It has indeed been a journey. I think the hardest part for me has been that the Brothers and Friends I lost along the way died for a lie. Of course, when you're having to present Old Glory to grieving family members that's the last thing you think about. They didn't just die overseas - some came back and had to live with it over and over again. I quit going to the VA [not that I ever wanted to go in the first place] because I would see these guys sitting around, broken and defeated, with thousand-yard stares. I would try to give them words of comfort but couldn't really do anything other than that.
Arlington is going to kick my ass if I ever make it up there to visit. Hell, the East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery is enough to take one's breath away. I hope they are all resting in peace.
It has indeed been a journey. I think the hardest part for me has been that the Brothers and Friends I lost along the way died for a lie. Of course, when you're having to present Old Glory to grieving family members that's the last thing you think about. They didn't just die overseas - some came back and had to live with it over and over again. I quit going to the VA [not that I ever wanted to go in the first place] because I would see these guys sitting around, broken and defeated, with thousand-yard stares. I would try to give them words of comfort but couldn't really do anything other than that.
Arlington is going to kick my ass if I ever make it up there to visit. Hell, the East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery is enough to take one's breath away. I hope they are all resting in peace.