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tomf
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Old photo of me in Army for vet's day.

How many of you served?
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gumbo2176
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I was still in high school getting ready to graduate in the spring of 70 when a buddy of mine and myself signed up for the Navy. We were scheduled to leave for boot camp in Orlando, FL. less than a week after graduation but his plans changed when his grandfather suddenly died and he got permission to leave a week later.

I was 6 weeks into boot camp when I severely dislocated my shoulder and was sent to see the base Drs. where they determined I had a congenital defect in my left shoulder. I had informed the recruiter about my shoulder issues with it coming out of joint about 15 times over the years prior to being sent to Orlando and they sent me anyway.

I inquired about them operating and fixing it but it was a no-go since it was not service connected and Uncle Sam didn't want the liability. So, into a medical holding company I went and was sent home a couple weeks later with a few hundred dollars and a set of whites for the plane home.

After 2 weeks at home I just couldn't stand it and went down to the Air Force recruiters office and they turned me down. Then I went down the hall to the Army recruiter's office and when I walked in the guy behind the desk looked at me and said "Let me see your papers." I asked how he knew and he said "This is 1970 and nobody your age is wearing a buzz cut." I showed him my papers and he said "Go home, we can't use you." So I said I'd go down to the Marine Corp Recruiter to which he replied, "Son, if the Army doesn't want you, no one else will."

A week later I left to head out of state to work at a family friends business in Jackson, Miss. because I just couldn't stand being at home any more. At age 17 I headed out and have never looked back.

My hat's off to all that have served and put their lives in harms way if the call came to do so.

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I'm proud of my niece who volunteered to go to Afghanistan and served in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012. She and her best friend signed up together. Thankfully she made it back but her friend was not so fortunate.

She loved boot camp, said she couldn't believe she was being paid to get up early and jog a few miles and do all the exercises that they did. Her and the army were a good fit. Our whole family is proud of her service.

gumbo2176
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webmaster wrote:I'm proud of my niece who volunteered to go to Afghanistan and served in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012. She and her best friend signed up together. Thankfully she made it back but her friend was not so fortunate.

She loved boot camp, said she couldn't believe she was being paid to get up early and jog a few miles and do all the exercises that they did. Her and the army were a good fit. Our whole family is proud of her service.
Back around 67 one of my older cousins joined the Army and got training to be a chopper pilot. He wound up going to Nam flying guys in and out of combat zones, doing evacuation of wounded, etc. and liked it so much he did 3 tours of duty over there. Never as much as got a scratch from what I recall. Came back to the States and was put in charge of training young guys to pilot choppers. Unfortunately, there was a mechanical problem in one of the training flights and he and a couple other guys got killed in the crash.

He had decided to be a lifer and planned put at least his 20 years in when he found out his wife came down with Muscular Dystrophy about 3 years into his enlistment.

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I know there are plenty of benefits for our veterans, but there are still so many who don't seem to know what they can do. The VA bureaucracy is really tedious, and often misleading, but persistence pays off. I like to say that my dad waited 64 years before getting his service related disability. Seems to me it was like 20%, but related to serious frostbite in his feet in 1942. His hearing was another matter. He had significant loss in both ears, from shooting 81mm mortars in Europe for four years, but the VA said it wasn't service related. It really was, but arguing the case was a never ending battle. At least they paid for hearing aids in his 80s and 90s.

Don't mean to blather, but my thought was that we simply don't do enough for our people who serve in our armed forces. It's such a huge sacrifice.

My thanks to all of you and your families for your service!

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tomf
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You are right and they do less now that before.

gumbo2176
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tomf wrote:You are right and they do less now that before.
That pic you posted, is that from Nam? It just has that look to me.



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