Non- Combat Veterans.

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Pishta, the first part of the article you posted made me think of the character played by Maximilian Schell in the movie 'Cross of Iron'......



On the other hand, I have seen things such as that happen in situations and places other than combat zones. I just hope the author finally got it all straight in his mind and no longer 'envies' (his word, not mine) those who have served in combat. I volunteered 3 times for duty in Viet Nam. Went once. That was my choice. I did it out of a sense of duty. Not envy. It was an obligation...... Something I had to do.

Best regards,

Harry
 
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Joined the Air Force in 1979.
Was proud to wear the uniform. Was sent to Korea in 1981. North Koreans had a Sam missle site placement that made the South Koreans and USA nervous. Thought the whole thing was going to blow up. This in the first 2 weeks of arriving there. Was a little scared, but thought proudly that that was what I was serving for. It was resolved with the north Koreans moving their missiles.
I was in aircraft support.
 
fl 71 said:
I was in the National Guard as well and as I approach my 70th birthday I still feel a bit of guilt not being deployed to Vietnam. Perhaps its because I lost a few friends there.
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You put them together, my job was maintenance to keep them on alert, hands on the finished package. I will always remember being at the bottom of the tube looking up at the *** end of a Minuteman missile.
 
Back in Time said:
I just got back from my free meal at Applebee's. At my age the first thing people assume is that I served in Vietnam. I always feel a little guilty that I was sent to Germany and not into Combat. Should I ? How do you all feel about this. Honest answers please. I welcome ALL responses.
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While I don't partake in those free meal things, I feel and relate to your sentiment. I too am in a similar boat, I've been in now nearly 16 years, missed my first deployment due to a knee surgery that happened just hours before the unit got notified to MOB, got bumped from the 2nd and 3rd MOBs for reasons beyond my control. I struggle with the guilt of all three from time to time. Especially since my first unit didn't all come home alive from Iraq. People tell me all the time not to but I can't help but feel guilty. That said, it wasn't in the cards for me, sounds like it wasn't in the cards for you. Nevertheless, take pride in what you did do while you served. less than 3% ever serve and less than 1% actually see combat.
 
It’s a non issue. Service to the country should be honored no matter when, where or how they served. Way too many veterans tend to embellish their service thinking their contribution was not worthy. I’ve heard my share of war stories.
 
dukeboy_318 said:
While I don't partake in those free meal things, I feel and relate to your sentiment. I too am in a similar boat, I've been in now nearly 16 years, missed my first deployment due to a knee surgery that happened just hours before the unit got notified to MOB, got bumped from the 2nd and 3rd MOBs for reasons beyond my control. I struggle with the guilt of all three from time to time. Especially since my first unit didn't all come home alive from Iraq. People tell me all the time not to but I can't help but feel guilty. That said, it wasn't in the cards for me, sounds like it wasn't in the cards for you. Nevertheless, take pride in what you did do while you served. less than 3% ever serve and less than 1% actually see combat.
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Thanks for your continued service to our Country. What I've come to realize in this thread is that we all signed that same paper ,that, if asked we would go and give our life if necessary. In all reality it takes all doing their job, combat or non-combat to make the whole wheel turn correctly.
 
Back in Time said:
Thanks for your continued service to our Country. What I've come to realize in this thread is that we all signed that same paper ,that, if asked we would go and give our life if necessary. In all reality it takes all doing their job, combat or non-combat to make the whole wheel turn correctly.
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Very true, but there will always be that "what if" thought in the back of my head.
 
I joined the Air Force Reserve in 2010 and just got out in 2018. Never deployed or anything. I never considered myself a veteran but my buddy told me about a helmet to hardhat program and I called them thinking I wouldn't be eligible not having deployed ever. They said I was good and that's kind of made me realize I guess I am a veteran. I volunteered the same as everyone else, my unit just never got called up.

So that's my rather long way of saying don't feel guilty about your status.
 
Does the cold war count? :)

Still the king of the air. I never imagined this bird would outlast me. Wish I was 25 again.
 
Ccrussell said:
Joined the Air Force in 1979.
Was proud to wear the uniform. Was sent to Korea in 1981. North Koreans had a Sam missle site placement that made the South Koreans and USA nervous. Thought the whole thing was going to blow up. This in the first 2 weeks of arriving there. Was a little scared, but thought proudly that that was what I was serving for. It was resolved with the north Koreans moving their missiles.
I was in aircraft support.
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I also joined in 1979 and was in Kunsan during 1981. Our base fired live rounds at enemy ships weekly. Two airmen died under mysterious circumstances off base that year. Once, the Korean civilians asked us what the US was going to do. We asked them “about what?” Then they told us the NK just fired missiles at one of our SR-71s. They thought the US would cut and run away (of course we didn’t). One Captain was killed at Taegu that year from a building explosion (they leaked over 2 million gallons of JP-4 in 20 years and it finally blew and destroyed 5 buildings). While not technically a war zone, it certainly wasn’t a peace zone either.
 
I enlisted at 17 in January of 81. The Iranian hostage crisis had been going on for over a year at the time and I was certain Reagan would be dealing with the Iranians much more forcefully than Carter had and I was eager to be involved. It seems the Iranians had the same thoughts about Reagan, so on the day he was inaugurated they preemptively released all the hostages. I learned of this during basic training at Ft Knox Kentucky. Consequently, after basic and AIT I spent the remaining years of my enlistment playing Army at Ft Hood Texas. So though Ft Hood would lose a few every year to training accidents, I was never truly in harms way in the way that our combat veterans were. Because of this I always feel a little weird when someone thanks me for my service. Between the first and second gulf war campaigns, Afghanistan and the effort to eradicate ISIS, there are now thousands of guys much younger than I am that served in combat, so when I pull into the Home Depot parking lot and see the parking spaces up front that say “reserved for veterans” I pass them by. Perhaps I shouldn’t. After all, I was willing to go. I just can’t help feeling a little weird about it.
 
Tanker said:
I enlisted at 17 in January of 81. The Iranian hostage crisis had been going on for over a year at the time and I was certain Reagan would be dealing with the Iranians much more forcefully than Carter had and I was eager to be involved. It seems the Iranians had the same thoughts about Reagan, so on the day he was inaugurated they preemptively released all the hostages. I learned of this during basic training at Ft Knox Kentucky. Consequently, after basic and AIT I spent the remaining years of my enlistment playing Army at Ft Hood Texas. So though Ft Hood would lose a few every year to training accidents, I was never truly in harms way in the way that our combat veterans were. Because of this I always feel a little weird when someone thanks me for my service. Between the first and second gulf war campaigns, Afghanistan and the effort to eradicate ISIS, there are now thousands of guys much younger than I am that served in combat, so when I pull into the Home Depot parking lot and see the parking spaces up front that say “reserved for veterans” I pass them by. Perhaps I shouldn’t. After all, I was willing to go. I just can’t help feeling a little weird about it.
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I park in the ones at Lowes, which is very infrequently. I think I'll do as you do from hereon.
 
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