Plan B Forum

FYI for anyone not already aware, the next great Ken Burns/PBS documentary event:



The Vietnam War

I wonder if it will be as superficial and mawkish as his Civil War. I tried to watch that for the second time last year and had to give up in Episode 2. Still 'n all, he did a service by making the War of the Rebellion "popular" and it was a cut above the "Hystory Channel".

The war that kept on killing.

Many of my friends died in this war even after April 1975. Drug/alcohol addiction and subsequent overdoses, Agent Orange related cancers, battle fatigue (PTSD) and suicide, VA indifference, and a public who basically ignored them. Very few of the conscripted, grunt soldier, veterans, I grew up with are alive today.

I thank God that my family doctor -- who delivered me -- was thoughtful enough to add "active ulcers" to the nice letter that I eventually hand delivered to our fine military medical staff upon my arrival for my induction physical at 401 N. Broad St. in Philly in 1968. Who knew it would some day allowed me a modicum of "death with dignity."

I hope Ken Burns' documentary does not ignore this sad and pitiful aspect of that nasty war.

Kill 'em all... let God sort 'em out.

RayThom wrote:I thank God that my family doctor -- who delivered me -- was thoughtful enough to add "active ulcers" to the nice letter that I eventually hand delivered to our fine military medical staff upon my arrival for my induction physical at 401 N. Broad St. in Philly in 1968. Who knew it would some day allowed me a modicum of "death with dignity."

So you're saying you dodged the draft with a medical deferment, just like the POTUS did.

-"BB"-

MajGenl.Meade wrote:I wonder if it will be as superficial and mawkish as his Civil War. I tried to watch that for the second time last year and had to give up in Episode 2. Still 'n all, he did a service by making the War of the Rebellion "popular" and it was a cut above the "Hystory Channel".

I simply cannot agree with your description of Burns's Civil War - superficial and mawkish?! Did we watch the same 10 hours of video? The same program that won over 40 awards and is still the most-watched program in PBS history?

I know you consider yourself quite the amateur Civil War historian, but I call bullshit on that opinion.

Bicycle Bill wrote:... So you're saying you dodged the draft with a medical deferment, just like the POTUS did.

Oh, BB, 'dodged' is such an esoteric word, totally opened to interpretation. My doctor knew I wasn't fit for military service and didn't want his tax dollars wasted in an effort to "soldier me up" with very little chance of positive results. At the time I wasn't in a position to argue with his professional opinion. Today, however, I would argue vociferously but, hey, what's done is done. Plus he has been dead for years now.

Besides that, I was already in contact with a friendly group of people who had a job opportunity in Toronto so all worked out for the better. When all was said and done, I decided it was best to stay here, guarding the perimeters of Westinghouse Mgt. Systems, with my laminated, DOD security clearance permit around my neck.

And the rest, they say, is history.

Bicycle Bill wrote:

RayThom wrote:I thank God that my family doctor -- who delivered me -- was thoughtful enough to add "active ulcers" to the nice letter that I eventually hand delivered to our fine military medical staff upon my arrival for my induction physical at 401 N. Broad St. in Philly in 1968. Who knew it would some day allowed me a modicum of "death with dignity."

So you're saying you dodged the draft with a medical deferment, just like the POTUS did.

-"BB"-

And you served, when?

I wasn't old enough.... Nixon had already begun significant troop withdrawals even before the time I turned 18 at the end of November 1972 (missed voting in the '72 presidential election by less than a month) and didn't graduate from high school until June 1973.  By that time Nixon made his declaration that we had achieved "peace with honor" (January 1973) with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, with the last American troops having left Viet Nam by the end of March 1973.

However, I did register for Selective Services as required, receiving a preliminary administrative classification of '1-H' which meant (reading now from the card itself, which I still have in my possession with my other important papers) that I had complied with the requirement to register and, until such time as my classification changed to a class eligible for military training, my only obligation was to notify the SSS of any changes of address (it didn't until December 2008; by that time I was 54 years old and — I think — my liability to be called for training and service had long since expired).

I never felt the need to volunteer or enlist otherwise, although with hindsight being 20/20 I now look back and think that maybe I should have put in a stint with our locally-based National Guard unit.  Who knows how my life might have turned out had I done that?

-"BB"-

Bicycle Bill wrote:maybe I should have put in a stint with our locally-based National Guard unit.  Who knows how my life might have turned out had I done that?

-"BB"-

You would very likely have become a far bigger asshole; just as well you never spent time in the military.

Bicycle Bill wrote:
I never felt the need to volunteer or enlist otherwise, although with hindsight being 20/20 I now look back and think that maybe I should have put in a stint with our locally-based National Guard unit. Who knows how my life might have turned out had I done that?"

Oddly, many of my more well heeled co-workers did just that to avoid going to Vietnam... just like POTUS. It may not have been a medical deferment but it was done to avoid the bloody Vietnam conflict. Very few in the over all scheme of things went to Southeast Asia voluntarily.

58,307 dead. Unapologetically, I am not one of them. Praise the Lord.