Our history is fading away before us, in the failing memories of our elders. We must do a better job is listening and learning while they are still among us.
In the late seventies or early eighties of last century two strange aircraft appeared in one military airfield in Poland. They were F-4 Phantom and F-5 Freedom Fighter. Later I learned that they were being sent from Vietnam to Soviet Union for evaluation and to re-create manuals, which were destroyed by Americans (or South-Vietnamese) in 1975. But Soviet Union was not so interested in this business and sent them to Poland. Polish authorities were eager to do so, but for the squadron of those aircraft from Vietnam. This was, of course, impossible due to lack of compatibility with East-Block standards. So those two aircraft were standing in the airfield behind fence. Unfortunately, one drunk (probably) truck driver crashed with the Phantom damaging its wing and making aircraft not flight-worthy. And the remaining F-5 was sent (for unknown for me reason) to the factory WSK/PZL Okecie in Warsaw. It found its place in the hangar used to maintain and store planes owned by factory and Instytut Lotnictwa (something like NACA in USA). Everybody which have access to this hangar were warned that we don’t even see this F-5 as it was secret. I was working that time as a Design Engineer on military turboprop trainer PZL-130 Orlik and was responsible for designing the canopy. My boss wanted me to look how canopy of F-5 looks like. The problem was to go through the bureaucratic barriers to get uncertain permission. Decision was to make this intelligence gathering by stealthy way. One Sunday, when hangar was without people, and especially without boss of the hangar, me, and other Engineer (working on cockpit ergonomics) were forced to climb wire fence to look closely to things of our interest. What surprised me was the easiness how it was possible to lift by hand very heavy canopy using a build-in lever. In my opinion it was “over-engineered”. The mechanism with multiple links and with multiple springs took so much space, that it would be possible to put other person instead. But it was working perfectly. Other interesting thing I noticed was the beautifully designed system of removing and replacing both engines. They were attached to the lower part of the fuselage and it was possible to remove them using nice cart. All systems (fuel, control, sensors, power, hydraulic and fire prevention) were coupled to the airplane automatically. I think that the process of replacing engines in the field could last 20 minutes.
Why I am writing this story? Well, it is possible that I was touching exactly the same aircraft as your Father. Yes, world is very small…
What a lovely, and commendable post, thank you for adding to Scott's post, and for sharing your interesting experiences. That added a welcome dimension to Scott's article.
You are the man of substance and honor, Major Scott Ritter. If we had presidents like you there would be peace, prosperity and harmony in the world. We need leaders of your great character and wisdom. Thank you for sharing your personal, and family stories.
Thank you Scott for those memories. You offer wise words in asking us all to spend more time with family and friends. I am 81 and often tell myself that I wish I had handled things differently. Yep, lessons learned, but too late.
I forget the year I visited the wall but it was 1980s. It was such a profound experience that I wrote this poem after visiting the wall and then added the last lines after we invaded Iraq :
I stood at The Wall and wept
Searching across the endless black length
Searching - A familiar name perhaps?
A friend from school?
A brother long not seen?
A neighbor’s child?
No, they were strangers – all,
So senselessly sacrificed in that far away jungle.
Honor THEIR memories. My father served as a turret gunner on a B-29 in the Pacific during World War Two. In 2009, I took him to his Bomber group reunion at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. At the National Museum of the USAF they had a cut-away of a B-29 fuselage. I video recorded him talking about the experience of their bombing missions. He shared stories with other veterans that I had never heard before. Six months later he died from complications after surgery.
The truth of our parents is that their lives were far more complicated than they ever let on. Honor them by remembering and sharing their stories.
Wise words indeed Scott, and an interesting share. It was nice to see those photos of your father and friends, and good to get a broader picture of who you are, and how your youth has shaped you. Sharing your experiences about the good and bad, the lessons you and your father learnt, show your humility, and your greatness.
Thank you for painting with words, the snap-shots of your Father's service, and your early memories, and though his and your Mother's memories are faded, I am sure they are proud of you for your service, and more. It is good to remember the deeds of those who helped make us what we are, and a great thing to share that knowledge and learned Wisdom with us.
I think that by sharing these personal things, you help remind us all of our humanity, our connections, and the value of listening to those who have worked hard for the Wisdom they share, the protection they gave. It is a timely gift to invite us all to remember that it is our connections with each other that make life worth living, and we should make the best and most of what we have in each other.
This was a big change of pace from your usual analysis of global political and military issues, but in a number of ways just as interesting. I welcome your efforts to combat the rampant Russophobia still so common in the US and sadly, here in Europe as well, and the fact that you come from a family of three generations of immersion in the US military makes it all the more impressive. I commend you for your respectful descriptions of those who came before you.
My own military experience was providentially brief due to being too young for Korea and too old for Viet Nam. Like Little George Bush, I avoided the draft by signing up to be a six month wonder of ROTC. About the same time, two of my closest friends from college were drafted and sent to Germany. One was given his own interview show in Stuttgart on Armed forces Radio . The other started as a clerk typist but quickly moved on to Chaplain's assistant, where he attended religious conferences all all over Europe until his night time comportment resulted in his reassignment to track coach for the base team. Almost made we wish I was drafted. I did take away one useful lesson from my time in uniform on the artillery ranges of Oklahoma. It made real to me the words of President Eisenhower's parting remarks, not long after my active duty, when he said, in effect, every warplane or tank that was produced was a school or a hospital that was not built. The waste of human and material assets in the military is staggering. He also warned of the growing military complex which is now, sixty-five years later, destroying the country and bringing the world to the brink of extinction.
The real thrust of your fine article is to remember to find the history and lessons of your antecedents sooner, while you still can, rather than later. Since I'm as old as your mother, I no longer have any older members of the family to ask things about. I have tried to help that quest by writing what I know of my family's past, and my own experience. I've kept a diary since I graduated from college, motivated initially by the feeling that my parents seemed like they were never young and apparently had no idea of what being young was like, and I did not want to forget it. It will probably be of no use or interest to my offspring but it has been helpful in keeping the record straight in my own writing of the past. The awareness of history seems to me the main thing that separates us from the animals that we share the planet with.
Thank you for sharing Scott. Wise words indeed. My father served in the last part of WWII and the Korean war. He didn’t like talking about it. His eyesight was not good enough to be a pilot. He served as a parachute rigger. He wrote a history of his marriage to my mother and his flying experience after the war, but nothing much during. We have a record he recorded and sent home to my mother during his service. They had that ability on some far flung air bases. They are 78 records. I wish I had more of them. We have some letters he wrote to my mother, but they are vague. History is lost mostly. Your recap and writing is valuable and important to your family history. I am sure your children will be appreciative.
Powerful reminder about the fragility of oral history. That moment at the Vietnam Memorial really captures how much weight those pilots carried, even decades later. Had a similar situation with my grandfather last year where questions I should have asked five years ago just hit a blank wall now. The bit about the unopened envelope for 60 years says alot about how some memories are too heavy to revisit until they're almost gone. Makes you realzie we're all walking around with questions we haven't asked yet.
Thank you very much for this interesting report. I am aware that these memories are very emotional for you. But nevertheless, I have to ask questions. I am sorry for being so direct.
The "Vietcong" / Viet Minh were Vietnamese. The North Vietnamese were Vietnamese. The South Vietnamese were Vietnamese. Who were the US Americans there? They were not Vietnamese. Before that, there were the French, the troops of Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese, the Portuguese, Chinese / Mongols there. Were they Vietnamese? How much Vietnamese blood did these foreign invaders spill? How much immeasurable suffering and destruction did they cause in this land of the Viets over the course of the centuries? After the liberation of Vietnam from the bloody occupation by the colonial power France (Battle of Dien Bien Phu), it was agreed that nationwide Vietnamese elections would be held. At that time, military troops from the USA and Great Britain were already in South Vietnam. When it became clear that the elections would turn out in favor of the North Vietnamese liberation movement under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and the South Vietnamese Viet Minh, the elections were sabotaged and the consequence of that was the "American War", which cost up to 3 million Vietnamese their lives. Incidentally, a similar scenario to that in Korea, which led to the Korean War. The history before the official narrative.
My Vietnamese mother-in-law weighed 46 kg at that time and ran under a hail of bombs, in the tropical jungle on the so-called "Ho Chi Minh Trail" many kilometers every day and carried 60 kg on her frail back. There was hardly anything to eat. She and hundreds of thousands of her comrades were not communists, but did it to free their country from the murderers of a foreign land. I knew people who had met Ho Chi Minh personally and every one of them reported the same story of a kind, gentle man who loved people. No monster, as Western propaganda describes him to this day. Who tells the story of the children from Hanoi who were sent to the countryside because Hanoi was bombed so terribly and who were nevertheless torn apart by B-52 bombers? Vietnamese who shared their childhood memories with me, how they found their schoolmates, with whom they had just laughed before, only as scattered pieces of flesh. Murdered by the US Air Force. By people whose names are engraved as "heroes" on those black stones.
I will not say anything more now about the horror in the Rhine Meadow camps in 1945 and also nothing about the area bombings of German cities. With high-explosive bombs to pave the way for the subsequent incendiary bombs to the children and women in the cellars. But okay, they were all Nazis and the Viet Minh and North Vietnamese evil communists. That justifies everything. They are the bad ones. Except that the Vietnamese were not allowed by the USA to decide for themselves how they wanted to live. That is something that continues worldwide until January 2026.
Putin must be overthrown and Russia divided into many small colonies under the administration of US corporations. And for this arrogance, a global nuclear war is risked. Likewise China. Although it is not China that is exercising violent imperial ambitions.
To belong to the truth, it is necessary to be honest.
Scott's Article WASN'T about the rights and wrongs of war, but his personal and familial experiences. What possible good reason have you for 'having' to ask Scott these questions? His article at no time glorified anything to do with that War, but was a recollection, that even you recognise. Why the hell should HE answer for the political shit that America is guilty of, when he was not even promoting it as just, or right? You didn't HAVE to ask these questions, you wanted to use his innocent recollections as a means to promote your own Narcissist points.
You won't say anything more - but do exactly that - you're another attacking Narcissist, that contrary to your claim of you recognising his article of being an emotional recollection, do the very opposite and prove not only did you not understand his article, but you didn't want to, and want instead to attack him with stupid questions, that he does not need to answer like he was personally guilty, or his Father was for the War in Vietnam.
Your questions aren't even questions, but condemnations disguised as questions, the purpose of which is to attack and try to undermine the value of what Scott wrote and shared of his own personal experiences.
If you want to tell the World about the horrors of Vietnam, go make your own Channel and tell the World about it there - don't use Scott's articles as an excuse to show off your narcissism.
Yep, I must admit that I find some obscenity to this public taking pride in the personal achievements of ancestors that contributed to stupendous collective acts of evil. No shame, no search for atonement. There’s no pride in people going along thoughtlessly with monstrous deeds of technological violence. I’m aware that the individuals themselves are what we would term decent human beings, even idealistic and full of good intentions but extremely misguided and to some point tribally minded. Perfect examples of the banality of evil that we all have to be wary of in ourselves.
Very moving and true. We all need to talk more about everything. The human mind is fragile and easily manipulated and the media has supplanted the family and community because we don‘t talk enough. Not accidental.
Thank you for sharing such an emotive yet top read with us, opening the window as you did into such a personal part of your wonderful fathers, yours, your families lives… indeed such a closely held part of a warriors life so willingly shared, the key salient understood… that we need to communicate more with those many of us would walk past, never giving of a second glance, who we all to frequently dismiss as innocuous, invisible , yet the rich tapestry of their lives lived would enthral if we only but got to know them… the absurdity of doing such so clearly enunciated and driven home in this wonderful essay.
Like many I’m sure upon moved by reading such a fitting tribute to your fathers , his brothers in arms, of a life lived to the fullest anchored by serving his country, in so doing serving others, of his decades of service and sacrifices made for a country and family so deeply loved and cherished…
The saddest takeaway however, then as now, the experience of loss, friends, comrades, continues to be such a crass and wanton waste of life, of health, of a future for so many, just as you rightly opine, cut down, always resulting from circumstances unable to be controlled, that they cut down can control, their lives forever altered whilst in their prime, it might be said they who made the ultimate sacrifice were the luckiest, exposed as they were to the horrors of war and conflict, with many, those like your dad enduring their forever suffering, doing so silently, such suffering being of and upon a scale we , those who dutifully give thanks for service unto those who served, simply despite such voiced gratitudes, cannot… will never ever comprehend, yet in doing as recommended, suggested by you, by actually giving of our time, getting to know and talking with those who like your father gave completely, selflessly we can actually learn, we can get to know and to learn.. so, so much, undoubtedly they can teach us so much, the futility of conflict, the waste of life itself.. squandered as so much has been, such men never grow old, they forever remain young, their lives hardened forever, certainly those lucky enough to pick themselves up and to make something of what remains of a life just as your father had, forged as it their lives were, had been in the hottest crucible of all, the battlefield…. respect and gratitude… you rightfully deserve to be proud of your dad, undoubtedly he be would and is just as proud of you and all you have done, continue to do for your nation, for humanity… stand and remain standing tall Marine … like your dad, you have picked up the baton carried it forward and in so doing earned the respect due …. just saying.
Thank you for sharing stories of your parents. You are very lucky they are still alive, and that you were able to salvage some documents that are both memories and history.
My father died decades ago. He rarely spoke about the war, though he served in the 88th Blue Devils and fought at the Battle of Casino. All I have now are his army-issued book detailing his division, his Purple Heart and his helmet liner, on which he painted the places he fought, ending with the army medic tent where his wounds were treated.
More recently, my brother inherited his partner’s childhood home. Her parents had been imprisoned in Japanese internment camps in California and preserved many artifacts from that period. When my brother sold the house, everything went in the trash. I managed to rescue a few documents, but so many of these artifacts should have gone to a museum to ensure that no American ever forgets the suffering this country inflicted on its own citizens while stealing their land and belongings.
You are also correct that our history is fading before our eyes. Oral tradition was never strong in modern white America, but as the attention of younger generations is increasingly captured by screens and algorithms, their experiences of the world are shrinking. One wonders whether they will even remember what it means to be human.
Regards to your Father, Scott!
In the late seventies or early eighties of last century two strange aircraft appeared in one military airfield in Poland. They were F-4 Phantom and F-5 Freedom Fighter. Later I learned that they were being sent from Vietnam to Soviet Union for evaluation and to re-create manuals, which were destroyed by Americans (or South-Vietnamese) in 1975. But Soviet Union was not so interested in this business and sent them to Poland. Polish authorities were eager to do so, but for the squadron of those aircraft from Vietnam. This was, of course, impossible due to lack of compatibility with East-Block standards. So those two aircraft were standing in the airfield behind fence. Unfortunately, one drunk (probably) truck driver crashed with the Phantom damaging its wing and making aircraft not flight-worthy. And the remaining F-5 was sent (for unknown for me reason) to the factory WSK/PZL Okecie in Warsaw. It found its place in the hangar used to maintain and store planes owned by factory and Instytut Lotnictwa (something like NACA in USA). Everybody which have access to this hangar were warned that we don’t even see this F-5 as it was secret. I was working that time as a Design Engineer on military turboprop trainer PZL-130 Orlik and was responsible for designing the canopy. My boss wanted me to look how canopy of F-5 looks like. The problem was to go through the bureaucratic barriers to get uncertain permission. Decision was to make this intelligence gathering by stealthy way. One Sunday, when hangar was without people, and especially without boss of the hangar, me, and other Engineer (working on cockpit ergonomics) were forced to climb wire fence to look closely to things of our interest. What surprised me was the easiness how it was possible to lift by hand very heavy canopy using a build-in lever. In my opinion it was “over-engineered”. The mechanism with multiple links and with multiple springs took so much space, that it would be possible to put other person instead. But it was working perfectly. Other interesting thing I noticed was the beautifully designed system of removing and replacing both engines. They were attached to the lower part of the fuselage and it was possible to remove them using nice cart. All systems (fuel, control, sensors, power, hydraulic and fire prevention) were coupled to the airplane automatically. I think that the process of replacing engines in the field could last 20 minutes.
Why I am writing this story? Well, it is possible that I was touching exactly the same aircraft as your Father. Yes, world is very small…
What a lovely, and commendable post, thank you for adding to Scott's post, and for sharing your interesting experiences. That added a welcome dimension to Scott's article.
You are the man of substance and honor, Major Scott Ritter. If we had presidents like you there would be peace, prosperity and harmony in the world. We need leaders of your great character and wisdom. Thank you for sharing your personal, and family stories.
Thank you Scott for those memories. You offer wise words in asking us all to spend more time with family and friends. I am 81 and often tell myself that I wish I had handled things differently. Yep, lessons learned, but too late.
I forget the year I visited the wall but it was 1980s. It was such a profound experience that I wrote this poem after visiting the wall and then added the last lines after we invaded Iraq :
I stood at The Wall and wept
Searching across the endless black length
Searching - A familiar name perhaps?
A friend from school?
A brother long not seen?
A neighbor’s child?
No, they were strangers – all,
So senselessly sacrificed in that far away jungle.
But at The Wall my soul met theirs long gone,
And I knew them – and wept.
No lesson learned there in that jungle
Just ego spreading its war machine
And souls now weep once more
For those lost in yet another war.
Touching poem.
Honor THEIR memories. My father served as a turret gunner on a B-29 in the Pacific during World War Two. In 2009, I took him to his Bomber group reunion at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. At the National Museum of the USAF they had a cut-away of a B-29 fuselage. I video recorded him talking about the experience of their bombing missions. He shared stories with other veterans that I had never heard before. Six months later he died from complications after surgery.
The truth of our parents is that their lives were far more complicated than they ever let on. Honor them by remembering and sharing their stories.
" When they are gone, the only thing you’ll have left of them are the memories you gather."
So true Scott , so true , bugger having troubles seeing the keyboard . All the best.
Wise words indeed Scott, and an interesting share. It was nice to see those photos of your father and friends, and good to get a broader picture of who you are, and how your youth has shaped you. Sharing your experiences about the good and bad, the lessons you and your father learnt, show your humility, and your greatness.
Thank you for painting with words, the snap-shots of your Father's service, and your early memories, and though his and your Mother's memories are faded, I am sure they are proud of you for your service, and more. It is good to remember the deeds of those who helped make us what we are, and a great thing to share that knowledge and learned Wisdom with us.
I think that by sharing these personal things, you help remind us all of our humanity, our connections, and the value of listening to those who have worked hard for the Wisdom they share, the protection they gave. It is a timely gift to invite us all to remember that it is our connections with each other that make life worth living, and we should make the best and most of what we have in each other.
Thankyou for sharing your father's service and indeed evoking the service of all the brave men and women this century
This was a big change of pace from your usual analysis of global political and military issues, but in a number of ways just as interesting. I welcome your efforts to combat the rampant Russophobia still so common in the US and sadly, here in Europe as well, and the fact that you come from a family of three generations of immersion in the US military makes it all the more impressive. I commend you for your respectful descriptions of those who came before you.
My own military experience was providentially brief due to being too young for Korea and too old for Viet Nam. Like Little George Bush, I avoided the draft by signing up to be a six month wonder of ROTC. About the same time, two of my closest friends from college were drafted and sent to Germany. One was given his own interview show in Stuttgart on Armed forces Radio . The other started as a clerk typist but quickly moved on to Chaplain's assistant, where he attended religious conferences all all over Europe until his night time comportment resulted in his reassignment to track coach for the base team. Almost made we wish I was drafted. I did take away one useful lesson from my time in uniform on the artillery ranges of Oklahoma. It made real to me the words of President Eisenhower's parting remarks, not long after my active duty, when he said, in effect, every warplane or tank that was produced was a school or a hospital that was not built. The waste of human and material assets in the military is staggering. He also warned of the growing military complex which is now, sixty-five years later, destroying the country and bringing the world to the brink of extinction.
The real thrust of your fine article is to remember to find the history and lessons of your antecedents sooner, while you still can, rather than later. Since I'm as old as your mother, I no longer have any older members of the family to ask things about. I have tried to help that quest by writing what I know of my family's past, and my own experience. I've kept a diary since I graduated from college, motivated initially by the feeling that my parents seemed like they were never young and apparently had no idea of what being young was like, and I did not want to forget it. It will probably be of no use or interest to my offspring but it has been helpful in keeping the record straight in my own writing of the past. The awareness of history seems to me the main thing that separates us from the animals that we share the planet with.
Thank you Scott, for stimulating such thoughts.
Thank you for sharing Scott. Wise words indeed. My father served in the last part of WWII and the Korean war. He didn’t like talking about it. His eyesight was not good enough to be a pilot. He served as a parachute rigger. He wrote a history of his marriage to my mother and his flying experience after the war, but nothing much during. We have a record he recorded and sent home to my mother during his service. They had that ability on some far flung air bases. They are 78 records. I wish I had more of them. We have some letters he wrote to my mother, but they are vague. History is lost mostly. Your recap and writing is valuable and important to your family history. I am sure your children will be appreciative.
Powerful reminder about the fragility of oral history. That moment at the Vietnam Memorial really captures how much weight those pilots carried, even decades later. Had a similar situation with my grandfather last year where questions I should have asked five years ago just hit a blank wall now. The bit about the unopened envelope for 60 years says alot about how some memories are too heavy to revisit until they're almost gone. Makes you realzie we're all walking around with questions we haven't asked yet.
Thank you very much for this interesting report. I am aware that these memories are very emotional for you. But nevertheless, I have to ask questions. I am sorry for being so direct.
The "Vietcong" / Viet Minh were Vietnamese. The North Vietnamese were Vietnamese. The South Vietnamese were Vietnamese. Who were the US Americans there? They were not Vietnamese. Before that, there were the French, the troops of Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese, the Portuguese, Chinese / Mongols there. Were they Vietnamese? How much Vietnamese blood did these foreign invaders spill? How much immeasurable suffering and destruction did they cause in this land of the Viets over the course of the centuries? After the liberation of Vietnam from the bloody occupation by the colonial power France (Battle of Dien Bien Phu), it was agreed that nationwide Vietnamese elections would be held. At that time, military troops from the USA and Great Britain were already in South Vietnam. When it became clear that the elections would turn out in favor of the North Vietnamese liberation movement under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and the South Vietnamese Viet Minh, the elections were sabotaged and the consequence of that was the "American War", which cost up to 3 million Vietnamese their lives. Incidentally, a similar scenario to that in Korea, which led to the Korean War. The history before the official narrative.
My Vietnamese mother-in-law weighed 46 kg at that time and ran under a hail of bombs, in the tropical jungle on the so-called "Ho Chi Minh Trail" many kilometers every day and carried 60 kg on her frail back. There was hardly anything to eat. She and hundreds of thousands of her comrades were not communists, but did it to free their country from the murderers of a foreign land. I knew people who had met Ho Chi Minh personally and every one of them reported the same story of a kind, gentle man who loved people. No monster, as Western propaganda describes him to this day. Who tells the story of the children from Hanoi who were sent to the countryside because Hanoi was bombed so terribly and who were nevertheless torn apart by B-52 bombers? Vietnamese who shared their childhood memories with me, how they found their schoolmates, with whom they had just laughed before, only as scattered pieces of flesh. Murdered by the US Air Force. By people whose names are engraved as "heroes" on those black stones.
I will not say anything more now about the horror in the Rhine Meadow camps in 1945 and also nothing about the area bombings of German cities. With high-explosive bombs to pave the way for the subsequent incendiary bombs to the children and women in the cellars. But okay, they were all Nazis and the Viet Minh and North Vietnamese evil communists. That justifies everything. They are the bad ones. Except that the Vietnamese were not allowed by the USA to decide for themselves how they wanted to live. That is something that continues worldwide until January 2026.
Putin must be overthrown and Russia divided into many small colonies under the administration of US corporations. And for this arrogance, a global nuclear war is risked. Likewise China. Although it is not China that is exercising violent imperial ambitions.
To belong to the truth, it is necessary to be honest.
Scott's Article WASN'T about the rights and wrongs of war, but his personal and familial experiences. What possible good reason have you for 'having' to ask Scott these questions? His article at no time glorified anything to do with that War, but was a recollection, that even you recognise. Why the hell should HE answer for the political shit that America is guilty of, when he was not even promoting it as just, or right? You didn't HAVE to ask these questions, you wanted to use his innocent recollections as a means to promote your own Narcissist points.
You won't say anything more - but do exactly that - you're another attacking Narcissist, that contrary to your claim of you recognising his article of being an emotional recollection, do the very opposite and prove not only did you not understand his article, but you didn't want to, and want instead to attack him with stupid questions, that he does not need to answer like he was personally guilty, or his Father was for the War in Vietnam.
Your questions aren't even questions, but condemnations disguised as questions, the purpose of which is to attack and try to undermine the value of what Scott wrote and shared of his own personal experiences.
If you want to tell the World about the horrors of Vietnam, go make your own Channel and tell the World about it there - don't use Scott's articles as an excuse to show off your narcissism.
Well said!
Yep, I must admit that I find some obscenity to this public taking pride in the personal achievements of ancestors that contributed to stupendous collective acts of evil. No shame, no search for atonement. There’s no pride in people going along thoughtlessly with monstrous deeds of technological violence. I’m aware that the individuals themselves are what we would term decent human beings, even idealistic and full of good intentions but extremely misguided and to some point tribally minded. Perfect examples of the banality of evil that we all have to be wary of in ourselves.
You're a natural storyteller Scott. Thank you
Very moving and true. We all need to talk more about everything. The human mind is fragile and easily manipulated and the media has supplanted the family and community because we don‘t talk enough. Not accidental.
Beautiful
Dear Scott,
Thank you for sharing such an emotive yet top read with us, opening the window as you did into such a personal part of your wonderful fathers, yours, your families lives… indeed such a closely held part of a warriors life so willingly shared, the key salient understood… that we need to communicate more with those many of us would walk past, never giving of a second glance, who we all to frequently dismiss as innocuous, invisible , yet the rich tapestry of their lives lived would enthral if we only but got to know them… the absurdity of doing such so clearly enunciated and driven home in this wonderful essay.
Like many I’m sure upon moved by reading such a fitting tribute to your fathers , his brothers in arms, of a life lived to the fullest anchored by serving his country, in so doing serving others, of his decades of service and sacrifices made for a country and family so deeply loved and cherished…
The saddest takeaway however, then as now, the experience of loss, friends, comrades, continues to be such a crass and wanton waste of life, of health, of a future for so many, just as you rightly opine, cut down, always resulting from circumstances unable to be controlled, that they cut down can control, their lives forever altered whilst in their prime, it might be said they who made the ultimate sacrifice were the luckiest, exposed as they were to the horrors of war and conflict, with many, those like your dad enduring their forever suffering, doing so silently, such suffering being of and upon a scale we , those who dutifully give thanks for service unto those who served, simply despite such voiced gratitudes, cannot… will never ever comprehend, yet in doing as recommended, suggested by you, by actually giving of our time, getting to know and talking with those who like your father gave completely, selflessly we can actually learn, we can get to know and to learn.. so, so much, undoubtedly they can teach us so much, the futility of conflict, the waste of life itself.. squandered as so much has been, such men never grow old, they forever remain young, their lives hardened forever, certainly those lucky enough to pick themselves up and to make something of what remains of a life just as your father had, forged as it their lives were, had been in the hottest crucible of all, the battlefield…. respect and gratitude… you rightfully deserve to be proud of your dad, undoubtedly he be would and is just as proud of you and all you have done, continue to do for your nation, for humanity… stand and remain standing tall Marine … like your dad, you have picked up the baton carried it forward and in so doing earned the respect due …. just saying.
Ka Kaha (Stay strong) From New Zealand
Thank you for sharing stories of your parents. You are very lucky they are still alive, and that you were able to salvage some documents that are both memories and history.
My father died decades ago. He rarely spoke about the war, though he served in the 88th Blue Devils and fought at the Battle of Casino. All I have now are his army-issued book detailing his division, his Purple Heart and his helmet liner, on which he painted the places he fought, ending with the army medic tent where his wounds were treated.
More recently, my brother inherited his partner’s childhood home. Her parents had been imprisoned in Japanese internment camps in California and preserved many artifacts from that period. When my brother sold the house, everything went in the trash. I managed to rescue a few documents, but so many of these artifacts should have gone to a museum to ensure that no American ever forgets the suffering this country inflicted on its own citizens while stealing their land and belongings.
You are also correct that our history is fading before our eyes. Oral tradition was never strong in modern white America, but as the attention of younger generations is increasingly captured by screens and algorithms, their experiences of the world are shrinking. One wonders whether they will even remember what it means to be human.