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Robert Hall

I thought I would repost Archibald MacLeish's statement in honor of the Viet Nam War dead.  There is always a fine line between patriotism and jingoism. 

Robert Hall

A bright note in the news recently was the vote in Ireland restoring women's rights to choose after 25 years of severe restrictions.

Nora Skinker (Morton)

I suppose Ms. Casey would point out that taking words out of context is a pitfall to comprehension. I often see in politics that adversaries will pluck out literal statements & draw negative conclusions about that person or position. It seems to go with the territory. You see, I thought you saw that I was listing other aspects of illegal immigration which are cruel & sad as well as the cruel decision to separate families. Am glad you drew attention to that misconception & it wasn’t just a “gotcha” moment on the forum. But, not to worry. All good. 

Robert, I too am glad that under certain circumstances abortion in Ireland is being considered. I do hope abortion doesn’t become a source of contraception as it has become here in the States & that there will always be a voice heard & highly considered for the unborn. 

Glen, it’s the final series! Here we go again! 🤞

Jack Mallory

A memorial day in at an 11th Cav firebase in Vietnam, 1969. Not the three day weekend kind, not the free lunch for vets at Hooters kind.

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Thank you so much Jack or sharing that photo of the troops on Memorial Day in 1969. Love, Joanie

Glen Hirose

Jack,

Were you a member of the 11th Armor Cavalry Regiment; were they at Ft .Knox 1966-67?

Jack Mallory

Glen—yes, I was, and no, they weren’t. They went to Vietnam in 1966, I joined them in 1969. 

A random thought occurred to me, looking at the photo. Who in the hell had polish for the boots, and where did the damn SWORD come from? Chaplain's assistant must have been responsible for both. 

Glen Hirose

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but OD green is one of my least favorite colors. Maybe it was because flecks of it always ended up in the B1-A canned ham / eggs.  

Jack Mallory

OD is part of the overall theme of dark green that colors my memories of Vietnam, along with the reddish-brown dust or mud of the laterite soil. 

Jack Mallory

“Happy” Memorial Day. It's all about ME. They died so I could use their deaths to puff MY administration, and so I could get off some shots at my critics. 

This is enough to gag a maggot. 

Glen Hirose

Private First Class Harold Schultz appears in the iconic World War II image of U.S. soldiers raising the American flag on Iwo Jima — and not John Bradley, but like the true Hero he was never admitting that the Corp had made a mistake. Instead he died in 1995 taking this secret to his grave.

Nora Skinker (Morton)

OR he might be wishing all of us (including those who hate his guts) an enjoyable holiday and reminding us how lucky we are to be in a great, prosperous country where people like YOU are willing to go to war to keep it thriving.  And, rough & inarticulate as he is, there's something to be said for knowing no one else wrote the words for him. 

Jack Mallory

Nora, show the President the respect he deserves. This was not an "inarticulate" remark; he said exactly what he meant to say--he is a truly sincere narcissist. He can tell us what hundreds of thousands of those who have died in our wars over the last 250 years or so would think: that he's a great President. And he thinks tweeting about Memorial Day is a perfectly suitable occasion to attack Americans who oppose him by labelling them haters and losers. 

And while you're showing respect, show me enough to presume that I know better than you why I went to war. Not to keep the country thriving, as you claim, but because I had been profoundly deceived into believing that defending the United State required imposing a particular form of government on the people of Vietnam. Today, I mourn the loss of nearly 60,000 Americans as a result of that deceit, and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, and others as well. 

Nora Skinker (Morton)

And, though I hear what you say, it is because of people like YOU who were & are willing to go when called, that we have this day of deep appreciation. Whether Trump is a “whatever name you want to call him”, he IS our President & is proud of the direction the country is going. I see his intentions quite differently than you. The good news is that we (like Trump) are free to openly express ourselves & that too, is because of people like you. 

Nora Skinker (Morton)

Well, Glen, 4 from Fleury is a good thing but still  

😢

Jack Mallory

Joan Ruggles was kind enough to send me this. The Wall is a magnet for Vietnam vets, even post mortem. 

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/28/612980545/human-ashes-left-at-the-vietnam-memorial-find-a-not-final-resting-place

Jack Mallory

Sorry, Nora, looks like you were right:

See remarks by deceased Revolutionary War, WWII, and Vietnam War vets. https://www.duffelblog.com/2018/05/trump-memorial-day-tweet-jfc-that-was-real/

Nora Skinker (Morton)

Nor should they, or any of us, rest knowing now the full tragedy that disastrous war incurred.

How tenderly touching, Joan. And thank you for allowing the rest of us to read it, Jack. I pray others will discover ways to balance pain by helping those still suffering, as you have. 

Robert Hall

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

In general, regarding movies, I saw RBG a few days ago, and it is an amazing moving film about Ruth Bader Grinsberg. I wept at times while seeing it as it is so powerful and it tells her story including her falling in love with her high school sweetheart and her fight for equal rights for women, etc. I want to see it again. Love, Joanie  

Jack Mallory

Robert—glad you liked the documentary. I haven't seen it yet, no TV, but waiting for it to stream. In the small world that we live in, it was the brainchild of my ex, JoAnna Baldwin Mallory, as Karl Marlantes explains in this miIitary.com article. 

https://www.military.com/undertheradar/2018/05/23/vietnam-vet-karl-marlantes-going-war-and-how-he-wrote-matterhorn.html

Robert Hall

Jack Mallory

Right, Robert. "Hero." Give me fingernails on a blackboard anytime. Hell, maybe even a colonoscopy. One reason I can't go to Memorial Day or Veterans Day events. Always some politicians going on about all of us "heroes." Ain't but a few heroes, and I'm not one of them. Worked hard not to be.

**************

Gotta keep looking, never know what you'll stumble on. Just found this about two miles from home. A whole new environment, never knew it was there. 

Went back at the end of the day, got this one:

Glen Hirose

Jack,

Beach the kayak, and search for dinosaur bones; you could end up being famous. Plus if you discover a new species you get to name it. Malloryosaurus; yea I like that.

Jack Mallory

During the more boring moments in Vistnam (of which there were many) we would argue whether you should run for cover from incoming rounds, or would you then just run INTO an incoming round?