I do not worship the ground our military walks on

[condoleeza]

208. Well, I know you can be a pain in the ass here, Taverner, but

I have to say that we pretty well agree here.

I'm Vietnam era, my fiancé died there in 2/68. We didn't learn the real circumstances of his death until nearly a year later when one of his fellow soldiers contacted me after he had completed his duty there. They were both serving at the Embassy in Saigon during the Tet Offensive of early '68. Westmoreland was "in residence" there for a bit and they were having a big party for him there in the beautiful palace they occupied, with indoor swimming pools, and dinners that were rather lavish, while the regular troops were out in the jungles slogging it out and dying by land mines daily. So, my fiancé was sent out via helicopter to pick up some "girls" from a local "friendly" village to entertain the visiting dignitaries and their staff people - can we say prostitutes? - yes that's what they were. The only bit of comfort I have is that the helicopter was shot down before they picked up the "girls".

We had a draft then, education and job opportunities didn't matter, they took everyone that didn't know how to play the game. It's not like that now. In WW2 there was a true need for global protection against Germany, but IMO, every war since then has been a matter of economics and protecting the wealth of SOME Americans. My classmates, friends, and my fiancé, 14 of whom died in Vietnam, were literally drafted a month BEFORE graduating HS or College and my fiancé had dreams of being a diplomat, which is why he was chosen to be where he served. Those who came back were damaged and PTSD wasn't even a recognized condition then. They came home from an unpopular war where they had experienced horrific atrocities and nobody welcomed them, or respected them for their service and they became disillusioned, became alcoholics, and often became violent, there was no mental health counseling available to them. You want to talk "rape culture", VietNam gave Vietnamese women no option if they wanted to feed their family.

I was getting all my paperwork in order prior to my fiancé's release from service in 5/'68 because he'd been in contact as a liaison with the news and had been offered a job after he'd served as a reporter for a now nonexistent magazine and I was planning on joining him in 6/'68. I would have loved to have been there, to have been part of rebuilding what we'd destroyed.

I know there are some who grew up with a pride in serving their country, however misdirected, IMO, but the reality is that the vast majority of those who serve now and since Korea, are those who have few options, little education and thus are just fodder for the wealthy who depend on them to give their service, their limbs, and their lives to fight for their absolutely insatiable and completely guiltless belief that they deserve to be rich. They are literally groomed as fodder from an early age, it is just pathetic, racist and shameful, IMO.

Where do you walk a line that supports Veterans Day and the very real injuries and deaths that have occurred since Bush 1 and 9/11? I don't know, it's just a continuing tragedy, IMO. I'm old, I'm just so disillusioned, I worked hard for civil rights when I was inspired by my HS SS teacher, and have been involved since then politically, but now I just really wonder what's the point? We're still arguing "reproduction politics" in every election, we're still so unimportant as a voice for equality worldwide. I'm just sad and hopeless, and I see that in you too. My investments have been robbed, I'm SS age now and I can only work so many more years and then I'm dependent on the SS that I've been paying into since I was 14, and WTF do I have to look forward to? Guess I can sign onto a plan where I can live off the equity in my house...........