|
SPIRITUAL WARRIOR
Editor Bill McDonald Issue #3 Memorial Day 2000
HOLIDAY REMEMBERED
Most people enjoyed this holiday out with their family, camping, boating
or just enjoying all the things that this holiday provides. How many stopped to
reflect on just what this holiday is all about? The many men and women who have
given all that they can give their very lives deserve at least a few
moments of our collective time and memory as a society. Each veteran who died in
service to this country was a hero. None of them ran away to Canada or
choose to hide behind any draft deferments. We should honor all those who put it
on the line when it was asked of them. May God bless this nation, that we may
we never have to erect another black marble wall of tears.
HMONG WARRIORS SEEK U.S. CITIZENSHIP
There had been a 10 year lobbying effort in Congress to pass a bill to ease
the process for the thousands of Hmong veterans and their families to become
citizens. It was only on May 26th of this year, that the President
was able to sign into law that bill.
The Hmong veterans who served as soldiers in a secret CIA-led war in the
remote mountains of Laos and Vietnam during the Vietnam War deserved much
better treatment after the war. This is at least a beginning for some
recognition for their efforts. The new law waives normal English language
requirements and eases civics tests for up to 45,000 Hmong veterans and their
spouses who fought between Feb, 28, 1961 and Sept. 18, 1973.
AGENT ORANGE HAS ANYONE EVER GOTTEN ANYTHING?
It seems after all these years that the only people who made any money off
the Agent Orange settlement with the government were all the lawyers. I hope
that those veterans suffering from Gulf War illnesses do better.
According to the latest studies 15% of those who served in the Gulf War have
complained of mysterious chronic symptoms since then including joint and
muscle pain, headaches, insomnia, confusion and depression and some have
suffered serious neural illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrigs
disease.
A recently published report from the science journal RADIOLOGY shows that
the $3 million study, raises new implications that troops in the Persian Gulf
war might have been exposed to low levels of sarin nerve gas. The study shows
that of those veterans studied in this research, show significant damage in the
brain stem area. (The research was done by the University of Texas Southwestern
medical Center and sponsored by the Pentagon).
COLONEL MAGGIE MARTHA RAYE
Those of us Vietnam Veterans who where blessed by a visit from Martha Raye
we will always remember her in the most fondest of ways. I remember when she
came to Phu Loi to entertain and talk to us. There were no newspaper reporters
or TV coverage. She was there all alone and spent a good part of the morning
talking to all of us guys from the 128th Assault Helicopter Company
and from the other small units that shared our base camp. She sat on the edge of
a dirty flat bed truck in the hot sun.
She had been up visiting some of the remote Special Forces Camps that week,
where she not only entertained but also treated the wounded. She was always
putting to use her nursing skills and even assisted in surgery at some of the
MASH units. (At Soc Trang in 1967, she spent her performance time in the
operating room instead of on stage. Then, after spending some 13 hours in
surgery, she went out to the wards to joke and talk with the soldiers there.)
Ms. Raye held the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Special Forces.
She was honored with a burial at the military cemetery at Fort Bragg, N.C. upon
her passing.
For more information on this very special women hero go to the following
web site: www.dtic.mil/soldiers/aug95/p53.html
ALMOST 250,000 VETS
BEHIND PRISON WALLS
Recent Bureau of Justice Statistics show the following with regards to
veterans in prisons:
5 in every 6 incarcerated veterans were honorably discharged.
80 percent of those veterans in prison report having saw no combat during
their military service.
In 1998 about 56,500 Vietnam War-era veterans and 18,500 Persian Gulf War-
era veterans were being held in state and federal prisons.
The prison population of veterans rose from 154,600 in 1985 to about
225,700 in 1998. The veteran inmate population was only 12 percent of the
total inmate population in 1998.,
Among violent state prisoners, the average sentence of vets was 50 months
longer than the average of non-vets for the same crime.
The majority of veterans in prison are white.
The average incarcerated veteran is 10 years older than the non-veteran
inmates.
So, if the Bureau is saying that there are almost 250,000 veterans in prison
and only 56,500 are Vietnam veterans that means the remaining 193,500 or so
are from WWI, WWII, Korea, and the Cold War Era this is not the picture that
America has been getting in the movies or in the newspapers. One would think
that the Vietnam Veterans were the majority in prison. We are not the image that
we have been portrayed to be by the media.
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
There is a book that is highly recommended for veterans and families of
veterans. It is full of very useful information that you may need at one time or
another. That book is called: VETERANS BENEFITS THE COMPLETE GUIDE,
by Keith D. Snyder and Richard E. ODell with Craig Kubey. It is published by
Harper Perennial. It comes in a soft cover edition and you should be able to get
it at most book stores or online.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Just wanted to thank all those people who have given time and money in
support of this web site and the mission we are trying to carry out. You are
making it possible for veterans to find information and assistance. You are also
helping build an bridge for future generations to find some understanding of
what Vietnam was like for those who served there. You are an important link in
communicating that experience. Thank you!
FEATURED WEB PAGES
For those interested in web sites about other assault helicopter companies in
Vietnam the 173rd AHC has a wonderful site at www.robinhoods.net
The 173rd was a sister company to the 128th AHC. They
also had one of many crew members awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor ( SP4
Gary G. Wetzel - there is some information on the web pages about his
experiences.) The 173rd was known as the Robin Hoods
their gunships were called the Crossbows. It is well worth a
visit to these web pages.
THE TIME TO HEAL
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every
matter under heaven
a time to kill, and a time to heal."
Ecclesiastes 3.1,3
"For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will
heal, says the Lord."
Jeremiah 30.17
It is time to forgive the past (not forget it) and move onward with our
lives. We need to let the healing begin within. We can no longer afford to keep
those old wounds open the time for healing is now! It has always been now.
We not victims. We were young warriors on a spiritual journey in search of who
we are. Never apologize for following your path. We had to face our own
destinies - some in the rice paddies of Nam, others in their own souls. But we
had brothers in those jungles and in the skies over head. We were collectively
making history happen leaving our signature on time, that no one will ever
forget. God surely walked the point with all of us then! He is still leading
the only question is "are you following Him?"
Return to Menu
| 
