My father would never talk about WWII either..until 30 years later.

It was such an awful time. I grew up in a factory town in Michigan and few kids went to college so many of my high school friends were drafted and killed in Nam..I also remember in college the night they did the lottery drawing and 2 young men had their numbers pulled..Everyone got drunk but I know I did not fully understand what was going on.

Oh, no way is the treatment of the returning vets justified. I think a lot of it began as frustration over our government not having the will to actually win the war. Of course, the soldiers unjustly became a target of that frustration.

I have never talked to a single vet that thought the war was unwinnable. And then you see the domino effect after we pulled out of the area. Pol Pot's genocide in Cambodia was, IMO, a direct result of our withdrawal.

Several of my Uncles served in WWII, one never came back (a paratrooper) died in the invasion of Normandy, one was a in the Death March and was a Japanese Prisionor of War. He never talked of it either.

My mentor's husband served in the Pacific as a gunner on fighter plane. Over the last 10 years he's begun to talk about it. But, only after my husband started organizing all his Vet papers, medals and photos into albums and shadow boxes.

Yep! Had the government allowed them to fight the war to win, let the Generals run the war....I think it would have been won.

I see that happening today. Although, we've come a long way and are treating our returning military with respect they deserve.

My Dad was a radio operator/waist gunner on a B-17. He was shot down by a German ME-262 jet fighter and was the only survivor. He actually met the pilot that shot his plane down and had no animosity towards him. They had enough sense to know that both of them were just two guys caught up doing their country's bidding, same as everyone else was.

My father was a navy pilot who received the Distinquished Flying Cross (I actually have the picture of him receiving it) during the invasion of Italy. He has been written about in books and right before he was killed (a tractor accident at 75) he had been contacted to help write a book on the Solomon Island battle. My father requested to be buried in Arlington National Cemetary because he wanted to keep his eyes on the bastards in Washington (his words) and because he always felt the most alive during the war. The service was extremely moving (he got a full military burial) and it is/was very moving to look at all of the crosses and understand how many men died for our country. I am extremely proud of my father and his military service.

It was interesting though that it took him 30 some years to talk about the war but luckily I have a great deal of information written down from him and I have researched a great deal. Dad would go back to Pensacola every 5 years for a complete physical at the expense of the Navy for the rest of his life. I don't know if he was part of a study based on what happened in the war or not..but I do know he loved going back.. I also do know he became much more open as the years past to talk about much of it. I feel very strongly about understanding all of it and am in contact with children of other men who served on the USS Boise.

Wasn't there something, not too long ago, where American Soldiers met with Viet Nam soldiers?

There was a show where WWII vets met with the Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima I believe.

Saw that one.

I seem to remember something about that. I remember a recent story about a soldier's remains being found in Laos. There's so many MIAs to this day and I think it was the search for them that led to a thawing of relations. Do you remember Ross Perot financing missions in the 70's to find POWs still being held?

On a side note, we have a large Vietnamese community here on the Coast. They came over in the mid 70's and there was a lot of animosity towards them, even though they were South Vietnamese. Things have settled down since then and they have assimilated well and are now as accepted here as any other group.

double post

Here is my Dad and the men of the USS Boise. My Dad is standing on the left hand side.

I know that there is a large community here in Orange County, The City of Westminster. The off-ramp off the 405 freeway use to have a sign identifying it as Little Siagon. There's also a large population of Vietnamese in the Houston, Texas area.

Great Pic.

I do remember Ross Perot. He worked for GM when we bought EDS and I met him a number of times. He was a very interesting man with a lot of integrity.

I voted for him. Funny thing is, I've never voted for the winner. I cast my first ballot for John Anderson in '76 and it's been one losing candidate after another since then. If you want to know who the next loser is, just ask me who I'm supporting :D.

Chuckle...I could make a few comments here but we can't talk politics..which is a good idea...:D

LOL....yeah, we'll leave it at that.

Cindy, you mentioned earlier about your Dad being buried at Arlington. My Dad was buried in our local Veterans' cemetery with full military honors, much like your Dad. It was a very moving ceremony.

I'm attaching something my Dad kept all those years and I found it in his papers. It was read at his funeral.

Photo of Dad and crew and B-17s in flight.

It's so eye-opening to hear all of your stories as children of a military father. My parents met on the Island of Vieques, PR he was stationed there so when he fought 2 terms in Nam we lived with my Grandmother. He also fought in Korea. I guess I was sheltered from what was really going on in the States. My father was a DI in the Marines and retired a MasterSargeant. I have the most respect for our Vets. It's so hard to believe the way they were treated when returning home. My father did say he wished they could have finished what they started. I think not finishing the war was devasting to some. We moved back to the states I think around 1969. It was hard enough to witness the "Who cares that you fought for our country" attitude but reality hit when we moved to Richmond Va and I was shocked by the Civil Rights Movement. I had no idea this was going on. I was a 10 yr old. My grandfather was dark and my grandmother was very light skin, so I grew up in a mixed family in PR. Never knowing or looking at people different because of skin color. I could not understand why the Blacks lived on one side and the Whites on the other. I was very naive. My daughter graduates from Medical School in 2012 and will be a Capt/MD in the AirForce. My father started to cry when he found out she was accepted into MS. He was in her Commision Ceremony and Saluted her as an Officer. Very Very emotional.

My Dad was a first recon Marine in 1963. The stories he has told me are horrific. They ran out of ammo and had to fight with knives, all of his friends were killed, eating rice for a year. To this day he feels guilty that he lived.

Last Month, a Marine called my Dad and thanked him for his service. My Dad was in tears. After all this time, someone actually said thank you. My Dad was diagnosed diabetic just a year after he got out of there at the age of 27. They have proven all these health issues are caused by agent orange. Finally after filing years ago, they are starting to pay him 3,000 a month for his service. He is losing his sight, has heart problems, etc. And all because of agent orange in Vietnam.

That is one part of those years, I am glad that I didnt see. I have seen enough in my Dads photos.

My Dad would have really liked this..

I had tears reading this and how beautiful for your father and daughter. Maybe that helped with closure for your dad...just beautiful. You know all of us were naive during this time. I think it is part of the age and part of what has always been. Change is not easy as the 60's proved but today there are young people that know about it from the history books but do not really have a concept of what it really was like.

Attachment 315894

Attachment 315895

My Father, My Grandmother and My Mother-RIP

Wow, I hope you write some of his history down...I know for a long time I just listened and it wasn't tell Dad was older that I wrote down the names of his commanders, where he was for certain parts of the war etc. So much history has been saved because of film/photo's etc. It has been fascinating for me to watch the HBO special of the Pacific and hear names of people my Dad was involved with.

I went to college in Michigan where Agent Orange (Dow Chemical) was made and I do remember protests going on against them in 1968. The town is very small so you can imagine what an impact it had when busloads of flower children showed up from Ann Arbor.

I am sorry to hear what this has done to your Dad.....

I adore the old pictures...such beauty in the faces especially the ones done in black and white.

I just connected with an old high school friend on Facebook..(which is wonderful) but he had this cause on his wall..thought some of you might be interested to join.

Make It Illegal to Protest at Military Funerals | Facebook

Agree Cindy. My daughter Blair's graduation will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. My father said he will LIVE to see that...Amazing, for a Vet who loves his country and did his job.

How wonderful and I hope you can take a little time out to take your Dad to Arlington and you have to see the Viet Nam Memorial..oh my God...Once you start walking down the wall you are talking but it doesn't take you long when it becomes complete silence because of all the dead vets names...very emotional..I remember when it went up it was very controversial but I will tell you I think it does more than a statue with a man on a horse.

You will have to take lots of pictures...How proud you must be of your daughter..you will be a crying machine on the whole trip.