There has been much talk of rescinding the Stolen Valor Act recently. Of course, there has also been talk of striking a medal and awarding it for, of all things, “holding your fire”. In addition, there is much discussion of the rescission of Don’t ask, Don’t tell. All of these subjects have important implications for the military.

 

 

 

Regarding the Stolen Valor Act: This has particular resonance for Veterans of all wars While we here at  HCVets tend to focus our attention onVietnamera Vets, we extend our offer of assistance to all- most notably that new cohort from our latest military endeavors inSouthwest Asia. But with the recent revelation that Vietnam Vets seem to be dieing at at a rate exponentially higher than statistical models envisioned, we have recently noticed a marked increase in “pseudovets” for lack of  a better term. Perhaps it is just the economic downturn that pushes these unfortunate souls towards dishonesty to obtain food, shelter and sympathy..

 

 

 

During the last election cycle, before the recession was in full swing, I attended our local caucus meetings to elect our standard bearer for the 2008 Presidential election. A large vocal contingent was engaged in trying to bully us into support for Rand Paul. While I admired their fervor, I disdained their tactics of shouting down their opposition. They were led by what appeared to be a gentleman in his late fifties who described himself as a Vietnam Vet. Not a Vietnam era Vet, mind you, but the real McCoy replete with the black baseball cap emblazoned with the VSM, VCM and the NDSM.  I engaged the gentleman in conversation later, asked him what branch of the military he served in and a few other non-adversarial questions aboutVietnam (and Rand Paul). His answers were vague and didn’t jive. Finally I mentioned something about our ages and how he didn’t look like he was in his late fifties. He responded by saying he was born in 1958 and started getting grey hair in his late forties.

 

 

 

The DOB remark went over my head for about a day or two. The revelation came when I was helping another Vet with his hepatitis/PTSD claim. He had been there in late ’74 to help shut down an airpatch and delist  surplus USAF and AirAmerica aircraft for transfer to the ARVN Air Force. He enlisted fresh out of high school and was one of the last batch of USAF Airmen and Officers to DEROS prior to our ignominious exit from the roof top of theU.S.embassy on May 5th, 1975.

 

 

 

Not to digress, but Marines everywhere will fondly remember a line or two from this ditty:

 

Up on the Rooftop-click, click,click!

 

Must be the skids of a Huey slick

 

Yo ho ho- Time to go

 

Ho ho ho- its gonna blow (etc.)

 

 

 

(sung to the tune of Old Saint Nick)

 

Anyway, his date of birth was in October, 1957. He was 17 when he enlisted and mentioned that he had to get permission to sign up from his parents because he wasn’t 18 at the time of enlistment. This got me thinking about the “Vet” from the caucus. Even if HE was 17 at graduation when he enlisted, that would have been in June, 1975- fully one month after theU.S. ended its involvement in that “conflict”. This didn’t even allow for any basic or advanced training prior to deployment. Trust me when I say we were not actively shipping troops into RVN in the months immediately preceding our departure. This is one of several claims I have encountered that are impossible on their face. Another one is a claim by a sailor that he was aboard an A/C carrier in the Gulf ofTonkin in 1974 during the war at Yankee Station. You can google this, but the long and the short of it is that we abandoned Naval air ops against the NVA and the DRV (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) in 1972 in conjunction with theParis peace accords. Interestingly, the carrier in question was never assigned to the waters off Vietnam!

 

 

 

While this discussion has virtually no bearing on the subject of HCV, it has everything to do with honor- something we all have in common with our service to America. While we have no gripe personally with those who served proudly in Canada during the war, we do take umbrage with those who would attempt to falsely lay claim to honor  never earned.

 

 

 

As for creating a new medal that will encourage restraint in a free fire zone?  That will soon enough be hoisted on its own petard. Whoever dreamed up this concept obviously has never heard the sound of bumblebees zipping past his head @2100 ft./sec. nor the unmitigated fear in trying to make one’s ass as small as possible. Soldiers, and, by extension all military personnel, are indoctrinated  and schooled into a “warrior culture”. There is no room for personal interpretations of perceived danger. One does what he/she is ordered to do with very little forethought. Making everyone his own platoon leader replete with decision making powers is asinine and could only emanate from the mind of a progressive bent on trying to “civilize” the military. Attempts of this nature are most often the brainchild of REMFs, the first two letters of which stand for Rear and Echelon. You can usually identify these types by the large quantity of “I was there” medals, commendation medals, unit citation medals and the virtual absence of Purple Hearts, Bronze or Silver Stars, CIBs, CARs, Ranger tabs, etc.

 

 

 

I read recently that one of the critical reasons why we should revoke Don’t ask, don’t tell  is that it degrades “mission capability” and the morale of our combat troops. These same “experts” in Human Resources also tell us that homosexuals have served in the armed forces in all our conflicts with no ill effects. This is an oxymoron on its face. If depriving gays of the right to serve degrades mission capability, then we should never have won WW2, succeeded in Korea, or had any measurable success in either Iraqi conflict.The jury is decidedly still out on Afghanistan.  Ricocheting in the opposite direction and claiming no ill effects actually argues for continuing the policy as is. We at Asknod refuse to take sides. We do enjoy playing devil’s advocate just to stir up the controversy and to see if anyone reads these posts.

 

 

 

As usual, we will add our standard disclaimer that these are the views of the editors and do not necessarily reflect the wishes and desires of Management who cringe every time we opine on matters unrelated to HCV. If we have offended anyone we sincerely apologize.      

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