Modest and WAR

[travler37]

And not i am not,MODEST
And i have ben told so here.

So why is talking and telling your stories bad?
I hang in a VA hospital and even there it is strange to me that MEN do not want to talk about it...untill they know you have ben there.....Then it slowly changes to getting both of your minds right.... Am not a shrink but ....it works for us.

So here,
Why is it considered "BAD" to post about it?
Am i wrong in saying we should pat them on the back and give the man whatever???
My Question
Mark

[blt2ski]

Mark,

Wish I could get you with my dad. Not sure what all he did in the 30 yrs in the navy, other than a few things, such as being laser'd, lost eye site for a few days, china before they fired off their first ICBM. on the same type of plane that went down a few yrs later.

Flew into Russia up some valley, that in the end was completly void of life. Got back thru the something following them, only to be told they had more nuclear radiation than folks had seen.

Dissappeared for a yr when I was 6-18 months old. His parents were told he was "lost at sea" but living in some jungle, saved by drug lords. He will not say where, as he does not supposidly know where.............i do not believe it personally, I think he "knows" where he was..........

He blames it on some law that says he is not supposed to say etc. Claims job he had was really military oriented at a phone company.........hmmmmmmm............

Marty

[WouldaShoulda]

Originally Posted by travler37

I hang in a VA hospital and even there it is strange to me that MEN do not want to talk about it...untill they know you have ben there.....Then it slowly changes to getting both of your minds right.... Am not a shrink but ....it works for us.

So here, why is it considered "BAD" to post about it?

Mark,

You have answered your own question.

Though it is not "bad" to post about it here, you are talking to people (most of us anyway) who have not been there.

Your brothers in arms are wise.

Best of Luck,

WouldaShoulda

[sailingdog]

Trav-

Who said telling your stories is bad? In many cases, it is hard to talk about things with people who really don't have any chance of understanding what you're talking about. Not having been in the military, I can't say what talking about that is like for you, but as a survivor of a different sort, being a Twinless Twin, I can say that talking about having lost my twin to other twins who have lost their twins is very helpful. Talking about it to people who aren't twins, really doesn't do anything.

Originally Posted by travler37

And not i am not,MODEST
And i have ben told so here.

So why is talking and telling your stories bad?
I hang in a VA hospital and even there it is strange to me that MEN do not want to talk about it...untill they know you have ben there.....Then it slowly changes to getting both of your minds right.... Am not a shrink but ....it works for us.

So here,
Why is it considered "BAD" to post about it?
Am i wrong in saying we should pat them on the back and give the man whatever???
My Question
Mark

[SailKing1]

In my opinion most people do not feel comfortable telling their personal stories to just anyone, and many that do are doing so to Brag or seek sympathy.

As SD put it sharing with someone who can relate to your experience is more natural. It can at many times be a relief having someone to discuss your experience with that understands what you are feeling or dealing with emotionally. There is a connection.

[SEMIJim]

Soldiers are not inclined to discuss combat experiences with non-soldiers, other than perhaps law-enforcement officers or trauma care professionals. Why? I would imagine for the same reason I'm not inclined to discuss "IT war stories" with non-IT professionals: Unless you've "been there," such stories cannot possibly be understood. Many soldiers won't even discuss combat experiences, other than to impart knowledge/training, to soldiers that have not experienced combat.

When I was in the military, I somehow "just understood" that if a soldier wanted to talk about his (they were all "he"s at the time) combat experiences, he would, and that it was bad form to ask--much less push/pursue the issue.

Many soldiers would as soon put such experiences behind them. Who are we to question that?

Jim

[sailhog]

Originally Posted by travler37

And not i am not,MODEST
And i have ben told so here.

So why is talking and telling your stories bad?
I hang in a VA hospital and even there it is strange to me that MEN do not want to talk about it...untill they know you have ben there.....Then it slowly changes to getting both of your minds right.... Am not a shrink but ....it works for us.

So here,
Why is it considered "BAD" to post about it?
Am i wrong in saying we should pat them on the back and give the man whatever???
My Question
Mark

Traveler,
I don't understand very much of what you write. To me, it's almost as though you are writing in a different language -- like Greek. I don't know whether or not you are pretending to be semi-illiterate. If not, you need to steal some fith-grader's grammar book. Read it, study it, and then come back and tell us what's on your mind...

[bubb2]

Many years ago a young Paratrooper was home on leave. One day he found himself sitting at the bar of the local American Legion. After a few beers, the Paratrooper felt compelled to tell the older man sitting on the next bar stool all about his 4 years of being a Paratrooper.

The young man went on and on about his 30+ training jumps and his one combat jump and all his brushes with death. The older man patiently listened and sipped his beer.

When the young Paratrooper was finished the older man spoke up and said what a small world, I was in the 504th also. The Young Paratrooper then asked the old man "how jumps do you have." The older man said 7. The young Paratrooper says you old guys sure didn't get much training. With that the older man says only 3 were training jumps. The young Paratrooper says "I thought you said you had 7 jumps. The old man says "I did, the other 4, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, Holland."

I learned allot about bragging that day.

[PalmettoSailor]

Originally Posted by bubb2

Many years ago a young Paratrooper was home on leave. One day he found himself sitting at the bar of the local American Legion. After a few beers, the Paratrooper felt compelled to tell the older man sitting on the next bar stool all about his 4 years of being a Paratrooper.

The young man went on and on about his 30+ training jumps and his one combat jump and all his brushes with death. The older man patiently listened and sipped his beer.

When the young Paratrooper was finished the older man spoke up and said what a small world, I was in the 504th also. The Young Paratrooper then asked the old man "how jumps do you have." The older man said 7. The young Paratrooper says you old guys sure didn't get much training. With that the older man says only 3 were training jumps. The young Paratrooper says "I thought you said you had 7 jumps. The old man says "I did, the other 4, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, Holland."

I learned allot about bragging that day.

That reminds me of a guy that used to work at the "Outlaw" bike shop where I was buying parts to customize my bike. This guy was super knowledgeable about bikes and several times pointed me to great products that were less expensive that what I thought I wanted. To look at the guy though you'd think he'd been a Hells Angel or equivilent his whole life.

Then one day I ran into him at the metro outside the Pentagon. I asked what he was doing down there, and he told me he was getting his retiree ID card updated. Turns out he had enlisted out of High School, served a tour in the infantry in Viet Nam, come home, gone to college, joined Air Force ROTC, been comissioned, been selected for fighters, and served for 20+ years. Along the way, he earned a Masters in Engineering from GA Tech. When he was giving me advice about selecting the best exhaust pipes for my bike it was based on a masters level class in fluid dynamics. He told me when he left the military he had had enough of looking the way others decided and so took on the outlaw biker look because thats what he wanted to do.

After I learned his "secret" and he knew I served in my modest way, he would sometimes share a tale or two with me when I dropped by the shop and no one else was around, but I know he never opened up like he might have to one who had actually "seen the elephant".

[SailKing1]

Originally Posted by bubb2

Many years ago a young Paratrooper was home on leave. One day he found himself sitting at the bar of the local American Legion. After a few beers, the Paratrooper felt compelled to tell the older man sitting on the next bar stool all about his 4 years of being a Paratrooper.

The young man went on and on about his 30+ training jumps and his one combat jump and all his brushes with death. The older man patiently listened and sipped his beer.

When the young Paratrooper was finished the older man spoke up and said what a small world, I was in the 504th also. The Young Paratrooper then asked the old man "how jumps do you have." The older man said 7. The young Paratrooper says you old guys sure didn't get much training. With that the older man says only 3 were training jumps. The young Paratrooper says "I thought you said you had 7 jumps. The old man says "I did, the other 4, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, Holland."

I learned allot about bragging that day.

Good story bubb, I live in a predominately military town and being a resort area there a numerous bars. Occasionally you will see a military guy come in with his combat fatigues on and many of the regulars that are military get upset and grumble about it.

After questioning some of those I know, I found there general consensus is that the person in combat fatigues is looking for sympathy and free drinks.

Now I know from experience that the military personnel appreciate the thought and the drink when offered, and most always return the gesture which can lead to a long night and a taxi ride home. They just don't take well to people abusing the sentiments of civilians for personnel gain.

These kind of actions presented by most military really tell you a lot about those that ware the uniform.