Sower Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 14 Topic Count: 32 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 5,259 Content Per Day: 0.97 Reputation: 5,865 Days Won: 1 Joined: 07/09/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted March 10, 2023 1 hour ago, bropro said: My worst job by far was, well some of you will be able to figure it out via this picture. Thankfully it was only a 2 day job. A no brainer. Background appears a four hole-er, and to the right an officers only. At least you understood to slide them out before torching them off!! I had my turn. A real crappy job............ Somebodies gotta do it.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bropro Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 4 Topic Count: 16 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 212 Content Per Day: 0.10 Reputation: 314 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/29/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted March 10, 2023 18 minutes ago, Sower said: A no brainer. Background appears a four hole-er, and to the right an officers only. At least you understood to slide them out before torching them off!! I had my turn. A real crappy job............ Somebodies gotta do it.... I read somewhere that some of the veterans had some health issues from this. Gary 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sower Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 14 Topic Count: 32 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 5,259 Content Per Day: 0.97 Reputation: 5,865 Days Won: 1 Joined: 07/09/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted March 10, 2023 10 minutes ago, bropro said: I read somewhere that some of the veterans had some health issues from this. Gary Burning diesel wasn't the best thing to be breathing, for sure, but it sure wasn't the worst thing that could happen to us over there, either. Some memories help appreciate how blessed we really are. Like life... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bropro Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 4 Topic Count: 16 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 212 Content Per Day: 0.10 Reputation: 314 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/29/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted March 10, 2023 9 minutes ago, Sower said: Burning diesel wasn't the best thing to be breathing, for sure, but it sure wasn't the worst thing that could happen to us over there, either. Some memories help appreciate how blessed we really are. Like life... I hear you brother. Agent orange is still taking it's toll on a lot of Vets. I have a 60% rating for ischemic heart disease myself. But I am blessed that I'm still kicking. Gary 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sower Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 14 Topic Count: 32 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 5,259 Content Per Day: 0.97 Reputation: 5,865 Days Won: 1 Joined: 07/09/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted March 10, 2023 47 minutes ago, bropro said: I hear you brother. Agent orange is still taking it's toll on a lot of Vets. I have a 60% rating for ischemic heart disease myself. But I am blessed that I'm still kicking. Gary Ischemic heart disease among viet vets is automatic VA health care (wow) and disability compensation. A friend near me, viet grunt, soon died with major agent orange complications, and then his son worked at the VA in the claims division. I was told with the medical problems I had he could get me 90% right off, and probably 100%. I chose to stay away from any gov ties, amen, and trust God. At 76yrs, working at my business still, God has kept me going. The $ I would have received would have probably kept me lazy/lethargic and overweight, and unfit I believe. Vets rate help for sure, they paid the price, yet everybody else now has got their hand on some gov tit, so somebody has to work, and I am glad/fortunate I am able. I am glad vets today at least are finally being taken care of, mostly. We were fortunate, Gary... Another Gary, In Him Who is Semper Fidelis 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marathoner Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Royal Member Followers: 16 Topic Count: 71 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 10,165 Content Per Day: 7.07 Reputation: 13,136 Days Won: 98 Joined: 05/24/2020 Status: Offline Share Posted March 10, 2023 1 hour ago, bropro said: I read somewhere that some of the veterans had some health issues from this. Gary Yes. Burn pits were brought to the forefront from Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan, but the same thing happened in Vietnam. Vietnam vets blazed a trail for everyone else in forcing the VA to recognize the price that so many of us paid serving in the zones. We might make it and return home, but the legacy of our service comes with us. That's something we do with our veteran clients, brother. Most don't have access to records like their DD-214, so the VA denies their service (and care). They lost drivers licenses, birth certificates, etc. Many qualify for VA disability (service connected). We had a Vietnam vet who the VA didn't recognize for decades, so one of our case managers worked hard at getting all of his ducks in row. When the VA looked at those ducks, this vet was granted 100% service connected disability. The VA back-paid him starting from the day he separated from the Army... it was a considerable sum of money. A few months later, the Department of the Army sent a letter to this case manager... she's a vet herself... lauding her for efforts on behalf of this man. She was awarded a civilian citation for her work. The Lord provides. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis1209 Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 18 Topic Count: 347 Topics Per Day: 0.13 Content Count: 7,479 Content Per Day: 2.70 Reputation: 5,382 Days Won: 1 Joined: 09/27/2016 Status: Offline Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 3 hours ago, bropro said: My worst job by far was, well some of you will be able to figure it out via this picture. Thankfully it was only a 2 day job. Oh yes, after 50+ years, the stench is still fresh in my nostrils. The first day or two in the country, I suppose for a humbling experience, we were assigned to fill sandbags or burn and stir waste with diesel fuel. It was also used as a punishment if you messed up, which was not bad enough for Article 15. Fortunately, they gave me sandbag duty for only a day. That duty was generally contracted out to the Vietnamese. For $10.00 a month MPC, we hired "hooch maids" to clean our sleeping area, shine our boots, and do our laundry daily; what a bargain. In retrospect and for conversation, I wish I had taken a picture like that for memory's sake. Showing my children that if they do not behave and do well in school, they will end up doing this for a living. 😊 Growing up, my dad told me on occasion, "son, if you do not straighten up and do better in school, you will be digging ditches for a living." If I had taken a picture of that when I returned from Vietnam, I would have presented it to my father and said, "Dad, it was worse than you warned." LOL. Our "honey pots" were just off this old photo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sower Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 14 Topic Count: 32 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 5,259 Content Per Day: 0.97 Reputation: 5,865 Days Won: 1 Joined: 07/09/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted March 10, 2023 1 hour ago, Dennis1209 said: Shangrila...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marathoner Posted March 10, 2023 Group: Royal Member Followers: 16 Topic Count: 71 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 10,165 Content Per Day: 7.07 Reputation: 13,136 Days Won: 98 Joined: 05/24/2020 Status: Offline Share Posted March 10, 2023 I have a different perspective of benefits afforded to veterans. These aren't hand-outs or freebies. Those who avail themselves of care they qualify for (the approval process is grueling) aren't perpetrating a fraud or walking down easy street. The fellow I wrote about earlier had been homeless for most of my time on this earth. His situation isn't unique. There's a tradition of trashing the needy in this country that, among those who profess the name of the Lord, is shameful to witness. Shameful, and opposed to the teaching of the Lord and His apostles. There is a kind of person whose teeth are like swords and his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind. (Proverbs 30:14 NASB) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bropro Posted March 11, 2023 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 4 Topic Count: 16 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 212 Content Per Day: 0.10 Reputation: 314 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/29/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted March 11, 2023 5 hours ago, Dennis1209 said: Oh yes, after 50+ years, the stench is still fresh in my nostrils. The first day or two in the country, I suppose for a humbling experience, we were assigned to fill sandbags or burn and stir waste with diesel fuel. It was also used as a punishment if you messed up, which was not bad enough for Article 15. Fortunately, they gave me sandbag duty for only a day. Yep, there is nothing on this planet that compares to the stench of diesel fuel burning human waste, then having to stand there and stir it for 2 or more hours in the extreme heat. It seemed that wherever I stood, the wind would shift and it would blow it in my face. Sandbags were no fun either. 5 hours ago, Dennis1209 said: That duty was generally contracted out to the Vietnamese. For $10.00 a month MPC, we hired "hooch maids" to clean our sleeping area, shine our boots, and do our laundry daily; what a bargain. We were never in a place that we could hire out our laundry. In '68 we were on a hill for 77 days, and the only shower I got was when it rained 3 days out of that 77. No water to do laundry. Oh the days we lived in back then. I'm glad they are over, but wouldn't trade them for anything. Have a blessed evening Dennis. Gary 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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