A name on "The Wall"
2 replies
gafinfanSupporterOPA great article about a solder, who just happened to be an NFL player, of my era. Brought a tear and sadness yet also a sense of pride for those of us who served during that time of public outcry against all things military. Very hard to come home to calls of baby killer and other such greetings .... even by family members.
http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/09/04/name-wall-si-60-william-nack-bob-kalsu
the story of Bob Kalsu, an All-America offensive lineman at Oklahoma who chose to go to Vietnam after his rookie season with the Buffalo Bills. It was originally published in the July 23, 2001 issue of SI.
The feeling had gone out of everything. It was like we were zombies. You didn't care anymore. July was terrible. The whacked Ripcord, that hill we were on, with mortars and rocket fire. Day after day, night after night. I was getting shell-shocked. I didn't care if I got out. At night you could hear the yelling from the jungles all around, "GI die tonight! GI die tonight!" This was our deathbed. We thought we were going to be overrun. --SPC. 4TH CLASS DANIEL THOMPSON, wireman at Firebase Ripcord, Vietnam, July 1970
This is the only thing I’ve learned: There’s only us. There’s no them. Despots and authoritarians need to make a “them” to have a straw man whom you are against. If you need to make an enemy of “them,” you’ve lost the spirit of us. - Ken Burns of PBS
OhiophinphanStaffYou are really posting some great stuff this morning!
OHIOPHINPHAN
Witness to the first ever practice of the Miami Dolphins, 1966.
Boik14Supporter"gafinfan wrote:
A great article about a solder, who just happened to be an NFL player, of my era. Brought a tear and sadness yet also a sense of pride for those of us who served during that time of public outcry against all things military. Very hard to come home to calls of baby killer and other such greetings .... even by family members.
http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/09/04/name-wall-si-60-william-nack-bob-kalsu
to me it's disgusting when people disrespect their military like that. Like the soldier has a choice in which wars he/she fights. You can disagree with and protest against government all you want but why go after the soldiers with epithets and taunts? Some people just don't understand how war works.
I work with three people who served or are currently reserves with different branches of the military. They've told me about their platoon members suffering from PTSD and killing themselves and the casualties of war. The people who protest sometimes need a taste. Til then they're just voices with no meaning in my opinion because they have no ability to contextualize the situation having never lived trough it. Some may think they know but they've no idea what it's like to serve selflessly and see the guys standing next to you crumple in to a heap or get a leg blown off. Few things tick me off more.