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War, From the Outside Looking In
NEW WAR -- SAME RESULT
Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan – War As Usual
by Michael Chester
This is my first article for this publication, and I thought that I would start with a brief introduction of myself. I have been asked to write from a sort of “every man” point of view.
That is if every man were over 60, retired, and extremely frustrated with the direction I see the world heading in. I have been asked to write about what interests me and what I believe would interest others.
In the future, I plan to write about some lighter subjects, but today I thought that I would start out by dealing with an issue that should be important to all Americans, particularly veterans. I am now close to 62 years old, so that means that I was of draft age during the height of the Viet Nam War. When I graduated from high school, I went on to college, not to avoid the draft, but to get skills to hopefully get a good job.
I always figured I would serve after college and as I approached graduation, I began to look into the various branches of the military with the intent of enlisting. I had pretty much decided on my choice, when I was called for my draft physical. I ended up not passing the physical due to the fact that at that time, I was legally blind without my glasses.
In recent years, I have benefited from modern eye surgery and could now pass the eye test, but they don’t want recruits over 60 with round being the only shape they are in. I had several friends that did go to Viet Nam, a couple came back in body bags, and the rest alive, but no one was remotely the same. Even one friend who worked well behind the front lines repairing electronics, had a near death experience. He left the shop to get a cup of coffee and while he was gone, it was hit by a rocket and destroyed.
The ones who served on the front lines, of course, had it much worse. Some PTSD stories sound almost clichéd, but I have personally seen friends leave where we were physically and have their minds return to Viet Nam.
I will give one example, though I have seen several. I was out fishing with a friend in his boat and while putting the boat on the trailer, the winch hook fell and hit his hand. He immediately took cover behind the boat and shouted to get down as there was a sniper on the hill shooting at us, and luckily the bullet had only grazed his hand.
At first, I thought he was joking, but a quick look at his eyes and I knew he was deadly serious. Another friend who happened to be at the launch and I tried to calm him down without much luck. We finally planned and executed our “escape from the sniper.” A couple of hours later when he returned to the present, he was completely embarrassed and apologetic. I am sure that many of you have seen similar flashbacks happen or it might have happened to you.
Two other friends, one Marine, and one Army, both spent time at the front lines. When they returned home, they were discharged in less than a month. There was no attempt made to bring them back to the “real” world. They were simply thrown in the deep end and told to swim or die.
Both of my friends seemed to be able to adjust back and, at least, appear to be “normal”, until one day about ten years after he got home the Army guy put a bullet in his head. VT Senior Editor Gordon Duff put it this way.
This describes Vietnam, describes the Marine Corps pretty well. 90% acting, 90% phony and 10% doing the fighting and dying. With that came exhaustion, thirst, starvation and some anger. We could feel how much the Marine Corps hated us, how much America hated us.No military was ever sent to perform a more corrupt and stupid task than ours at that time, or so I believed then. History has, of course, proven me wrong.Through training in California, you could feel it, the hate. Nobody would look us in the eye, other than the wonderful people at the USO, San Clemente, Los Angeles. Thanks. I remember you guys. Everyone else, looking at us made people feel uncomfortable. Marines didn’t come back. Being in a combat unit in Vietnam, one of the 9%, was a death sentence.
Vietnam was, like the wars of today, one fought by the few.
YOU WILL NEVER SEE THIS PHOTO IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA
Everyone knew there was a war going on. On the other side of the coin, some anti-war groups blamed the troops for the war which was particularly silly considering most troops were draftees who had only three choices, go to war, go to prison, or flee the country. One advantage they had is that with the draft, there was a steady stream of “new meat” to feed into the grinder, so when their tour was up, it was up, unless they volunteered for more.
Today’s troops are better equipped and have much better medical care for physical injuries, but not much has been done to improve mental health care. Many are alive that would have died from their injuries previously. For the most part, no one blames the troops for the wars. Even the most intense anti-war groups say they are trying to save our soldiers from being killed and maimed.
With an all volunteer military, most of the country is carrying on like there is no war. President Bush told us to fight the terrorists by going shopping. Many Americans don’t know any active military personnel. Most of the troops come from lower middle class and poorer backgrounds, though there are certainly a few exceptions to that rule.
They enlist because they are the only jobs available, to get training they can use in civilian jobs, or money for college. Since there is no longer an unlimited supply of new draftees, many are sent back over and over. Men and women who are clearly suffering from PTSD are sent back to the front where they either kill themselves or they go go completely off the deep end, are dishonorably discharged for bad behavior and are then denied the retirement and medical benefits they have rightfully earned. This is one of many secret disgraces that we share. If they are lucky enough to get an honorable discharge, they return home to find that there are no jobs available.
There are other similarities, between then and now. The goal of the wars are not really clear to those fighting. Looking at the locals, it is impossible to know friend from foe. Some may be friend by day, and enemy by night. Corruption is rampant and can be easily seen. There is no end game and the current wars will probably end as unsatisfactorily as Viet Nam, with the only “winners” being the military contractors who have made huge profits. There are many thousands of troops who will come home and be dumped on the street without as much as a thank you, their only skill being able to kill; a skill with limited use in the civilian world.
Many will still be on the street 20 years from now, some will be in prison, and many will, at least appear to be normal, but all will have effects from having served. A friend’s son who is now 40 wanted to be a Marine all of his life. From the time he was pre-school until he enlisted at 17, that was what he wanted. He planned to make a career out of the Marine Corps. He went to Iraq during Desert Shield and Desert Storm and was part of the flanking group that was supposed to be a diversion, but ended up going all the way to Kuwait City. He did the job he was trained to do, shooting the .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a Humvee.
After that experience, he only wanted one thing; to get out of the Corps. Active combat was less than two weeks, but he sat in the desert for about six months waiting to fight and another 3-4 months after the fighting. Upon his return, he began to suffer many unexplained medical symptoms, which have come to be called Gulf War Syndrome. Of course the military denies its very existence, much as it did with Agent Orange in Viet Nam.
No one knows exactly what combined to create these problems, but it is believed to be a combination of experimental vaccines they took “voluntarily” (Yeah sure) to resist chemical weapons, but which actually made them more sensitive to them, exposure to these chemicals when the weapons were blown up (What did they expect would happen to the chemicals when then were blown up) desert parasites, and diseases that Americans are not normally exposed to and have no natural defense against.
Probably even more important was the mental damage he suffered. He feels totally betrayed by the country that he loved so much. He had put his trust into the righteousness of being a US Marine and serving the people of this country. He realized that he was, in fact, serving special interests that did not give a damn about him, even whether he lived or died. He was repeatedly lied to and came to recognize the lies.
When he got out, he bounced around from one part time job to another. He did not fit in anywhere. He had spent 8 years as a Marine and they refused to give him any help, mental or physical. He longed for the camaraderie of the Corps and found it in a militia group.
This group got together on a regular basis, swapped war stories and bitched about the state of things. They held military style maneuvers in the woods and drank beer. Two years ago, this group was accused of plotting the murder of police officers. He has been held in Federal Prison since then without bail or trial. The evidence against him is quite thin and that is why he has not gone to trial. They say that he was the group’s weapons expert, which he learned in the Marines.
They call him “Big Gunner”, the nickname he got in the Marines because he operated the .50 caliber, but they attempt to make him appear more sinister by using that name. So basically they are using his excellent record of service to this country against him. (The Marines gave him comendations for his service) Is he guilty? I doubt it, but I really have no way of knowing for sure. Either way he deserves his day in court and he has, thus far, been denied it.
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=127064
Posted by Michael Chester on Aug 1 2011, With 0 Reads, Filed under Vet News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Do you recall what your vision was? 200/20 or something
It’s a real good first article. For some vets with bad experiences (even ww2 vets did this) they take up a life omiting military, like they were never part of it. What do I know? I learn from all these VT articles. I am closing in on 61.
Thank you. I will try to stay at this level or higher. In WW-I they called this condition Shell Shocked. Short and to the point. Mike
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Well, yes. That has visibly been the case in virtually every war fought throughout recorded (and probably unrecorded) history, including every single one of our wars — the Revolution & the Civil War (or the “War of Damnyankee Aggression,” depending on one’s venue). A slight shift in commercial and media interests and emphasis, for instance, would have put us in the First World War on the side of Germany and its allies (not a bad idea, as there would have been no place whatsoever for the likes of Hitler & company in a victorious German Empire). The only difference now is that communications technology has made more or us more aware of what is happening & better able to communicate that knowledge among others. But if you want to derail the problem of dying for special interests in a war, then derail every existing system of government, or nothing except the PR frosting on a very rotten cake will ever change.
WHOA! I had prefeced the above with a quote that got deleted when I posted my comment. Trying again:
“He realized that he was, in fact, serving special interests that did not give a damn about him, even whether he lived or died.”
….and now I can’t even &##%##* spell…”prefaced”….Off for lunch
But a very nice article, looking forward to more from younger authors such as yourself (I am 70….)
No problem, Alan. We knew what you were saying and we don’t effing care if an odd grammer or spelling mistake turns up in someone’s work. It’s the message that counts.
Cheers.
in 1986, i was about to take a bus trip, and needed a book to read, not much time to browse the crowded book store in Toronto at the time, i quickly looked around and noticed a cover of a white paperback… “Close Quarters”
amazon link found thru a search – http://www.amazon.com/Close-Quarters-Novel-Larry-Heinemann/dp/1400076846
this was the first of many of this style of writing, returning soldiers writing of their experiences… in school, they never taught us anything about the vietnam war (my parents had a chance to move to the USA, but did not want my older brother and i to get drafted… my dad was in canadian military…
this book and several others really helped to open up my former brainwashed mind (raised a JW)
and the author is correct, not very many people seem to be concerned about the military, here in Canada, several times at memorials and most recently a tour honouring those who gave it all in afghanistan was not very well attended… seems every year at memorial day there are less and less to pay respects…
if i did not have so many brain injuries, i would enlist, (i tried at age 40, and my spine is too crooked, scoliosis)
i still wear a red tee shirt on friday, as a visual method of support and i love it when i see others wearing their red tee shirts, about all i can do it seems
thanks for this article, really tugs at them emotions, and now my eyes need some drying time
F%$# war and all it stands for….
“seems every year at memorial day there are less and less to pay respects…”
Excuse me, but “pay respects” to what??
To the shameful number of ignorant individuals who instead of availing themselves of the nearly ubiquitous information technology at their disposal today to inform themselves as to:
1. the true nature of the death and mass-murder machine called the US military (all branches),
2. the extensively documented (and publicly available) roster of war crimes and crimes against humanity it has perpetrated (and continues to do) around the globe over the past century if not more,
AND
3. the repeatedly revealed lies and propaganda it employs to actively mislead the public as to its true agenda and the extent of its criminal activities (overt and covert) overseas and at home
signed their lives away to go kill, maim, kidnap, bomb, torture and perform all manner of illegal and immoral actions on other peoples’ soil, in other peoples’ towns and villages and indeed homes (in the dark of night) all to further enrich Talmudic Luciferian bankers and their constellation of arms contractors and resource thieves while the “country” and “freedom/democracy” they naively claim to defend is actually further dismantled thanks to their voluntary complicity?
Sorry, if you would join up with that then you have little true interest in truth or peace or justice.
Their is nothing remotely honorable or respectable about the US military and the blood of millions of innocents will forever bear witness to that fact. Like it or not.
*There, not “their”.
Hmm, seems the post to which I was responding above has since been deleted. More surgical censorship of the comments section?
Maybe paranoia.
Mike Chester is plotting against you?
(Michael: Stop plotting against people!)
g
You’re a funny one G, snide and sometimes rather rude in your ad hominem retorts but amusing nonetheless.
Removal of posts is clearly evident as my response above leads with a quote from the now absent post in question.
More likely someone’s PC sensitivities got ruffled.
Some of us joined USMC in late 60s. You go in alone; you come out alone. I will remember things from then and since 9-11 in order to not let the warmongers keep lying to possible recruits. I like VT because all viewers are welcome and majority that put in comments know a lot more than me and do it so eloquently. People have amazing talents- some are good at dissecting human nature and motives and can read lies so much better than others. It is true as GD says- everyone hates you- Marine Corps hates you, public hates you.
Now our population breeds apathy. I don’t live in any big social circle but with the people I run into, if I say Palestinian genocide, they get irritated and have no idea what I am talking about. To all these ignorant aquaintances I say good riddance.
The red t shirt is a good gesture- maybe I will do it on certain occasions. I won’t wear any of them damn —-Vet hats. Brian S- your Dad was on to something correct. Mel Gibson’s dad moved his family to Australia because he saw Vietnam draft as immoral, as American kids being deceived.
There was an article on the SOTT site which had this to say re genetic codeing for the best performing soldiers –
The physicists, biologists, chemists, oceanographers, mathematicians, and computer scientists that comprise the JASON project, point out that the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have access to an untapped source of valuable genetic information and are “uniquely positioned to make great advances” in the science of genetic research in this crucial field. Specifically mentioned are the decades of archived medical records and DNA samples already on file at the VA. …
Make what you will of it, but it all seems extremely cynical to me…
They’ll try to find a gene and then what will they do, produce a drug that makes people aggressive and motivated and prone to suggestion with ability to forgo sleep for a week- like movie Jacob”s Ladder. I think that when they take your DNA you figure it is just for identification.
The spirit of Dr. Mengele lives on, obviously.
How curious that my comment in concurrence with the two above commentators – to the effect that their suggested genetic coding experiments smack of the mindset of Dr. Mengele – has now twice been deleted not long after clearly having appeared as a response.
Is some one afraid of the implications such a legitimate comparison might have upon the manufactured image of our military establishment?
Probably because it infers on the VA – which was the point of my comment in the first place….there seems to be implied, some unholy alliance twixt VA and VT…
While I was in Vietnam the US military was experimenting with Dapsone, an anti-leprosy drug given to us to prevent malaria and not approved by the FDA as far as I know. 12 soldiers died from this drug. There was of course Agent Orange, Purple, White and Blue which have killed thousands and screwed up a whole country, Vietnam. These were weapons of mass destruction, WMD, as was Napalm and White Phosphorus, and cluster bombs. Service in the military is no longer honorable. When we have Memorial Day or Veterans Day there is no honor in service, there is survival in service, there is ignorance in service, there is violent out of control aggression in service, there is blind obedience to authority in service, there is PTSD in service, there is suicide in service, and once in a while there is true bravery and compassion in service. The bravery and compassion many times has to do with helping locals or refusing orders to continue immoral acts that kill people. And of course there is commradary in service, but thats what the Authorities count on for group think to kill. The Karma of this country has still only been acknowledged by a very few and they are deemed radicals or fringe. Lets look inside for the terrorist.
The sickest of the Gulf War vets ( and the poor Iraqi people with their increased cancer rates and horrible birth defects ) are seemingly victims of contact w/depleted uranium tipped munitions…Which is really a war crime and should stop..