Thanks to Vietnam Vets for continued service!

by Tom
(North Carolina)

My friends and I were too young for Vietnam. We were too old for Iraq and Afghanistan. We know this because we checked!

We are not completely naive about war. We know (only as well as one who has never been to war) how difficult it can be. We just had a near compulsion to substitute ourselves for a younger American. No matter how bad, we would rather it be us than them. We have done some things in life, but we have not yet served our country.

We felt we could serve, but the armed forces felt otherwise.

When our attempts were exhausted, the question was asked "What can we do to help?"

One friend said "We can make damn sure that if anyone tries to run these kids down the way they did our older brothers, that we are there to protect them! If they defend us overseas, we can defend them on our own soil. And if some altercation results and we get arrested, we can serve time in jail with a sense of pride that we did what little we could do under the circumstances presented to us."

I hope you Vietnam vets will understand from the above that much of the love, respect, and admiration of the present day troops (from those only a bit younger than you) is actually meant for you as well.

It was inspired by you, and is at least in part a reaction to how you were treated. In your honor, people like me will not allow today's troops to be mistreated in any way.

Therefore, thanks for your CONTINUING service to our country. The impact of your service is still being felt, and will for years to come.