Feels like home to me

Vietnam Veterans Reunion


Last Sunday the Nam Knights along with every other motorcycle group escorted the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall through the streets of Melbourne FL. The annual Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion began.



It gets harder and harder for me to overcome my heartache when so many people avoid one of the most important minorities in this country. We hear about the rights of African Americans and argue about Spanish immigrants in this country legally and illegally all the time. We seem to know more about them along with the latest scandal involving politicians, another minority, just as we hear abundant news regarding the celebrity scandals and their personal lives. What some people find important stories to know about astounds me.

When I am with people with no connection to the veterans or anyone serving today, I feel like I have very little to talk to them about. My Dad and all my uncles served in WWII and Korea. My husband's Dad and three uncles served in WWII, with one of them killed in action and another being so traumatized by his ship sinking that he had what was then called "shell shock" spending the rest of his life living on a farm. My husband, a disabled Vietnam Veteran and his nephew ended up with PTSD. My husband receives help to stay stabilized but his nephew ended up committing suicide. Veterans are a huge part of my life but few seem to understand or even care.

This blog alone is a great indication of the lack of attention the general public delivers. The most read post I've done on this blog or my older ones was about a Marine tossing a puppy off a cliff. The stories of heroism were passed over. The stories about suicides were passed over. Very little is read. When my videos were on YouTube, they were watched thousands of times while other videos were watched millions of times on various topics from comedy, to music, to people behaving like idiots looking for laughs.

Some people say they can't understand because they didn't serve. I didn't serve either but because I am personally involved, I'm personally committed to them.

23rd Annual Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion
April 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 , 2010 at Wickham Park Melbourne, Florida
Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall®, April 18th - 25th, 2010

AGENDA FOR SATURDAY 4/24

10:00 AM - Line up for Massing of the Colors, back of Amphitheater
11:00 AM - Opening Ceremonies/Massing of the Colors
12:00 PM - LZ Helicopter Landing
1:00 PM - Two of Diamonds
2:00 PM - Doc Holiday
2:30 PM - Sweetwater Junction Band
3:30 PM - Patience Mason, at the Wall, Recovering from War - PTSD
4:00 PM - Doc Holiday
4:30 PM - Catlin Wehrly
5:30 PM - Suncoast Vietnam Vets "The Last Patrol"
6:00 PM - John Steer
6:45 PM - Doc Holiday
7:00 PM - Michael J Martin
8:30 PM - Doc Holiday
9:00 PM - Viva Rock Band
http://floridaveteransreunion.com/

This soldier was touched by the Wall and we talked for a little while. I thanked him for serving, which to some seems like a very small thing to do but considering that it is a certainty he enlisted, it was the least I could do. Vietnam veterans came home and no one thanked them.

But just as with years before the crowds came to see old friends and to honor the friends left behind. They came together to share stories and to remember that while few others will understand and even less will appreciate what they did, there is a bond that has yet to be broken.

Being with them feels like home to me so that I am able to help other generations and I never forget that the knowledge I have, the training I've taken, was all possible because of what they did when they came home and no one cared about them. They fought to have PTSD treated and compensated for. They made all the trauma related services possible, but again, few understand this. Yet another minority taken care of because veterans cared enough to make a difference. Not just for themselves, but for all generations. Not just for people with military histories to tell, but for all civilians affected by traumatic events.

So Monday I go back to work after a few hours of posting and talk to people without the slightest clue what it is like to be with these men and women, to talk to them and go beyond showing up for parades or to honor a coffin coming home. In my deepest prayers are prayers that everyone will embrace the chance to get to know them and really understand that for all we have, we owe most of it to them. No one likes war but we forget they would rather not have to go into combat either. No one wants war but we have them to thank when they are willing to go. If the subject comes up, it will be quickly changed by someone and I'll go with the flow until I come home and catch up on the emails and reports few others will ever read.

It's not like I have any real choice in the matter. Once you know them, once you understand them, once you really pay attention to all they go through, there is no way of going back to being oblivious. They make this all feel like home to me.