slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I ran across this while visiting the VietNam Memorial at Angel Fire, New Mexico, many years ago. The memorial was built by the efforts of a Father whose Son was lost in the War. It was his way of paying tribute to his Son, who fought alongside a good friend of mine. The following was left there by a visiting Veteran...unknown. With Memorial Day approaching, I felt compelled to post it, remembering that VietNam was a war fought, primarily, by teenagers. A recent post directed to VietNam Veterans prompted me to recall it, but I did not want to hijack that thread.

I am posting it just as it appeared at the Memorial.

'LOSS OF INNOCENCE'


We were children.
Patriotic, brave children.
Inncent of Honor.

All too soon,
We were forced to grow up,
To face danger and bloodshed.
Terrors, real and imagined,
Waited there in the dark.
But, grimly determined,
We stood our ground,
Though the reason got lost
In the fight.

And we were proud!
Then we came home....
Some of us whole and some of us not,
And no one cared.

Al these years we've stumbled along,
Bewildered and lost, remembering,
And lonely...
Scorned, ridiculed and ignored,
For something out of control.

And now we're men...
Hardened and inside ourselves.
But it's not too late,
Won't you try and understand?
We were just children.

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

A well put piece & very fitting of what happened.

Wolf counselor Loc: Heart of Texas

I understand Sir. I do understand.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Floyd...Wolf, thank you for your comments. I was hesitant to put this work up. It's been so many years.

Thankfully, today's troops get a better reception . :thumbup:

67p5065

It seems they do .Thank God for that . A shame that kids have to turn into adults in the mud the blood and gore as we had to.

67p5065

First rate and so very true . Thanks for the post .

dennisimoto Loc: Washington State (West)

Thanks for an excellent reminder of a generations loss of innocence. My brother was 101st Airborne and made two tours. 3 Purple Hearts, 2 Bronze Stars. I believed we were doing the right thing to go and help those folks and believed that all of our men & women were heroes. I could NOT understand the anti-war movement or spitting on returning troops! Mike was a teenager in those days and his son, at 19, was k**led in a firefight near Shikin, Afghanistan in 2003. The folks who really h**e war are those who have fought them.

angery american Loc: Georgia

Thanks for the post... It is very appropriate...I would like to thank everyone that has served and who are currently serving , for the freedoms we all enjoy today, and will continue to enjoy, as long as we have a constitution and a free society that is willing to fight and die if necessary to maintain these freedoms... I am a vet..1966-1968....I have a son who is presently serving in the army , with 2 tours in Ira k and 1 in Afghanistan...I am very proud of him..

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

Our foster daughter has served over 25 years in the Kansas National Guard and got to serve two straight years in Kuwait and then one hitch in Afghanistan. She came back from it all wanting us to be something that Obama and company won't allow us or those who served there be.

This post was very necessary for all of us to see, but I haven't seen anyone from the left lean comment on it yet. Jon Carry did his thing about the ignorance of the troops who served in Iraq and his stupidity in story telling caused me to spell his name Jon Carry as I have since he told his "joke".

Lets hope that we manage to keep our Constitution and our government which many in government don't want us to do.

angery american Loc: Georgia

I hope we can keep it for our children's children...Please tell her that I thank her for her service, and wish her the best that life has to offer...

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

Can you believe that she was very near 50 during the period she served? She was promised that if she took the second straight tour in Kuwait she wouldn't have to go back. In less than 9 months she was in Afghanistan. The worst part of it all was that she had a son who was about 8 when she went to Kuwait. I think he has made it without a mother since she got home about three years ago.

angery american Loc: Georgia

Sounds like they have had a hard time of it...I hope all is going well now. I can imagine it must have been ruff on a child when his mother is not around. And if you were like me, and my wife...we were worried sick the whole time our boy was over there....3 times.... I felt was pushing his luck. I was amazed at some of the things he told me about after he came home the last time...He was in the Striker Brigade...He was on 1 of the striker vehicles that they showed on T.V. when they pulled out of Ira k...He is currently in Fort Benning going to Ranger school...Like I said I am really proud of Him...

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

My niece's husband has been an officer in that Stryker Brigade. He told about how scared he was when one of his vehicles was blown off a 10 ft high bridge but lost none of his men. Of course, those people lost plenty of men and he lost plenty of them.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

My Dad was not yet 16 when he hit the beaches at Guadacanal, and did not reach 18 until the end of WWII. He went on, later, to Korea...still a teenager, and took part in events leading to that War. Heavy stuff, indeed, for a 'kid'.

I am reprinting this post to bring attention to the new avatar featuring my kneeling behind Dad's tombstone at the Santa Fe, New Mexico, National Veteran's Cemetery. I had just left the Viet Nam Memorial at Angel Fire, a couple of hours or so away...north. This was Memorial Day fifteen years ago, and I wanted to include Dad this way in my tribute to all my fellow Veterans on this Memorial Day, Monday the 24th. I salute each and every one of you.

Memorial Day: Remember and reflect upon all those who served. "All gave some...some gave all."

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

[quote=slatten49]I ran across this while visiting the VietNam Memorial at Angel Fire, New Mexico, many years ago.