The Nightmare Is Over! How I Did It......

[willis williams]

I've found that for some reason people want my nightmares. I am living what I did in combat day by day. I meet people even at the VA that never left the country to fight and the first thing that always sticks out is the person always wants to address the unasked questions the ones we only talk about with veterans that have been there. I lost my dad in june 2012 28 1/2 years in the army to leukemia I miss his unspoken advice 2 or 2 1/2 tours in nam 68 through 70 three purple hearts. He is the one that told me to take care of my somalia PTSD. But the questions never came up we were never friends till I went to combat. Change from father to son to buddy. He even to his dieing day never told me to take a drug or null the feelings but put them to something use full. I guess what he was always saying was deal with it how ever you can. I try everyday but I don't want somebody else to go my route because I sure ain't figured out shit. So banned if you are a fake trying to push a certian way and your not really a combat veteran. Try walking in our shoes before you think you can handle them.

 

[JarHed]

Try walking in our shoes before you think you can handle them.

Good words Tex.

I'll be brief. Came home from 'Nam, was treated like a criminal. Spat upon. Now everyone what's to be one and thank me for my service. We all have our demons to fight. Just deal with them the best I can everyday.

 

[Chin Strapped]

Came home from 'Nam, was treated like a criminal. Spat upon.

Shocking. Demons and the public to battle.

Bet you guys are about as strong as they come.

I know our NI vets were tormented by the public whilst serving over there. Not sure if 'our own' public has ever done that on return home. Sure someone on here will know?

I'll take my modern tour and a better educated public thanks and that's still difficult...the general mental health stigma annoys me.

 

[Anglesachse]

....................I know our NI vets were tormented by the public whilst serving over there. Not sure if 'our own' public has ever done that on return home. Sure someone on here will know?

I'll take my modern tour and a better educated public thanks and that's still difficult...the general mental health stigma annoys me.

Problem with NI cocker, was the fact that it wasn`t just the IRA who you were fighting. Half of the Population was the enemy, the other your friend.

But out here in Germany, you still get a lot of the "Baby Killer" degenerates. They are mainly the left wing morons, and funny enough I get a lot in the shop, but they keep their mouths shut now. :cool:

 

[Chin Strapped]

Problem with NI cocker, was the fact that it wasn`t just the IRA who you were fighting. Half of the Population was the enemy, the other your friend.

But out here in Germany, you still get a lot of the "Baby Killer" degenerates. They are mainly the left wing morons, and funny enough I get a lot in the shop, but they keep their mouths shut now. :cool:

Sounds a bit like Afghan, not sure if any liked us? :p Probably didn't really understand what we were doing. Walking through the opium fields treading on their precious crops! But in NI they all spoke English, that is a complete different angle and intensifies everything. You actually knew how much people didn't want you there.

Sneaky buggers mixing with the civvies, I can relate to that. Hard to fight. All adds to the mind games. But the English speaking bit is just weird, like being at home, only people hate you and want to...

So you opened a shop where you have to mingle with the likes of those idiots :D I would have liked to have seen the debrief/s.

 

[willis williams]

In somalia they spoke english when they wanted to. I came home march 28th 1994 the presidents deadline for all U.S. troops out in the middle of the night. I was on a sapper team got two weeks debrief and sent straight on leave not to talk to anybody and still got the baby killer shit in my face thanks to the media. I didn't think kids with rpg's were babies but I guess they were. Found that I was a rarity though. I think that we as soldiers, marines, ect. should be thanked but not because it is an obligation now but even a crack head has the right to do as they please because of us.

 

[Ned]

Spot on, Tex.

 

[Sludge]

In somalia they spoke english when they wanted to. I came home march 28th 1994 the presidents deadline for all U.S. troops out in the middle of the night. I was on a sapper team got two weeks debrief and sent straight on leave not to talk to anybody and still got the baby killer shit in my face thanks to the media. I didn't think kids with rpg's were babies but I guess they were. Found that I was a rarity though. I think that we as soldiers, marines, ect. should be thanked but not because it is an obligation now but even a crack head has the right to do as they please because of us.

These descriptions throw me for a loop. The type of things I saw were so very different. We'd yell at them in Spanish and they'd yell back in English. f*ck. Half the time the people we were fighting with had been our students a month or so before. Really odd to train and arm some random asshole and then have to get in a shooting match with him. Guess that proves I'm a lousy teacher because I'm still around to bitch about it and more often than not they aren't. Christ. Everyone was armed to the teeth. Everyone hated us. Perhaps rightfully so. Dunno. Don't care. They did what they felt they had to do just like we did. I get that. Hell, I often had more respect for some of them than I did for some of us. Probably one of the things that messed me up so bad as we really were on opposite ends of the same goddamned stick.