depicts said:
I enlisted in the Army at 17 and volunteered for Vietnam at 18, when I was legally able to do so.
You feel it's exciting and you feel invincable at your age, and I understand that.
You won't listen to anything I say anyway, so I'll wish you good luck and God Speed. I would however suggest you do a Google search on Wounded Veterans, Veterans Issues, and PTSD before you make a final decision. These are mostly issues about guys like you who thought they knew what they were doing at 17, and what they think now a few years later.
I don't regret my service, I am proud of it. But my life took strange turns after Vietnam, while my friends who didn't serve seemed to put together a more stable life, better jobs and income, better marriages.
I know that doesn't mean much to you now either. It didn't mean a thing to me and many others.
Please just think about it. Maybe you could go to school a few years, make yourself better. Get physically improved and grow a little muscle. Start shooting at a gun club and get really good. Prepare yourself to do a better job and to take better care of yourself. I thought I could do it all at 17, but at 56 I wouldn't even hire the 17 year old version of myself to cut my lawn...there is so much to learn. God Bless you
Vietnam Vet who wished he stayed in Boy Scouts a little longer!!!!
Fella, if you don't listen to ANYONE else, LISTEN TO THIS GUY!!!!!
He knows EXACTLY what he is talking about.
My son just got out of the Corps, four years as an Artilleryman, six month tour in Fallujah.
He has changed. My gosh, has he changed!
He is still my son; that will never change. But he has told me things that he has seen, and hinted somewhat at things he has done.
He does NOT talk about Fallujah, at any great length at all. And, I don't ask.
He has said some stuff--the type that makes a parent's blood grow cold, and stop and think--and mourn the loss of innocence.
Stuff like, when talking about clearing buildings. I commented on how loud an M16 can get when fired in a room.
He said, "No, it doesn't. It's not loud at all--just a pop."
Three Marines from his section now are being actively treated for mental problems and PTSD. He said, when asked, "Oh, they turned into pu**ies because they had to kill someone."
I have seen him get angry recently. The whole set of his body changed, and his eyes--my God, his eyes. If I encounter anyone who looks at me like that when I'm on patrol, they're going to be at gunpoint as fast as I can yank my sidearm from the holster.
There have been times when I have talked to him--times when he sounds so lonely and lost. I have shed many tears--in private--over the memory of the little fella who used to take walks with me--and how he has changed.
Don't get me wrong--he's my son, part of my blood. That will NEVER change, and I will always love him. But he has changed.
Think about this, my friend. Don't be so fast to run off to war. If this is something you are going to do--I mean, joining the Marines--then do so.
But, think about it, first.