much scoundrels as far as I know, but my grandfather served overseas in WWII and and my father in Korea. With everything else that I know about these people, who I really question can be my blood relatives, I guess they did their military duty. These men are honored on Veterans Day. Today is for honoring those who actually died protecting and defending us. God bless them. I'm very sad as I discuss this and in the same time know that my president has transferred some of our hard-earned freedom and sovereignty to the UN with the stroke of a pen. I am so angry and have nowhere to channel it.
This post was edited by Thriftymaid at May 31, 2022 6:36 AM MDT
No, but my late father was in the Marines during the Korean War, and my brother retired as a Rabbi (chaplain) Colonel from the Army a few years ago. He spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq combat zones.
This post was edited by Stu Spelling Bee at May 31, 2022 6:36 AM MDT
No. My wife has a cousin who gave his sanity and risked his life for the USA (in Viet Nam), but that had absolutely nothing to do with freedom, ours or anyone else's. Australia should have told the USA to shove it, that was a war which needn't have happened.
Spunky 