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Zeke
Regular Member


114 Posts
Posted -  12/01/2009  :  21:56
Any military veterans on this forum that served in the Army, Navy, Airforce or Marines,  care to talk about your time in the service of your country? Might make for some interesting discussion. 

I was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967, six months after graduating from high school. The war in Vietnam was full blown at that time and I was  shipped over there where I spent a full tour, (12 months of duty), with the U.S. Army 25th Infantry, in a rifle platoon.    



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Zeke
Regular Member


114 Posts
Posted - 15/01/2009 : 16:21
Hmm! no replies. Oh, well, I apologize if I offended anyone.  Have a nice day.


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Another
Traycle Mine Overseer


6250 Posts
Posted - 15/01/2009 : 16:31
Zeke, I'm sure that you havn't offended anyone .

A number of members have posted on some of their experiences in the forces elsewhere on the site.- have a look through the forum home page and I'm sure you'll find some of their experiences. Nolic


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Tizer
VIP Member


5150 Posts
Posted - 15/01/2009 : 16:39
I can't see how your post would offend anyone Zeke - perhaps there is just nobody on the forums at the present who was in the forces in your era. I'll bet you were glad when the tour of duty ended!


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Zeke
Regular Member


114 Posts
Posted - 18/01/2009 : 17:52


quote:
Tizer wrote:
I can't see how your post would offend anyone Zeke - perhaps there is just nobody on the forums at the present who was in the forces in your era. I'll bet you were glad when the tour of duty ended!


Hello Tizer.  Sorry, I   should've made myself more clear.  I was, like most who served in Vietnam, happy to have made it home. There were times when I thought I wouldn't. Some of my friends didn't make it back. Anyway, mentioning that perhaps someone would be offended, dwells on my mind because some simply would rather forget or not speak about their experiences.  I was like that for a number of years, and now ,when asked, will gladly talk about them. Coming home from Vietnam was an experince all to it's self.  Friends and attitudes changed. That particular war was an unpopular one. The shoddy treatment Vietnam veterans received when they returned still bothers me quite a bit.  Coming home was like being transported to another planet...it felt alien. Most veterans came home and made a good life for themselves, regardless.


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gus
Regular Member


704 Posts
Posted - 18/01/2009 : 22:54
Zeke, your experiance is not new ,this was the same as most of our fathers who survived the second world war, they also did not talk of their experiances, as most of the civilian population were heartily sick of the war and rationing etc., no disrepect to any soldier, sailor, or airman, then or now, we support , love, and respect them all, and our boys are still receiving the same shoddy treatment from our government, you certainly have not offended anyone, we are a country of military men, woman, and civilians, who will never be aliens to us or their country  


Gus

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GAK
Regular Member


133 Posts
Posted - 19/01/2009 : 00:16
The shoddy treatment also extended to National Servicemen in the late 50's to early 60's. The rate's of pay for those of us unlucky enough to fall into this category, were laughable. This is not to say that I did not enjoy my time thus, I had many good experiences, and I feel that they did me a lot of good. Try living on 80 pence a week, when you have been earning 15 pounds a week. I believe SSAFA fully expected the families to come to them "cap in hand" for help. I should explain that SSAFA was the "Soldiers Sailors Air force Association", who did sterling work among the many needy families.
It certainly makes you grow up in a hurry!
GAK


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Tizer
VIP Member


5150 Posts
Posted - 19/01/2009 : 10:25
It's strange how we so often fail to recognise military service. One of my former neighbours had flown in Valiant bombers in the cold war days and had been one of those who had to sit in the cockpit when the alarm went and wait to find if it was the big one. After retiring he enjoyed DIY and went to work in the local B&Q store, as much for interest as for money. He could have managed the whole store but instead he was simply an assistant advising folks on which size screw to buy for such and such a job. He was treated badly by B&Q and they just got rid of him when they needed to save a bit of money. And all those folk who asked his assistance never knew what a man they were dealing with.


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panbiker
Senior Member


2301 Posts
Posted - 20/01/2009 : 21:38


quote:
GAK wrote:
I believe SSAFA fully expected the families to come to them "cap in hand" for help. I should explain that SSAFA was the "Soldiers Sailors Air force Association", who did sterling work among the many needy families.

Not nit picking here GAK but you have SSAFA in the past tense. My dad was secretary of the local branch for the best part of 30 years. They are still there supporting ex servicemen and women when and where the need arises.

http://www.ssafa.org.uk/


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frankwilk
Senior Member


3975 Posts
Posted - 20/01/2009 : 22:08
ex Royal Navy  and it was OK.
Remember the USS Repose a Hospital Ship in Hong Kong would be 1966/67 with injured servicemen from Vietnam. We got told it was to give the injured a bit more time to recover before being shipped home !!!!!!!!!. Will need to look out a couple of Zippos for the names of the other ships ( I don't smoke now )



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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 21/01/2009 : 07:39
What a nice name for a hospital ship....  In 1954 we were booked for Korea but at the last minute they sent us to Berlin instead. I enjoyed my service once I had got used to the management and found my way round the system but I suspect it might have been a lot diifferent if we had been sent to Korea. The luck of the draw I suppose. Even then, in Berlin, some blokes benefited from being in the forces, some were damaged. I suppose that applies in every theatre.


Stanley Challenger Graham




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Anni
Regular Member


634 Posts
Posted - 21/01/2009 : 09:12
I was in Scotland last week visiting the lime kilns my 4 x great grand uncle owned.  As we turned out of the lane, we spotted a signpost for a War Memorial to the Korean War. 

My friend is from Scotland but lives in the States now, and we were both curious as we didn't realise that "we" had played any part in the Korean War.  So we took a drive up - it seemed kind of strange as we were in a pretty remote part of the hills outside a town called (I think) Blackburn, and not something we had expected to see.

There is a little hall where plaques are mounted in memory of the individuals who didn't survive.  The hall is in the shape of an oriental building.  Saplings have been planted in memory of individuals.

We paid our respects in a very peaceful area, with a wonderful view from the hillside.


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wendyf
Senior Member


1439 Posts
Posted - 21/01/2009 : 10:44
Hi Anni, I was interested in your post as we lived in that area for 20 years and I had never heard of the Korean War Memorial. Having had a "google", I found a picture on the geograph website. (It was built the year after we left.)
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/11532

Wendy


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tripps
Senior Member


1404 Posts
Posted - 21/01/2009 : 13:56
"we didn't realise that "we" had played any part in the Korean War"

Anni - have a google for Private william Speakman VC. Hyped as a hero (which he  undoubtably was ), at the time, but even the citation shows he was probably under the influence.


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frankwilk
Senior Member


3975 Posts
Posted - 21/01/2009 : 14:03
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloucestershire_Regiment

On the Gloucesters in the Korean War



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thomo
Barlick Born Old Salt


2021 Posts
Posted - 23/01/2009 : 14:00
A good read about this episode is "Edge of the sword" by General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, at that time Adjutant with the Gloucesters. I am sorry to see Zeke that your topic has got off to a slow start and I will add my bit later. At the moment something that really rattles me has just cropped up in the news again, the issue of whether or not our service personel should wear or not wear their uniforms in public. Apparently RAF personel from Wittering were stopped from going into Peterborough in rig as it offended a few of the natives, this has just today been overturned I am pleased to say. Another recent episode was nearer to home at Manchester airport where troops arriving back from Afwotsit had to change into civies before they could enter the arrivals lounge. Then I must confess that last time I was at that airport it was more like one half a world away I recall coming home on leave once and missing both last train and bus at Manchester, I set off to walk hoping for a lift, I had my Naval cap on the outside of my grip and in Salford was picked up by a young couple from Burnley whe did not just take me there, they brought me all the way home and it was the cap that did it..


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