Category: buddy

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The Time Spent Deployed, Can be Frightening. Here’s a Story That Isn’t

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What a week I have had.

My back went belly up on me last Saturday, and I have been suffering ever since. I am taking Tylenol to help.

Today I went to have a blood test done. I turned to go into the parking lot, and I was amazed to see at least a hundred cars lined up to get tested for the virus. There is panic here. In my county there have been many people coming down with the virus. The blood test came out great, and I got out of there as fast as I could.

There are other problems, but I am through whining for now.

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Did you take advantage of all the free things for Veteran’s Day?

I hope you did. You certainly deserve it. I told you in a previous post that my Veteran’s Day day was being at the Oregon Coast. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the little town I went to was having a Veteran’s Day event. They were right across the street where I was getting a haircut.

I so wanted to join them. I could see all the American Legion hats, and they were hugging and really enjoying themselves. My haircut took too long and the event was over. However, it felt good to see such a small town gathering to honor our veterans.

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I will share another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

I have chosen one about a Vietnam veteran that is from the same town that I got my heair cut at. It is the town of Waldport, Oregon.

He shared with me a story that was very positive and hard to find from soldiers of the ERA.

He said:

” I was sitting on the ground with a buddy, when I looked up into the trees. There were a bunch of monkeys up there playing around. I told him I would love to have one of those monkeys as a pet. ” His buddy said he would take care of that. He cut a hole in a coconut, drained all the milk out of it, and place a quarter inside it.

The Veteran then told me, “My buddy put the coconut out in the middle of an opening with a string attached to it. Sure enough the monkey’s saw the glittering of the quarter on the inside of the coconut and soon there were several nearing the coconut. One monkey reached inside to try to get the quarter out and my buddy yanked on the string catching the monkey with his arm stuck in to coconut. He pulled the monkey next to me and I got ahold of him..”

That started a long friendship with the monkey. The veteran even made a home for him to live in. It had a grass bed, food and drink there for him, and things were going great. The monkey really bonded with him to the point that he could let the monkey out and sit with him. He didn’t run away.

Well, some odd things started happening.

The other men were complaining that things had been stolen from their personal stash of food. Yes, it was the monkey. One soldier threatened to get rid of the monkey if he didn’t keep control of it. The monkey kept stealing food.

Then the other soldier had enough. He grabbed the money. He made a miniature parachute for him and threw him over a cliff.

The veteran was very upset that this had happened. He became depressed.

It was a couple days later, and as the whole group was gathered, this brave little monkey came strolling into the camp with the parachute still attached to him.

The veteran was ecstatic.

He had gotten his monkey back. I couldn’t get much more out of this brave veteran. This rest of his story was too sad for him to tell. I did find out that he was severely wounded, and received the Purple Heart. He ended up with a drinking problem, but overcame that with the help of his wife.

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Checking in..

How are your doing my friend? The times are difficult at best. The pandemic, and rioting. Not knowing who will be our next president, and much more.

The days like we have been having can drag you down . It can push you to the edge. I know, I was on the edge way back in 2001. I was ready to check out of this hotel called earth. I came to my senses and got help. I am still here to be able to write to you.

If you are overwhelmed, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7, and it is free. There are highly trained counselors there the help you. They will not hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

Please call if you need it.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. I want to reach out to as many veterans as possible.

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Interesting Stories From the Military Trenches

+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. Your comments will not be seen by other people, just me, and I will connect with you to see if you are OK to share it.

I was thinking back to my military days. Some days were OK, but others not as much. Today I am going to share some of the times I had while enlisted. I am not sure how much I will share, because some are pretty intense.

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While in basic, There was a scary, but good outcome that happened. We had a Native American who was drafted into the Army. He was not a happy camper, and let everyone know about it including our drill sergeant.

Finally our drill sergeant told him to stop whining. He told our drill sergeant to &%#! off. Sergeant McDonald told him to give him ten pushups for saying that. The soldier wouldn’t do it. So Sergeant McDonald told him to come into his room at the head of the barracks.

We all assumed there was going to be a fight. We were right. The native American was strong looking, and SGT MacDonald was only about 5′ 8. We all thought the native American would win. WRONG!!

We heard crashing and groaning. More crashing and groaning. Then it got very quiet. The door opened and SGT Macdonald came staggering out. He looked like he had been hit by a truck. We assumed he had lost.

Then we looked in into his room and the native American was out cold. Our drill SGT won the battle!! SGT MacDonald won all our praise. Even the native American liked him after their fight.

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While in South Korea we had what was called R&R (Rest and recuperation. ) It was me and another buddy’s turn to go. It was a full week, All paid by the military including air fare and a hotel room in Tokyo, Japan. We were pretty excited. We knew we earned it so we didn’t feel bad about doing it.

We we got there, we did a lot of sight seeing. The pagodas, beautiful gardens, and incredible food.

About half way through we decided to visit a disco bar. We got there and we were drinking pretty heavy. I was feeling no pain, when a belly dancer came out on to the floor. They announced that who ever held onto her sequenced skirt the longest would get a prize.

She started around the edge of the floor near the tables. Several other soldiers tried to hold on to her while she shimmied. One or two could do it for a while, but let loose when their hands started hurting.

She came near our table, and I couldn’t resist. I held onto her hips while she wiggled. I kept holding on after she went faster. I still was holding on when she stopped. She was too tired to keep going.

I looked at my hands and they were a bloody mess.

The announcer said that I was the winner, and the prize was free drinks for the rest of the night. Just what I needed right? That was about the last thing I remember from that night.

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Both of these stories are in my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of he Trenches of Life.

There are many pages of similar type of stories. All of them have a personal story like above and then they relate to how we all can benefit from it. This is done on purpose to try to reach out those those veterans who may be suffering from PTSD, TBI, Depression, war wounds, etc.

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Time to check on you. How are you doing? Have the rough times we are going through right now caught up to you? Would you like the world to stop and let you off?

You are not alone. There are over 9,800 fellow veterans here who have your back.

However, if it is just too much right now, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number you can call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there for you who will never hang up until they know you are OK.

!-800-273-8255 ) Option # 1

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. Your comments will not be seen by other people, just me, and I will connect with you to see if you are OK to share it.

Posted on

Losing a Buddy in the Military is Hard at Best

+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. You may be saving a life. Your comments will not be seen by other people, just me, and I will connect with you to see if you are OK to share it.

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I have been reading about all the upgrading the military is doing in all the different branches. In my opinion, we control the skies.

Why is it happening right now.?It is because President Trump has allocated much more money for the military, and this allows them to more testing and upgrading. I cannot see how anyone could say that Trump doesn’t like the military.

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I lost a dear friend recently who was a military buddy. We were very close. We connected almost everyday on RallyPoint, a Military social network. It was so sudden we all were stunned. Losing a comrade like that is very hard to handle.

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Have you lost a military buddy?

I know exactly what you went, or are going through. It is like losing a brother or sister. They were closer than many family memebers when you served with them.

This is a problem for many veterans who battle PTSD because of the loss.

They replay the loss over and over again in their heads. They can’t shake it. It haunts them even when they try to sleep.

I said I lost a buudy I knew through RallyPoint, but I also lost buddies I served with while I was deployed to Korea. When I enlisted I did it under the buddy system. Two other high school buddies and I enlsited the same day hoping we would be stationed together. It worked out fine. We were in basic training together, and we all got deployed to Korea.

This is when the story gets very sad. One of my buddies didn’t make it home. He died in Korea. It was a strange unknown death in many ways. All They could tell us is that he caught a virus of some kind. I think of him often.

While in Korea I made some close friends. Many of my company did things together. We were a “team.” When one suffered we all suffered. When one was glad we were all glad.

One of those very close buddies of mine got too very drunk one night and when he staggered back the the camp from the villiage, he fell into a “Honey Bucket.” This is a hole in the ground that the people filled with human waste to fertilize their rice.

He fell into one and sufficated. I was numb for a couple of weeks. So was the rest of the team. No one were talking to each other. Just do your job, and head to your qounset hut. (Barricks)

So I have been there with you. I lost three buddies. I am blessed that I didn’t aquire PTSD, but I was severly depressed when i got nack to the states. So much so, I was ready to end my life in 2001. I didn’t, and I am here crying in my beer.

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So now that I totally depressed you, How are you doing? Have you lost a buddy? Has it changed your life? Please do not let this happen. Seek some help if you are feeling this way. Below is a toll free number you can call 24/7. If you are the end of your rope, GET HELP!!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. Tey will not hand up until they know you are OK.

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. You may be saving a life. Your comments will not be seen by other people, just me, and I will connect with you to see if you are OK to share it.

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Remember:


You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!