The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: alfsauve on July 18, 2011, 06:06:48 AM
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He's actually my wife's nephew, but I'm very proud of him. Rob returned yesterday from his second tour. He had a couple hour layover in Atlanta so my wife and I, along with two of my kids and families, went to the airport to greet him.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eo637kO-Jgw/TiN6ZRP-4dI/AAAAAAAAlSo/7p-VRJLONmc/s640/IMG_8147.JPG)
My son said to ask someone to take the picture. I knew I wouldn't have to ask. The family got in a pose and immediately three people rushed over to offer to take the picture.
People were all over themselves trying to shake his hand or pat him on the back. It made me just a little sad. When I was "in", I either traveled almost exclusively in civilian clothes to avoid the less than friendly looks and stares I got back in the '70s.
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The way people treated our boys coming back from Nam angered me to no end,still does.I'm glad he made it back in one piece.
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The way people treated our boys coming back from Nam angered me to no end,still does.I'm glad he made it back in one piece.
Right there with you on both counts, DaverZ.
Welcome home, brothers.
Crusader
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GREAT NEWS!
When we came back only a few months after "Desert Storm" had been declared there was a quick layover in Maine. As long as I live I'll never forget there were about 20 total strangers there with American flags welcoming us with open arms. Not asking anything from us, but giving hugs and thanking us for our service. A strange and shocking experience.
They were truly great patriotic people who I'm thankful I got to meet!
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The way people treated our boys coming back from Nam angered me to no end,still does.I'm glad he made it back in one piece.
And Jane "The Bitch" Fonda (aka Hanoi Jane) wonders why people made a stink about her trying to rake in even more cash on QVC last week. I agree completely, we should have handled the returnees from Nam 100% differently.
Glad your nephew's back safe and sound. Had to have warmed his heart just a tad! ;)
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The way people treated our boys coming back from Nam angered me to no end,still does.I'm glad he made it back in one piece.
Sadly, those people and their puppets now run the country. :'(
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Sadly, those people and their puppets now run the country. :'(
The really sad thing is that the war would have ended a whole lot quicker than it did if the anti-war crowd understood that you could love the soldiers and hate the war all at once. There would have been a lot less polarization if the hippies had been driving around with "Support the troops, Impeach Johnson" bumper stickers and huging our guys at the aiport when they got home. It would have driven a lot of folks away from the pro war camp because they supported the administration out of being pissed at people like
Fonda, not from any conviction that there was anything particularly vital in Vietnam. It would have been good politics, good morality and good sense, but hey, they were stoned at the time. ::)
FQ13
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He's actually my wife's nephew, but I'm very proud of him. Rob returned yesterday from his second tour. He had a couple hour layover in Atlanta so my wife and I, along with two of my kids and families, went to the airport to greet him.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eo637kO-Jgw/TiN6ZRP-4dI/AAAAAAAAlSo/7p-VRJLONmc/s640/IMG_8147.JPG)
My son said to ask someone to take the picture. I knew I wouldn't have to ask. The family got in a pose and immediately three people rushed over to offer to take the picture.
People were all over themselves trying to shake his hand or pat him on the back. It made me just a little sad. When I was "in", I either traveled almost exclusively in civilian clothes to avoid the less than friendly looks and stares I got back in the '70s.
GREAT NEWS!
When we came back only a few months after "Desert Storm" had been declared there was a quick layover in Maine. As long as I live I'll never forget there were about 20 total strangers there with American flags welcoming us with open arms. Not asking anything from us, but giving hugs and thanking us for our service. A strange and shocking experience.
They were truly great patriotic people who I'm thankful I got to meet!
Very glad he is home safe !
My active duty was with the Marines from 77-80. My experience in the aftermath of Vietnam was similar. I can't count all the times some said to me, "What, couldn't you find a real job?".
During Desert Storm I was in the NH Army NG, The reaction was, as BM points out, considerably different.
I'm not an especially emotional person, but the "Welcome Home" Parade in Concord brought tears to my eyes.
Sadly, those people and their puppets now run the country. :'(
"Those people", were heavily influenced by Marx, Lenin, and Mao. After the war they went into politics, education, and Govt service, laying the groundwork for today's socialist regime.
The really sad thing is that the war would have ended a whole lot quicker than it did if the anti-war crowd understood that you could love the soldiers and hate the war all at once. There would have been a lot less polarization if the hippies had been driving around with "Support the troops, Impeach Johnson" bumper stickers and huging our guys at the aiport when they got home. It would have driven a lot of folks away from the pro war camp because they supported the administration out of being pissed at people like
Fonda, not from any conviction that there was anything particularly vital in Vietnam. It would have been good politics, good morality and good sense, but hey, they were stoned at the time. ::)
FQ13
FQ, Something to remember is that that era was only 20 years after the Nuremberg trials, where the world had seen real war criminals attempting to push the blame entirely onto the regime, and having their defense rejected.
Desert Storm, and the current conflicts come in the wake of Vietnam, where things like "Agent Orange" illustrate the point that the troops are the biggest victims of a bad administration.
The difference makes it possible for the population to separate the honorable character of our troops in combat, from the self serving, or incompetent actions of the administration that sent them there.
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Thank him for me.
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Thank him for me.
+1!
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Thanks for sharing!!!!! And thanks him for my family also.
God Bless,
Richard
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Thanks for sharing!!!!! And thanks him for my family also.
God Bless,
Richard
+100000
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Thank him for me.
+1.....and a bit more..
Thank him from ALL OF US!
God Bless the Armed Forces of the United States of America!
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I'll post a quote I found belonging to Jessica Simpson that contained a statement that expresses my sentiments about our soldiers.... We owe them a debt we can never repay.
"So I've been to Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Germany, all for the USO," she said. "It's been amazing to be a part of that. Even like Fort Hood in Texas and in San Diego, I've really tried to meet as many troops as I possibly can just to say thank you. There's nothing you can really ever do to thank them enough."
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Glad he's back and in one piece.
My newphew went on a field trip from Walter Reed last week. They took them through the Pentagon. When they arrived they were escorted around the entire interior perimeter of the Pentagon with an honor guard and both walls lined with military, congress, civiian workers, all aplauding, shaking their hands and thanking them. His mom said it was quite moving.
I don't think Obummer made it that day.
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Jay, there was a post a while back, that is something they do every week
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To quote Johnny Carson, "I did not know that". It certainly means a lot to the troops and their families.
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I have to say, I don't think I've been in an airport recently that would accept a soldier's money. In Vietnam, it was not serving them. Now? Its people wanting to buy their lunch or their beer so they never get a chance to pay. Its a good change.
FQ13 who has tried to pick up three soldier's tabs in airports in the last year. No fanfare, just a quiet word to the waiter. I never wanted them to know I was the one buying their meal, just that someone had. Turns out I was beaten to the punch twice. ;D I think that is damn cool! It makes you feel a little more convinced that you are not totally surrounded by fools.And I hope they know that we are grateful.
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Flying back from CT. Leaving JFK in October last year,.... wanted to buy two GI's breakfast anonymously at the airport cafe,....cashier told me theirs were already paid for by someone who beat me to it.
Something to think about.
They are paying it forward more than so many in this country will never know.
Great picture, and God Bless Him.
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Badgersmilk they are still there. When I was shipping over here they gave us a big going off in the airport. I hope to get to see them soon when I get out of this hole. The people in Atlanta airport when I came home on R and R two months ago made a private in front of me cry. He looked scared and when we got off of the plane they were clapping and I told him that they were doing it for him. This old Platoon Sergeant had something in his eye too. I would just like to say thanks to the ones in the USO and the Atlanta airport.