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Re: Railway Operating Battalion Personnel-that would be on topic.....
Author: BOB2
Date: 07-24-2017 - 08:57
I knew several "graduates" of the Army RR school at Fort "Useless" (AKA Fort Eustis) Virginia who worked on the Viet Nam RR during the war and later worked with me later at the SP...... They all had interesting stories about riding in armored rail cars, getting shot at, trains being mined, and what a fiasco and waste the whole mess was......
The dumbest war we ever fought, against the wrong people, in the wrong place, for the wrong reasons, based largely on unwarranted fears, sheer ignorance, and ego driven political pressures, sacrificing many good men, including a couple I knew personally, and a few women, wasting our nations treasure, reputation, and good will, to accomplish nothing......
Short load is probably too young to remember the war, but seems to like all of the "big caliber" macho stuff.... I worked in Madigan Army Hospital making "stump covers" and fitting prosthetics for returning amputee's, and so I must confess that I don't really understand the "macho" thinking of those who seem to worship war, and the "toys" of war, but don't seem to know much of its realities or horrific costs.
I am proud of those who served this country out of trust and love of our nation. I am not proud of any of the politicians, who were the idiots who betrayed that trust, and who sent them to Viet Nam, and kept this disaster going for years and years, long after they realized this was a horrible mistake, killing over a million Americans and Vietnamese, and wounding millions more, for their political ambitions.
Some are surprised that the Vietnamese seem to be so friendly to Americans. They understand we were mistaken, are amazingly forgiving of this tragedy, welcome us warmly, and let us ride their railroads..... It should not be a surprise, that American GI comes from a basically good and decent country, and those values matter more in the long run, and is what has lasted n their memories of us. Which is probably why, now that we've left Iraq, they seem to actually miss us a little bit over there, too.
What a long strange trip it's been.........
The dumbest war we ever fought, against the wrong people, in the wrong place, for the wrong reasons, based largely on unwarranted fears, sheer ignorance, and ego driven political pressures, sacrificing many good men, including a couple I knew personally, and a few women, wasting our nations treasure, reputation, and good will, to accomplish nothing......
Short load is probably too young to remember the war, but seems to like all of the "big caliber" macho stuff.... I worked in Madigan Army Hospital making "stump covers" and fitting prosthetics for returning amputee's, and so I must confess that I don't really understand the "macho" thinking of those who seem to worship war, and the "toys" of war, but don't seem to know much of its realities or horrific costs.
I am proud of those who served this country out of trust and love of our nation. I am not proud of any of the politicians, who were the idiots who betrayed that trust, and who sent them to Viet Nam, and kept this disaster going for years and years, long after they realized this was a horrible mistake, killing over a million Americans and Vietnamese, and wounding millions more, for their political ambitions.
Some are surprised that the Vietnamese seem to be so friendly to Americans. They understand we were mistaken, are amazingly forgiving of this tragedy, welcome us warmly, and let us ride their railroads..... It should not be a surprise, that American GI comes from a basically good and decent country, and those values matter more in the long run, and is what has lasted n their memories of us. Which is probably why, now that we've left Iraq, they seem to actually miss us a little bit over there, too.
What a long strange trip it's been.........
