Two young Mormons rang my bell today, It instantly reminded me of my time in the jungles of Vietnam.

[rppper]

80. thanks for doing a difficult job....my father was special forces.....

a no shit green beret....he did two tours, '64 and '65......he didn't talk a lot about his time there, but the stories i did hear from him were horrific in their own right. at some point he was assigned a german shepard to sniff out the VC soldiers. while on a patrol his dog was shot right in front of him. my father picked up this 150lbs dog and fireman carried it some 3 miles back to base. the dog was dead the moment it was hit, so i asked my dad why he risked his life for this dog...i was about 10 or 11 when he told me this story....his response? "i didn't want my dog to be dinner for a platoon of those zipper heads...."

although he was twice a bronze star recipient, along with a chestful of other medals, dad came out of vietnam with no physical injury, but sometimes he had "the look"....he was at the house, but he was far far away...i learned very quickly to tap dad on his toes to wake him up in the morning. dad is a huge fan of john wayne, but to this day can not bring himself to watch "the green berets"...."propaganda" and "garbage" are his two terms for that movie....

my niece did 3 tours in iraq....during the the last one she watched a friend in the humvee in front of her get vaporized by an IED...she hasn't been the same in the past 6 years...my experiences on submarines pales to their service, at least IMHO...we had beds, 3 hot prepared meals, movies....they had none of thee above...thanks again for the job you did.