Old Ernie, neighbor across the street, age 76 or so.....

[mrvette]

And so as usual he set up a lawn chair in pleasant weather out front in the shade of his garage door, and most of us in the burb go to set a while and chat about whatever, well Ernie is a old crusty coastie and went to Viet Nam on the cutter Cambell hope I have the spelling right....so he is ailing with a bunch of shit and whipped out his old picture books from VN all through SE Asia and the trips of .mil life and times us older guys maybe share....

and so a much younger neighbor guy, about age 42 or so, starts asking about scanning those pix and posting on a site for that boat, and because Ernie has no direct family, never married, just his sister's kids who these days will not give a shit, Scott is willing to scan those remembrances into the .net for history.....

I thought the review of the pix and his comments were interesting for a couple hours.....

but, really....


Does anyone else really give a damn??? WE, Scott and me do, but really?? his nephews and nieces don't, not according to HIM anyway....


Not looking for any serious replies here, just a few reflections of my own....

[Skia]

I for one like seeing pics of normal peoples life in history.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by Skia

I for one like seeing pics of normal peoples life in history.

[78SA]

Originally Posted by Skia

I for one like seeing pics of normal peoples life in history.

[lspencer534]

I for one give a huge shit about what Ernie and others went through.

[VITE1]

Helping pass along the memories of ANYONE who has served our nation is duty those of us who have never stood in harms way should take upon ourselves. Please share.

[Giraffe (He/Him)]

I for one like seeing pics of normal peoples life in history.

Me too. And some of them you can actually understand.

[G8rDMD]

Knowing the real people's history, not what the books or tv tell us, is the only way to truly know what happened and to appreciate the history. Even though both of my grandfathers are gone, I still relish the memories of the stories they told me about WWII.

[69camfrk]

As sad as it is, the old warrior's tales fade after time. Unless they are well documented, their deeds will slip away into history, most without documentation. Of course being a military type I enjoy the stories. The greatest generation will soon all be gone along with most of their tales. I've heard and learned many things from the older guys, and I have served with many that were Vietnam Vets. It has been an honor to hang out and learn from them. Some of the story's will have you rolling on the ground laughing. They got away with shit back then that would have us under the bus. Life is a summation of experiences. Absorb anything you can that will make you "richer" in the end.

[Skia]

Originally Posted by Thomas

Me too. And some of them you can actually understand.

[Giraffe (He/Him)]

Originally Posted by Skia

What?!?!?!

[8Up]

Sure, lots of us care! Not to mention the thousands of currently active duty men and women out there! I used to really love talking to the older Marines when I was in, every single one of those guys that went to nam and came back to a country over run with liberal hippies is a hero to us. I tell you, I talked to a guy that came back in 71, was an Army Ranger, and the only thing he remembered about coming home was having a bag of dog shit thrown at him. That is somone deserving of respect....and I hope dog shit thrower died a slow horrible death.

Semper Fi.

[Giraffe (He/Him)]

I was talking about Gene Skia. Pay attention of you'll get sucked up by an alien.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Thomas

I was talking about Gene Skia. Pay attention of you'll get sucked up by an alien.

Skia shares MY first name?? Gene or if I have to bear up to it EUgene???

hated my name my whole life, and to think me folks named me MIKE on my hosital BC.....

not to steal my own thread....


But it does make me wonder what happend to the guys in my old Platoon in basic Ft. Bragg...August '66......

[Skia]

Originally Posted by Thomas

I was talking about Gene Skia. Pay attention of you'll get sucked off by an alien.

Fixt...
You quoted me.....sorry

[NEVRL8T]

Originally Posted by mrvette

And so as usual he set up a lawn chair in pleasant weather out front in the shade of his garage door, and most of us in the burb go to set a while and chat about whatever, well Ernie is a old crusty coastie and went to Viet Nam on the cutter Cambell hope I have the spelling right....so he is ailing with a bunch of shit and whipped out his old picture books from VN all through SE Asia and the trips of .mil life and times us older guys maybe share....

and so a much younger neighbor guy, about age 42 or so, starts asking about scanning those pix and posting on a site for that boat, and because Ernie has no direct family, never married, just his sister's kids who these days will not give a shit, Scott is willing to scan those remembrances into the .net for history.....

I thought the review of the pix and his comments were interesting for a couple hours.....

but, really....


Does anyone else really give a damn??? WE, Scott and me do, but really?? his nephews and nieces don't, not according to HIM anyway....


Not looking for any serious replies here, just a few reflections of my own....

My grandpa was in the Navy in WWII. They did just that, made a nice website about his ship, the USS Mount Vernon and scanned the ship's cruise log. It's really nice and my grandpa is in a couple of the pictures:

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22022.htm

Cruise book: Transport (AP) Photo Index

[MEC5LADY]

One of the reasons I like working with some of the older patients is because of the stories they have to tell. I have heard everything from war stories to a rocket scientist who told me his role in landing Apollo 13. My coworkers are always surprised at the things I learn about patients. It doesn't take much effort just a few minutes of time. It makes me sad to think that a lot of these stories will be lost once the patients pass on.

[Norm]

Good story Gene. Was at a car show locally last month at the VA home, veteran neighbor down the road who was living out his life there, died the night before the show. A family member stopped over the house and asked if I could do a shadow box for his Dad to present to his Mother, as I've always said, absolutely, no charge. When I get the DD214's to do my research to gather medals and such, it's like reading a history book about the veteran, duty stations, training, always interesting, always a story.

[Bucwheat]

My 86 Year old Dad was in three wars WWII, Korea and NAM. He don't talk much about the wars as I'm sure many old vets don't ,so I think scanning the pictures and stories is a great idea,when I was a kid I loved the TV shows Galant Men and Combat,never missed a show,but that was nothing like the real war I'm sure.Anytime we can pass on a little history I feel we should.These Kids won't learn it from school history books that's for sure.

[onedef92]

Count me in.