Dear Donald, I hope you have a lovely Memorial Day. Enjoy some Kentucky
Last edited Sun May 28, 2017, 10:48 PM - Edit history (1)
Fried Chicken and all of your favorite gourmet foods. I will spend the day thinking of my brother, Joe, who was killed in a plane crash on his way to Vietnam and how they won't put the names of the 80 young Airman killed on that plane on the Vietnam Wall. I will think of how my Mom and Dad suffered, along with thousands of parents who lost sons and daughters in that worthless war. I will be thinking about my friend in college who hung himself the day he got his draft notice. I will be thinking about my friends who suffered and died from agent orange. And, Donald, I will thinking about you and how you had 4 deferments while playing college sports and how in the 90's, you said that avoiding STDS when you were single was your personal Vietnam. Let's not forget your good buddy, Ted Nugent, who soiled himself so that he wouldn't get drafted. So you have fun tomorrow, you horrible, horrible, disgusting thing. Sincerely, RCH
= new reply since forum marked as read
FDT
And that strange man doesn't deserve the salutes he's given.
Just a couple of days ago, here on DU, I was saying to another member that the bereaved parent/sibling "club" is a whole lot bigger than we ever realize until we become unwilling members of it.
My mother was terrified about Viet Nam, and would have encouraged my younger,and only, brother to defect to Canada. She said she would rather have run the risk of never seeing him again but knowing he was safe, than knowing he had been killed in a meaningless war. It ended before that became a decision he would have had to make.
Unfortunately, we ended up never seeing him again anyway, because he died in 1978 in a winter scuba diving adventure that ended badly -probable cold water induced arrhythmia, as autopsy did not show any water in his lungs.
He was my only sibling. Like your children, my sons have no uncle, nor any cousins. He was only 23, and had no kids. I am envious of big extended families. My husband has 3 younger sisters, all of whom married, but none had kids. How atypical is that? So, no cousins on that side either.
Loss softens somewhat over time, but whenever I hear someone say anything along the line of, "We're going over to my brother's (or sister's). My kids love hanging with their cousins," my heart gives a little lurch. I want to ask, "Do you know how lucky you are to be able to say that."
It also makes me sad when I hear about siblings who are estranged from one another. What a waste.
Please accept a cyber hug - 
Maybe will choke on his chicken.
....can your Congressperson take up a request for inclusion? That would be the honorable way to remember these fallen airmen. It only seems fair and the right thing to do. Kudos!
I'm very sorry you lost your brother to that terrible war.
