Lloyd Marcus: Happy Veterans day brothers

[TomSea]

Happy Veterans day brothers

By Lloyd Marcus

I was drafted into the Army in 1969. God saw fit not to send me to Vietnam. Upon returning to Ft Bragg, NC from a two week leave, I learned that my entire battalion received orders for Vietnam except me and a few other soldiers. Why? I do not know.

My buddy, Gerry Millholen did serve in Vietnam. Afterwards, Gerry suffered with flashbacks and night terrors for several years. Gerry paid a huge price (which included his marriage) for answering the call of duty. Gerry told me how painful it was for him and his Vietnam brothers to return home to be spat upon and called baby killers.

I remember a rest break during Army basic training. A half dozen of us young soldiers gathered around one of our drill sergeants. We asked him to explain why we were fighting in Vietnam. In a nutshell, the drill sergeant said we were there to stop the spread of communism; fighting it on foreign soil rather than at home. So that is what most of us young soldiers believed. We were fighting to protect our homeland; families, wives, sons and daughters.

Continued at: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/marcus/171111