The suffering never stops....

YouTube, 2017, 3 minutes

Too many returning military soldiers find that the world is not the one they left. After fighting and risking their lives, too many come home and some "lose the fight with demons".  

"In 2018, Veterans accounted for a lower proportion of suicide deaths among U.S. adults than in prior years. Veterans accounted for 13.8% of all deaths by suicide in 2018, compared to 19.2% in 2005 and 14.1% in 2017....Male veterans are 18 times more likely to kill themselves than their civilian counterparts, and female veterans are, sadly, 250 times more likely to commit suicide than their civilian counterparts. Another grave statistic is that it is estimated that an average of 20 veterans per day commit suicide — which translates to one veteran every 65 minutes...

Young enlisted troops are the primary concern. They account for 43% of the military population but 61% of deaths by suicide. Personally owned firearms, not military weapons, were the primary cause of death.

"None of us has solved this issue," said Karin Orvis, director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office. "There is no quick fix." Military suicides

Fellow troops reach out to their comrades, especially comment section after videos like this were released:

I'm so sorry, Brother. I also served in Iraq, Fallujah as an Infantry Marine and I felt through every fiber of my body the words you wrote. Everyday is a struggle. Rest Easy Brother. I love You.

Amen. Thank you for posting. And he has 100% correct. My condolences to his friends and family. I'm sorry for your loss. And they give you the most deadliest mix of prescription meds. Chantix, antidepressants, a statin or opioids.

My father has struggled with this since the Vietnam War. He has good days & bad days, but can never sleep no matter what they try to give him. As soon as he closes his eyes, the nightmares begin & he is jumping up out of bed to make it stop. He naps an hour here or there & that is it all day every day it's a struggle for him to close his eyes & attempt sleep. This has been going on for decades & no one wants to open their eyes to see what the govt. has done. He had no choice either (drafted).

PTSD awareness month — an average of 20 veterans per day commit 

thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/392871-ptsd-awareness-m…


My WW2 veteran father suffered with PTSD for nearly 70 years. His struggles affected our entire family. But, that was a time of "suck it up, keep going" where people never talked about the sources or struggles.

My grandfather was in WW1 and was in some terrible battles. He was always silent about that time, but he never went back to being the person he was.

One source of providing support is Supporting mental health , and I've purchased tee shirts, a car sticker, and other items. They honor those who are suffering. Check them out. They have goals, one of which is to rescue and recognize the humanity of tortured veterans.

Everyone has to know someone who has wrestled with PTSD. Reach out to them and/or organizations that provide help for these Veterans.

 

Coming home, staying free.

 

Old men in caps

Canes, walkers, wheelchairs

Old men.

USMC ret. WWII

Army WWII

Vietnam Veteran

Korean War

USNavy

Army Air Corp—

Women who served,
but hidden.

Men and Women
not on the front lines,
but serving nonetheless.

Gold embroidered

On black.

Old men in caps.

Walking away,

Walking on ahead.

Jim Nabors, Impossible Dream

 

This was back in the 1960s, when no one knew what Jim Nabors could do with his hick Mulberry voice.

 

Jim Nabors: passing at age 87 

He passed in 2017, lived in Hawaii with his husband.

 

How far did Gomer/JIm Nabors go? 

Final episode

So, this voice was silenced  in 2017, at age 87. I just felt the need to see and hear a man whose character and voice coated me with faith and joy. An artist like Jim Nabors changed lives, with Impossible Dream, sung during the time of Vietnam. 

I was vacuuming and looked up, and there was this glorious voice singing a glorious song. It was a recognition of a time of history, Vietnam. My cousin died, a neighbor, two young men about 20 miles away, and some boys I did not know.

Music and music was so much.

Old Men in Caps

Harry Miller, veteran of WW 2, Korean War, and Vietnam

Old men in caps

Canes, walkers, wheelchairs

Old men.

USMC WWII

Army WWII
Navy WW II
Army Air Corp

Korean War
Vietnam war
Now, war in places unknown.

US Navy air craft carriers sending planes to fly off

Army Air Corp, carrying food, supplies,
and bombs—

Women who served,
but hidden.

Men and Women,
not on the front lines,
But at home, making survival
possible.

Gold embroidered

On black.
Proud to wear their caps.

Old men in caps.

Walking away,

Walking on ahead.

Oldest veteran of WW 2, Richard Overton, died at age 112 In December 2018

Lately, I see very few WW 2 veterans, as most are in their nineties. When I do, I shake their hands and thank them for what they and their comrades did.

Now, the Korean vets are the old fellers. They still walk straight and tall. Shake their hands and thank them for their valor.

The Vietnam veterans are from my era. I thank them and ask how they are doing after their unappreciated service. We talk a while, share our memories of friends and families. 

My small county with the rural towns had many men who headed to Vietnam. Some returned, some returned but with scarred memories, and too many found their ways home in caskets.

Now veterans from this era come home and are welcomed by a grateful nation.  Too many come home with prosthetics and horrible scars. If you meet one, shake their hands, thank them for what they and their comrades sacrificed. 

Try not to cry.

 This was originally a re-post from 2013, now re-written.

My appreciation and understanding have grown. I have shaken many hands.

We live near Camp Pendleton.

Home

Barbarella Moved On

On Amazon, blu ray, $5.30

Husband John will always remember the movie, Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda. Released in 1968, when my husband was 18 and full of testosterone, Barbarella became a cult classic of spoofy erotic sex and science fiction.  It was a coming of age for those male baby boomers.

In 1982, Jane Fonda became a different coming of age (literally) for the female baby boomers, who were thirty-ish and experiencing sag-after-babies, when "Jane Fonda's Workout" video was released.  It led to 13 more such videos, rake in $13 million, and open up a whole industry of muscle toning (leg warmers, incl.).
  

Amazon, $8.96

For two+ years, I faced Jane through the television screen and followed the mantra: No pain, No gain.

But, sandwiched in between 1968 and 1980s, Jane Fonda was an activist for many civil rights issues.  Ranging from women's rights to Alcatraz and American Indian reparations, Jane Fonda was a voice.

It wasn't always a good voice.  Black Panthers, Huey Newton, and then Vietnam were always in the forefront.  It was that Vietnam choice that tarnished who and what Fonda was. 

She visited Vietnam and American servicemen, as well as North Vietnamese military.  So much gets blurred, especially when a photo of her on an anti-aircraft gun was published.

Nicknamed "Hanoi Jane" thereafter

My Aunt Minerva was enraged by Fonda's relationship and actions with North Vietnam.  She was a Gold Star mother, one of too many who had lost sons in this war; Jane Fonda's actions were unforgivable. Even into her dying years, my aunt still held tightly to that fury.

Although Jane Fonda relayed what really happened in her 2005 autobiography, that photo is still too strong. 

From Barbarella to Exercise Queen to Political Activism, Jane Fonda definitely created a memorable legacy.

What do you remember?

Welcome Home: Belated Honor

The Wall at the center

Sometimes cleaning out boxes of photos and snips of newspapers deliver surprises.  Articles usually about hometown news have grown brown and brittle, written about old friends now dead, long ago.

But, this one article made me sit down and read the entire article.  It was from the Quincy Herald-Whig, dated November 14, 1982.  

The headline read “150,000 cheer Viet War vets”, as they dedicated the Vietnam Veterans Memorial "The Wall", inscribed with the names of comrades who were killed or missing during this very controversial war:

"On a wintry day, over 8,000 veterans including families, disabled in wheelchairs or crutches, and those still grieving for the terrible loss, or those returned who had experienced rejection---now were honored and welcomed home.

It was a time of reunion for comrades who had survived and not seen each other since the Vietnam War ended.  

It was also a time for survivors to seek out family members to tell them “Your son saved my life…I was in Quang Tri in 1968…He was a good man…” To be able to tell loved ones about this special person now gone, left both in tears and hugging.

They walked down the Mall in D.C., joined by Ret. Gen. Westmoreland, and later by President Reagan.  He had been asked to be the keynote speaker, but declined, leaving that honor to someone else who had been in Vietnam."

What caught me was the closing paragraph in the newspaper article:

“William Peyton talked about becoming a policeman when he returned from Vietnam, but never got the chance. The helicopter crew chief was killed during the 1970 invasion of Cambodia."  His mother, Minerva Peyton was moved to tears by the new memorial. “Our boys deserve the recognition,” she said. “They did the best they could, under the circumstances.”

My cousin Billy was remembered that day by my Aunt Minerva.  On this day I remember and honor Billy Peyton as well.

Source

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