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A Modest Man

My father served our country proudly during the Vietnam War and he shared only a few stories about his time over seas, as he called it. Just 17 and fresh out of high school, a young man from a small town in West Virginia enlisted voluntarily when many young men were being drafted. His first day in Vietnam, he stepped off the plane into a world he could only imagine and bought a Coca-Cola from a young teenage girl. She kept his change and when he realized it, he politely reminded the young lady that he had given her a five dollar bill. They laughed and she give him his change and in that moment, two young people from opposite ends of the Earth made a connection that lasted 15 years and produced 3 very grateful children that will never forget the sacrifices that their parents made to bring them into this world. My father not only served his country for 8 years, which included 4 tours of duty, he also returned to Vietnam and worked as a civilian before returning to his family in his hometown where he became a coal miner. Like many men that served our country bravely, he returned home to carry on a life of normalcy without ever reminding us what he had done to protect our freedom.

Sarina
Las Vegas, NV

A Modest Man

My father served our country proudly during the Vietnam War and he shared only a few stories about his time over seas, as he called it. Just 17 and fresh out of high school, a young man from a small town in West Virginia enlisted voluntarily when many young men were being drafted. His first day in Vietnam, he stepped off the plane into a world he could only imagine and bought a Coca-Cola from a young teenage girl. She kept his change and when he realized it, he politely reminded the young lady that he had given her a five dollar bill. They laughed and she give him his change and in that moment, two young people from opposite ends of the Earth made a connection that lasted 15 years and produced 3 very grateful children that will never forget the sacrifices that their parents made to bring them into this world. My father not only served his country for 4 tours of duty, he also returned to Vietnam and worked as a civilian for a year before retuning to his family in his hometown where he became a coal miner. Like many men that served our country bravely, he returned home to carry on a life of normalcy without ever reminding us what he had done to protect our freedom.

Sarina
Las Vegas, NV

disrespect

The year was 1968 . The place was my hometown of Saginaw,Mi I was home about 6 mos from my tour of duty in S E Asia when the local recruiter called me at home and asked if I would participate in the local Memorial day parade. Their were supposed to to be a sailor, Airman, marine, and a soldier riding on the back of convertibles. I was that Airman.The first half of the parade was OK as we traveled through the business section and the poor side of town. We got a small amount of applause but not much. When we crossed into the more affluent part of town the name calling started, Then we were peppered with pop and beer cans along with rocks. I was fortunate that my sister was in the crowd. I manged to get through the crowd with no injuries and get into my sisters car for a get away. I will never forget that day and the disrespect I felt. i was proud of serving my country and could not understand why people hated me. I kept my whole Vietnam Experience bottled up inside me for 25 years. I finally hooked up with a chapter of Vietnam Veterans Of America and the healing started. Lesson learned. NEVER AGAIN WILL ONE GENERATION OF SOLDIERS FORGET ANOTHER

tom
saginaw, MI

SHIPS RADIOMAN.

MY FATHER SERVED ON THE U.S.S. BOISE, IN THE SECOND FLEET, COMING TO PEARL HARBOR WHEN THE JAPANESE BOMBED. HE TOLD US OF HEARING THE [JAPANESE] PLANES GO OVER THEM DURING RADIO SILENCE, ONLY A LIGHT CLOUD COVERING KEPT THEM ALIVE. HE WAS PROUD OF HIS SERVICE IN THE NAVY!! HE WAS THE RADIO MAN. DURING MY TEEN AND EARLY TWENTIES I GOT TO MEET SEVERAL OF HIS MATES, NOW I LIVE IN BOISE, WHERE HE WAS PUT TO REST.

Rhonda Cochrane
Boise, ID

UNCLE JOE

THIS STORY IS ABOUT MY ADOPTED UNCLE JOE. JOE HAS LIVED ACROSS THE STREET FROM US ALL MY WIFES AND MY 40 SOMETHING YEARS. HES LIVE THERE MOST OF HIS 92 YEARS OF HIS LIFE. WITH HIS RECENTLY DEPARTED WIFE (AUNT) CHRIS. WE WENT OUT TO LUNCH ONE SUNDAY AND I ASKED HIM ABOUT HIS TIME IN THE SERVICE. I KNEW HE SERVED IN WW 2 BUT DIDNT KNOW ANY DETAILS. SO WE SAT AND ATE LUNCH AND HE TOLD ME ABOUT HOW HE JOINED THE ARMY BEFORE THE WAR HAD STARTED AND WAS STATIONED IN PANAMA GUARDING THE PANAMA CANAL. WHEN THE WAR BROKE OUT HE WAS THERE FOR A SHORT TIME THEN HIS UNIT WAS SENT TO BURMA WHERE UNCLE JOE SAID THEY WERE SUROUNDED FOR 9 DAYS BY THE ENEMY UNTIL HELP CAME . HE SAID THEY DID WHAT THEY HAD TO TO SURVIVE. WELL TURNS OUT HE WAS ONE OF MERRILLS MAURADERS.UNCLE JOE GOT ME TO JOIN THE VFW IN TOWN SINCE I HAD SERVED IN VIETNAM ITS NICE TO GO AND HANG WITH THESE GUYS THAT ARE STILL HERE AND REMEMBER ALL THAT HAS HAPPENED THEN. GOD BLES HIM AND ALL OUR VETERANS ,REMEMBER FREEDOM ISNT FREE.

Anonymous
lodi, NJ

THE FIGHTING FALBOS

My cousin sent me an article from the daily herald (?) I believe, and it was from 1945 0r 1946 and it was a story about my dad and his 5 brothers! all in the war at the same time! They were living in New Jersey at the time.They were Samuel Falbo, (my dad) his brothers Jimmy, Frankie, Tony, Johnny.and Pete.I thought it was such an amazing article! They were all pictured in thier uniforms, and thier mother and father were also pictured and featured in the article! It was a great piece of history to know about my dad and my uncles! I tried researching the article but could not find it! but it was such a treat to see my family name in the paper "The Fighting Falbos" return! and yes they all returned home safely! thank you for letting me share my story!

linda carter
east quogue, NY

My cousin

My cousin was on his second tour in Vietnam when he was killed. He was a gunner on the river patrol boats that patrolled the Mekong Delta.He was killed on July 16,1969 his funeral was the same day we landed and walked on the moon. It was his last mission out before he was scheduled to leave for r&r and was due to be discharged in Sept. 1969. They were on there way back from a patrol mission, when a rocket hit there boat he was the only one killed, there was not suppose to be any enemy in this area so they were just relaxing when they were hit. I still think about him often and miss him greatly even after this many years.

Anonymous
Rockford, IL

Back to the Barracks

After an evening of drinking , with one buddy passed out . Several of the guys had decided to carry him back to the barracks . With much struggle and uncoordination due to their condition , they kept dropping the poor man , stepping on his hands and Falling down on him in fits of drunken laughter . As they reached quarters , seeing him with bloody knuckles , all crumpled up ...My Dad decided it would be great humor to take the Jeep with the Muddy tires running over his jacket they HAD taken off ,then put him to bed with it on ...
Some forty years later when he was in Civil service , My Dad answering the phone using his name began to listen to a tyrade This same man began screaming at him saying he was the SOB that ran over him with a Jeep... I absolutely have loved and remembered this story the most of all my Dad told me.

Anonymous
Huntsville, AL

The Search..

My great uncle was a career Navy man working his way up through the enlisted ranks to retire as a Lt. Commander..Spencer "Jack" Horner spent some time on the BB Colorado back in the late 30's..While serving on the Colorado during this time,he was involved in the search for Amelia Earhart..That is a neat thing to have in your family's history..My family has a "rich" history of serving in the military and we have a few folks serving in the military now..I have a nephew Ltjg.Chris McGrath serving in the Navy now flying F-18's,and my uncle's grandson Nick Speegle is serving in the 10th Mtn Division and is on his way back in harm's way..

Kevin McGrath
Richmond, VA

Homecoming

I was coming home for my sister's wedding. It was right after the Gulf War. Back then, we had to fly in our Class A uniform. The flight attendants upgraded me to first class. That was cool, but not as cool as when I came home. You see, I had heart surgery when I was 4 years old. I always said I was going to grow up to be in the Army and was told that my heart surgery would prevent that. When I came home from my surgery, my older brother and sister painted a sheet to say, "Welcome Home, Dee Dee." When I got off of the plane in Milwaukee, my family and my best friend were all there... holding that very same sheet from 1973... saying Welcome Home with yellow ribbon balloons. I was the only military on that flight and all of the other passengers were applauding as I had a very happy, very tearful reunion with my family. I still have that sign as of this day.

Dee Majeski
Milwaukee, WI