Do any of you have veterans in your family? My Dad was fortunate in getting deferrals for the drafts in the Vietnam war. One of his best friends from Teton Valley died in Vietnam. My grandfather would have attended the naval academy in Annapolis but was rejected because of color blindness.
I've had two active duty students who were injured in Iraq. One had shrapnel in his leg from an IED that exploded near his vehicle. The other has been shot twice and turned down the purple heart because he says it gets awarded for trivial injuries. Our former bishop is currently in Afghanistan working on developing agricultural alternatives to the poppy crops for opium. His vehicle drove over an IED which failed to detonate.
Here is a link to the Veterans History Project. Go check out some of the stories. If you find one you like please refer us to it. The stories of our veterans create a lot of complex emotions for me. I admire their bravery and courage. I hope for a day when we will no longer study war.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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The only veterans in my family are my grandfathers. And, I don't know anyone personally who has been to Iraq or Afghanistan on active duty. It occurs to me that I'm probably too removed from this entire situation.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason we call him the Colonel, you know...because my dad is ACTUALLY a Colonel. One night Lesley got him talking about the order of things in the Army, and about Vietnam and he had A MILLION good stories. I was shocked, he usually doesn't say much, probably too busy eating at most Sunday dinners...
ReplyDeleteBut Dad was and is very critical of the whole Iraqi debacle. He's confided in me that he's glad I didn't join the army (although he was hoping I would when I was younger) because I easily could've gotten my a** shot off in Iraq (his words, not mine).