Vietnam Veterans


Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.

In Memory of Michael Christian
A good friend for a short time.
You are missed by many.

Remember not only those who lost their lives during wartime but also those who lost their lives because of the wars. Remember those who fought for us and came home to a life in the streets because they could not find a job. Remember those who were hooked on drugs because it was so easy to get.

I had a good friend who was a Green Beret in Vietnam in the early 60s. He was an advisor in the jungles. They Vietnamese soldiers he advised supplied him with all of the cocaine he wanted. He came home a coke addict. He had a bar, restaurant, disco and night club in one building. He sold cocaine to pay for his habit.

He quit using and selling and a month later found dead in his office. The coroner said it was suicide. His friends and I say
murder. Either way it was the war that was the main cause of death.

There are many like him who are still alive but they are lost souls.  Pray for them when you pray for those who died. They are living a life of hell on earth. They are alive but not living. These are the lost souls of the wars. Each war adds to their ranks.

Pray for those who are alive but only a part of who they were before the war.

© Copyright 2002 Lee W. Gaylord

I was in the Navy 1962 to 1965.  (3 years, 1 month, 15 days and 8 hours)  I volunteered for Vietnam but I failed the physical. At the time the war was in the early stages but when I got out of the Navy it was growing fast.  I knew many people who lost their lives during the war and after the war like Mike in the above story.  Please remember that those who fought over there were there for us.  No matter what you think about the war our men were heroes and what the went through for you was more than most others went through in war time.  It was a different kind of war.  It was an unpopular war.

This is the first war that we lost, not because of the military but because of Congress and the protesters.  I was a hawk during the war.  Now I feel that it was the worst thing that happened to our country.  We also lost Dessert Storm because the politicians held the  military back.  (Saddam is still alive and well)  The Korean war is a war that never was a war and never ended and there too it was a war run by politicians.
 
The veterans of the Vietnam War was the war of forgotten veterans.  It was a war where many of those who survived would not have survived in the other wars because of the quality of the recovery teams and medical care. The disabled veterans from Vietnam were looked down on.  The drug us in the Vietnam War was more widespread than other wars because it was easier to get drugs. 

I have met many veterans in the streets.  They have no place to go and no one who cares about them.  Many have mental problems and hair triggers that will get them fired from a job in a minute.  Many have lost their families because their families were afraid of them.  The state will not help.  (It is cheaper to have them commit a crime and go to prison than to put them in a mental hospital.)  Many are in and out of the veterans' hospitals.
 
We not only had many die in Vietnam but we have many walking dead veterans. The forgotten men, the ignored men and the invisible men. We have men who are time bombs.

If you have anything you want to add to this section please e-mail me with your story or comments.
 


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