"FOREVER 19"

[JPWatson]

I concur!



Semper Fi ! Jimmy

[frisco-kid]

Bringing these forward from last year by popular demand [Kath].

[1CAVCCO15MED]

I just came back from spending the morning with the Scouts decorating the graves at Mountain Home VA Center. They play Taps and then on to the graves. It is kind of hard to do because of the lump in your throat but also because of those pesky Cub Scouts running ahead of everybody and seeing how many flags they can plant. Still, I got to do a few. I remembered something that happened back "then". We were having it kind of hairy in ole Charlie Company and I wrote my Dad that if anything happened I wanted to be buried at Mountain Home where I had played as a child and had decorated graves as a Boy Scout. He checked into it and they told him no. If I was killed in Vietnam I was not a veteran and therefore I had to be buried in a Military Cemetary, not a Veteran's Cemetary. The nearest one was 40 miles away in Greeneville, TN. "Well, the hell with that, I just won't die!" And I didn't.

[VIETNAM 1968]

I want to thank both Frisco-Kid and ExLrrp for their beautiful poems. They both were able to put into words, what I have felt for so many years, but have been unable to express myself. Both Poems really brought back a flood of memories concerning my own Tour of Duty in Vietnam back in 1968. Some of those memories were really good ones, while other memories were not so pleasant to remember.

As Memorial Day approaches, memories of my Best Buddy HM3 Alan R. Gerrish flood back to me. Like Thomas P. Hyde in Frisco-Kid's "FOREVER 19", my Buddy also died before reaching his twentieth birthday. He died when he went to the aid of two wounded Marines who desperately needed medical attention. While performing his duties as a Navy Hospital Corpsman, my buddy disregarded his own safety and well being, in an attempt to help others. As a result he Posthumously won the Navy Cross, but never got to experience life beyond the Hell of Vietnam. For almost thirty-five years now, I have felt a tremendous inner grief concerning my Buddy's death.

As I sit at my keyboard, trying to express just what I am feeling right now, my eyes are getting moist and I am becoming very emotional. The same feelings that always happen when I visit The Wall and run my fingers over my Buddy's name. This time however, I also feel a sense of relief after reading "Forever 19" and "The Best and Worst of Times". Both Frisco-Kid and ExLrrp have helped me deal with that grief, through their Poems. I thank them both, from the bottom of my heart, as I now possibly might be able to deal with that hidden grief and hopefully make some sense out of my own experiences in Vietnam. I know I will never forget my Buddy, and the great times we had while growing up together. Every time that inner grief attempts to consume me however, I will simply reread both Poems and again find a little help dealing with my grief. Thanks again guys. You both have helped another Vietnam Veteran cope with the Ghosts of Vietnam more then you will ever realize.

This Memorial Day, I want to again wish all my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters a HUGE WELCOME HOME:

VIETNAM 1968

[DMZ-LT]

Thanks again Tom and James - have both hanging up.68 I think you could write one to if you put your mind to it - well felt and written. Tough weekend. Welcome Home to all

[1CAVCCO15MED]

Vietnam 1968

You are as eloquent as anyone here. You know, those guys didn't live past 19 but they are not hurting like we are. If they could speak to us I am sure they would say they are the lucky ones on days like this. They know no pain or sorrow. They were our pals and if the roles were reversed we would not want them to suffer on our accounts. I have tried to live my life to the fullest partly to honor them. We all know how hard it is to go on with life after what we have been through but when we can, let us honor them with life and joy. I really believe we will all meet again someday and then we can leave sorrow behind. What I have found out recently is the guys I was with that are still alive are just as dear to me as the dead.

[frisco-kid]

I'm glad you found some kind of solace and comfort in our poems. To me, that's one of the purposes of poetry.

By remembering him and telling us his name and story, your friend Alan will never truly be dead. Once again, I'm glad that I was able to help ease some of the grief of your loss.

"Welcome Home," and Thank You For Your Service.

[MORTARDUDE]

You are on the road to all the healing that can be reached thru the difficult time we all had. I left Vietnam in Nov 1970...stuffed it all away until Nov 1987...then let Pandora's box open..got it all put back in and it all began to unravel 3 years ago. Am finally putting in for a PTSD claim which is what I should have done in 1987. I have put my wife and sons and coworkers thru much needless grief and agony by not getting help sooner. I pray that you will find that help and eternal peace we all desire. Start writing down your experiences. Just for yourself or family. You will be surprised at the rush of memories, mostly good...let's face it..most combat is a whole lot of boredom punctuated by sheer terror...

May God Bless,

Larry

[frisco-kid]

Let me get this straight. If you had died in Vietnam, A COMBAT ZONE!, you couldn't be buried in this cemetary because you wouldn't be considered a Veteran?! What kind of bureaucratic bullshit thinking is that?! Was it the "Undeclared War" thing? I always pretty much shrug off most statements made to somehow lessen the magnitude of our war, or to diminish the things that we are entitled to. These statements are ALWAYS made by people that were never there. This arguement always gets me, though. First of all, I saw ALOT of dead guys killed [luckily more of Them than Us] in this "Undeclared War." And, if this "Undeclared War" wasn't sanctioned by our government, who the Hell paid my airfare over there, fed and clothed me while I was there, armed and equipped me, and signed my paychecks? I wasn't a fuckin' mercenary. Jaysus, these people make me tired.

[1CAVCCO15MED]

Mitlitary Cemetaries for soldiers and Veterans Cemetaries for veterans. For all I know it is still the case.