Tom Hoffman
Well-known member
Paul & Ann said:
Just snuck a peak at your blog, come to Yuma AZ we have warm weather year around although some would call summer blisterlingly HOT 8)
Bill Waugh-Vietnam series on HD
- Thread starter Alpena Jeff
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
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Just snuck a peak at your blog, come to Yuma AZ we have warm weather year around although some would call summer blisterlingly HOT 8)
T
TonyDtorch
Guest
What I got out of it was how I was fooled by our government into thinking I was doing the right thing. Never again.
Tom Hoffman
Well-known member
TonyDtorch said:
x2 I even volunteered for the Marines and to go to Viet Nam. Some Senior Trip
PJ Stough
Well-known member
TonyDtorch said:
What you describe is what I call, for lack of a better term, "buyers remorse", which I believe is the number one cause of PTSD, but is not recognized by the VA.
PJ Stough
Well-known member
Tom Hoffman said:
)
Tom Hoffman
Well-known member
The Bellamy Brothers said it best.
He was sure back in the sixties
That everyone was hip
Then they sent him off to Vietnam
On his senior trip
And they force him to become a man
While he was still a boy
And behind each wave of tragedy
He waited for the joy
Now this world may change around him
But he just can't change no more
He was sure back in the sixties
That everyone was hip
Then they sent him off to Vietnam
On his senior trip
And they force him to become a man
While he was still a boy
And behind each wave of tragedy
He waited for the joy
Now this world may change around him
But he just can't change no more
Bill N
Well-known member
This is an interesting thread from the guys who were there. I spent my time in a Minuteman Missile Launch Control Center in South Dakota but tried to keep up on what was going on in Vietnam. I recently came across a great book that describes what was going on at the top. I will admit I have read only about 30 percent of the book (on Kindle) because I got so darned mad I just shut it down. Some day I will try and finish it when I have more patience. For those interested the book is:
Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster. Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
It is available at Amazon and is well documented. Be prepared to be disappointed at how we got into that war and how we managed to lose 50,000+ troops fighting it - all for political hacks.
Bill
Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster. Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
It is available at Amazon and is well documented. Be prepared to be disappointed at how we got into that war and how we managed to lose 50,000+ troops fighting it - all for political hacks.
Bill
T
TonyDtorch
Guest
The whole nation was misled for years.
My wife and daughter leave the house now when ever I watch a Vietnam documentary, Something changed after I saw the CNN special of the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Vietnam. I saw the hard work I did for 3 years be erased.
I thought of all that everyone gave, not just the troops, but the moms and dads, brothers, sisters friends ... for absolutely nothing.
Thank you anyway Bill, I don't want the rage I'd get from reading that book.
It's over and can't be changed, I am working on letting it go now.. (With the help of good music, cold beer and a Park Lane cigarette. )
My wife and daughter leave the house now when ever I watch a Vietnam documentary, Something changed after I saw the CNN special of the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Vietnam. I saw the hard work I did for 3 years be erased.
I thought of all that everyone gave, not just the troops, but the moms and dads, brothers, sisters friends ... for absolutely nothing.
Thank you anyway Bill, I don't want the rage I'd get from reading that book.
It's over and can't be changed, I am working on letting it go now.. (With the help of good music, cold beer and a Park Lane cigarette.
)Frank Hurst
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2009
- Posts
- 589
I couldn?t watch it. I watched a little and then could not sleep for two nights.
Old_Crow
Well-known member
Yeah, that's me too. I can watch stuff on both the WW's and Korea without much problem, but the Viet Nam stuff keeps me up at night. Guess that's why our parents and Gparents never talked about "their" wars.
T
TonyDtorch
Guest
Old_Crow said:
Growing up as a young boy I watched and worshiped every war movie. I enjoyed playing Army my friends and I just assumed every generation of boys would have to march off to the horrors of war. So when my time came, I did my part without question because it was for America.
I think my Social Security checks have changed how I feel about all 'war movies'.
I had to sit in the theater and collect myself after Private Ryan asked his wife if he was worth it.
( made me think of a wonderful guy I knew...that died for nothing ).
Heli_av8tor
Well-known member
The company I served with trained together as a unit in the States for the mission. They traveled to Vietnam on a ship and made a beach landing at Chu Lai in 1967. One of the "boat people" as we call them wanted the group to keep in touch and has put countless hours in tracking down all who served with this company. It started with just the boat people but later expanded to all the replacements in the five years it was deployed. They started having biannual reunions and have switched to annual.
I've been to 5 of them. I was very reluctant but my wife encouraged me to attend. There were only a few that I knew at that gathering. The next one there were nine of us who had been in the same platoon. What a great time we had. The 40+ years that most of us had no contact melted away in seconds. The bonds we'd formed were intact.
Overall it's been a good healing experience. I was one of the fortunate ones that was able to leave RVN behind and return to the life I'd left behind in the States. Not that there were no demons, but they were successfully buried. The reunions have brought some of that to the present, but it's been ok. I'm now comfortable with talking about the experience but my eyes likely won't stay dry.
The Series: Though they tried to portray the series as unbiased I felt it was still had a leftist slant. Even so it still gave me a better understanding of just what was going on in Washington and the country. The parts with Johnson, Nixon, and Kissinger pissed me off to the point that I had to walk away. I knew from my viewpoint on the ground that we were not fighting to win. But I didn't realize just how true this was.
After I returned I was in a (dirt competition) motorcycle club. There I met an active duty Colonel who worked in Finance. He told me that as a Lieutenant in 1953 (could have been '54) he was sent to Chu Lai to purchase the land that became our base there. Said it was funny how all that land changed hands just before the purchase. Some Vietnamese got very rich. I was stunned that our involvement went back to the early Eisenhower administration and that they planned then to get involved.
Vietnam will always be a part of who I am, but I have refused to let it define me.
Too bad this country hasn't learned from the RVN mistakes...
Tom (Doc)
B, 1/52, 198, Americal Div
70-71
I've been to 5 of them. I was very reluctant but my wife encouraged me to attend. There were only a few that I knew at that gathering. The next one there were nine of us who had been in the same platoon. What a great time we had. The 40+ years that most of us had no contact melted away in seconds. The bonds we'd formed were intact.
Overall it's been a good healing experience. I was one of the fortunate ones that was able to leave RVN behind and return to the life I'd left behind in the States. Not that there were no demons, but they were successfully buried. The reunions have brought some of that to the present, but it's been ok. I'm now comfortable with talking about the experience but my eyes likely won't stay dry.
The Series: Though they tried to portray the series as unbiased I felt it was still had a leftist slant. Even so it still gave me a better understanding of just what was going on in Washington and the country. The parts with Johnson, Nixon, and Kissinger pissed me off to the point that I had to walk away. I knew from my viewpoint on the ground that we were not fighting to win. But I didn't realize just how true this was.
After I returned I was in a (dirt competition) motorcycle club. There I met an active duty Colonel who worked in Finance. He told me that as a Lieutenant in 1953 (could have been '54) he was sent to Chu Lai to purchase the land that became our base there. Said it was funny how all that land changed hands just before the purchase. Some Vietnamese got very rich. I was stunned that our involvement went back to the early Eisenhower administration and that they planned then to get involved.
Vietnam will always be a part of who I am, but I have refused to let it define me.
Too bad this country hasn't learned from the RVN mistakes...
Tom (Doc)
B, 1/52, 198, Americal Div
70-71
T
TonyDtorch
Guest
there is a new series on TV called "The long Road home".
I can't watch that either....I tried, I can't.
I can't watch that either....I tried, I can't.
Sam Bar
Well-known member
I?m sorry I can?t quite relate, but my Dad, said the coldest he had ever been, was on a cot in the Korean War. My wife?s grandfather stormed Normandy, and survived. Later in his career, he was scheduled to go on the Thresher, later, but gave up his spot for a friend who needed extra pay.
Thanks to all.
Thanks to all.
Tom Hoffman
Well-known member
Something I wrote in a few minutes after a very intense moment....
Old Stuff and Memories
Copyright? 2014
by T Hoffman
Old Stuff and Memories. A moment in time...
Today...
My wife of 21 years let me know in no uncertain terms that we were going to clean off the top of our closet where STUFF had lain in repose for seven long years undisturbed since we moved to our Cabin on The Wapsi Pinicon River in Eastern Iowa.
I knew better than to show my dissent to this invasion of my reading time.
As the boxes and old pictures came down to my hands, I dutifully put them on the bed for further examination and disposal as she would deem necessary to further storage, display or disposal as the case might be.
I was looking at the pictures in their frames, the Tiger on Black Velvet and the Polar Bear and Wolves, I had bought in Da Nang, Vietnam in 1968, the memories started to intrude unbidden into my mind. I started to think back just a little.
I finally came to a large double cardboard sheaf sealed around the edges. I asked her what it was.
"It's that picture you'd never let me hang, you know, the one I got you right after we got married."
I vaguely remembered something, but could not remember that picture. I took a razor knife and slit the tape around the edges. I lifted the top cover from the picture and what I saw almost brought me to my knees. Pain washed over me, my tears started to flow and I was overcome with grief. I don't remember the last time I cried.
I am now almost 69 years old and the Memories are over 46 years old. I can't believe they still hurt so much.
The Picture...
As I opened the package what I saw that had so strongly affected me was a picture of "The Wall". I have to this day never been able to go to The Wall. This picture showed a middle aged man leaning on The Wall with his hand on a name as the emotions almost caused him to collapse, arrayed along the base of The Wall are small mementos, Flags and Flowers. Shown in the reflection of the shiny black marble are the images of several young Marines reaching toward the man and one is pressing his hand against the hand of the man sobbing brokenly against The Wall.
This was the picture...
Old Stuff and Memories
Copyright? 2014
by T Hoffman
Old Stuff and Memories. A moment in time...
Today...
My wife of 21 years let me know in no uncertain terms that we were going to clean off the top of our closet where STUFF had lain in repose for seven long years undisturbed since we moved to our Cabin on The Wapsi Pinicon River in Eastern Iowa.
I knew better than to show my dissent to this invasion of my reading time.
As the boxes and old pictures came down to my hands, I dutifully put them on the bed for further examination and disposal as she would deem necessary to further storage, display or disposal as the case might be.
I was looking at the pictures in their frames, the Tiger on Black Velvet and the Polar Bear and Wolves, I had bought in Da Nang, Vietnam in 1968, the memories started to intrude unbidden into my mind. I started to think back just a little.
I finally came to a large double cardboard sheaf sealed around the edges. I asked her what it was.
"It's that picture you'd never let me hang, you know, the one I got you right after we got married."
I vaguely remembered something, but could not remember that picture. I took a razor knife and slit the tape around the edges. I lifted the top cover from the picture and what I saw almost brought me to my knees. Pain washed over me, my tears started to flow and I was overcome with grief. I don't remember the last time I cried.
I am now almost 69 years old and the Memories are over 46 years old. I can't believe they still hurt so much.
The Picture...
As I opened the package what I saw that had so strongly affected me was a picture of "The Wall". I have to this day never been able to go to The Wall. This picture showed a middle aged man leaning on The Wall with his hand on a name as the emotions almost caused him to collapse, arrayed along the base of The Wall are small mementos, Flags and Flowers. Shown in the reflection of the shiny black marble are the images of several young Marines reaching toward the man and one is pressing his hand against the hand of the man sobbing brokenly against The Wall.
This was the picture...
Attachments
Heli_av8tor
Well-known member
T.H., I have that picture hanging in my den. It is very powerful and a reminder of the survivors guilt many of us have dealt with.
I've been to several of the traveling walls and also to the real one in DC. Very emotional every time. I would urge you to go.
BTW, I've spent many nights in tents, campers, and a cabin on the Wapsi between Calamus and Wheatland. Learned to hunt in the timbers along the river. Good memories.
Tom
I've been to several of the traveling walls and also to the real one in DC. Very emotional every time. I would urge you to go.
BTW, I've spent many nights in tents, campers, and a cabin on the Wapsi between Calamus and Wheatland. Learned to hunt in the timbers along the river. Good memories.
Tom
Tom Hoffman
Well-known member
Tom...
I have never heard of Calamus-Wheatland Ia. I looked it up on Google map and must have driven close dozens of time as I would drive down through the country to work in Clinton once a month or so. I worked for a company who was a Hy-Vee supplier.
I just got a issue covered that had been hanging for 48 years with the VA. We are now in Yuma and the VA local clinic is completely hopeless. I hope you don't have to deal with them. My wife wants me to go to the Wall, PTSD is making it not doable right now.
We are going to Hawaii on a cruise on Jan 17 and she wants to see Pearl Harbor and the Arizona and I am pretty sure that is a non starter for me too. Oh'well it is what it is. I am on med for the PTSD that has saved our marriage as it was teetering on the edge this past summer. Now I don't get angry or irritated near as much. Problem was I could never figure out why I would get angry when I got close to home? It should have been just the opposite.
Cheers Brother
Tom...
I have never heard of Calamus-Wheatland Ia. I looked it up on Google map and must have driven close dozens of time as I would drive down through the country to work in Clinton once a month or so. I worked for a company who was a Hy-Vee supplier.
I just got a issue covered that had been hanging for 48 years with the VA. We are now in Yuma and the VA local clinic is completely hopeless. I hope you don't have to deal with them. My wife wants me to go to the Wall, PTSD is making it not doable right now.
We are going to Hawaii on a cruise on Jan 17 and she wants to see Pearl Harbor and the Arizona and I am pretty sure that is a non starter for me too. Oh'well it is what it is. I am on med for the PTSD that has saved our marriage as it was teetering on the edge this past summer. Now I don't get angry or irritated near as much. Problem was I could never figure out why I would get angry when I got close to home? It should have been just the opposite.
Cheers Brother
Tom...
T
TonyDtorch
Guest
Hey Tom:
I have a VA shrink appt. coming up in a couple days.
I've tried some of the anti-deps before with not good results and the VA really wants me to quit Alcohol/Weed. It's very impolite for me to ask....... but what is the name of that medicine ?
I have a VA shrink appt. coming up in a couple days.
I've tried some of the anti-deps before with not good results and the VA really wants me to quit Alcohol/Weed. It's very impolite for me to ask....... but what is the name of that medicine ?
Tom Hoffman
Well-known member
Hey Tony, Good of you to chime in. I saw and independent Head Dr last summer he saw me as a Christian mission to Vets. He did an in depth PTSD evaluation. It was submitted to the VA and a 29 minute follow up with the VA Head Doc in Ia City and I gott the help I had been arguing for for 30 years and two other marriages down the tubes.
He started me off with 50mg Zoloff increasing to 200mg over 6 weeks. Worked great, I just tottered around and when I tried to eat, my fork on the plate sounded like I was playing the " Anvil Chorus", because my hands shook so bad. I was real mellow, one small side effect, wife didn't have to worry about me chasing her around the TT. HaHaHa.
My own Dr. saw the shaking and asked if I wanted it to stop and still have a med for the PTSD. He prescribed ESCITALOPRAM 10MG TAB 1per day. Shakes are gone, wife is still with me and it is a $6. per month drug. I get it at the WalMart Pharmacy. Now she has to worry!!! HaHa...
Hope this helps Brother
Tom...
He started me off with 50mg Zoloff increasing to 200mg over 6 weeks. Worked great, I just tottered around and when I tried to eat, my fork on the plate sounded like I was playing the " Anvil Chorus", because my hands shook so bad. I was real mellow, one small side effect, wife didn't have to worry about me chasing her around the TT. HaHaHa.
My own Dr. saw the shaking and asked if I wanted it to stop and still have a med for the PTSD. He prescribed ESCITALOPRAM 10MG TAB 1per day. Shakes are gone, wife is still with me and it is a $6. per month drug. I get it at the WalMart Pharmacy. Now she has to worry!!! HaHa...
Hope this helps Brother
Tom...
