[pct-l] We Were Just Kids....(an old Marine's reflections)

[Reinhold Metzger]

Some may say this is of topic, but since it is Memorial Day and many of 
our list members are veterans I think this is appropriate.
Besides, I think no list or forum should deny honoring our fallen heroes 
on this day.

Reinhold Metzger wrote:
> We were "just kids", in the summer of 1965, when we landed in Vietnam.
> "Just kids", most of us 18-19-20 years old just barely out of High 
> School, not yet old enough to drink but old enough to die for our 
> country.
> We never could quit understand that....if you are old enough to die 
> for your country you should be old enough to drink.
> With one year of advanced infantry training including jungle, desert, 
> cold weather, hand to hand combat and raider training we were gung ho 
> Marines, tough enough to chew nails.....I mean we were Captain 
> Tolleson's  Echo 2/7, the cream of the crop of  the Marine Corp's 
> Raider Battalion and ready to kick ass.
> We were "just kids" eager to be Marines, eager to serve during a time 
> of war, eager to be heroes.
> That naive fantasy thinking can change mighty quick when the landing 
> crafts hit the beach and bullets start flying.
> There is no glory in war, only misery....it is your worst nightmare.
> Our first casualty was by friendly fire....the tragic part was that 
> the bullet that caused our first casualty was fired by the casualties 
> best friend.
> In combat reflex decisions have to be made in a split second and 
> sometimes does decisions turn out not to be the right ones.
> In my mind there is no greater honor than serving your country during 
> a time of war and no greater sacrifice than a soldier paying the 
> ultimate price while serving his country during a time of war.
> Take Pat Tillman for instance....Pat was a professional foot player 
> who had fortune and fame yet walked away from a 3.6 million dollar 
> contract to serve his country and paid the ultimate 
> price....ironically also by friendly fire.
> But it does not matter, friendly fire, enemy fire, the results are 
> always the same and Memorial Day is to honor all of our fallen heroes, 
> for they served their country and paid the ultimate price.
> If it were not for men like that, Obama might be our Prime Minister or 
> our national language might be German and Memorial Day is to remind us 
> of that and pay our respect to these fallen heroes who sacrificed 
> their lives so that we can enjoy what we
> have today.
>
> We did not consider ourself to be "just kids", but now that I am older 
> and wiser I realize we  WERE   "just kids".
> Nothing has really changed and many of our troops serving in Iran and 
> Afghanistan are still "just kids"......not old enough to  drink but 
> old enough to die for their country.
> Think about that for a moment on Memorial Day and what that day stands 
> for.
>
> Reinhold Metzger
> Sgt. USMC 1964-68
> Gunner, Echo Co., 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines
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