How many ever served in actual combat

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Corpsmen/Medics.. a special breed.

J.T. and DocG,
I salute you and others like you. We speak generally of people who have been in combat and we mostly speak of men and women who carried weapons and fought in combat, but many people wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the special breed of people in the medical field who were right alongside of us who carried a weapon into battle.

What you spoke of in this thread reminded me of a man who was a conscientientious objector, refused to carry a weapon but served in the Pacific Theatre in WW2 as a corpsman. My dad was in the same unit and said it was one of the most awesome sights that he had ever seen.

They were caught in a fearsome battle on Iwo Jima where their platoon was taking what little cover that they could on a hill They were taking many casualties and my dad said they could barely lift their heads to return fire when their forward observer was wounded. No one said anything because they knew that anyone that tried to cross that bare ground to help him was probably going to get killed. My dad said that the corpsmman next to him without saying a word stood up and ran to the wounded soldier. He put on what field dressings that he had left and then an artillery barrage hit their position. The corpsman yelled for them to give him covering fire and when there was a lull picked up the wounded soldier and carried him in a fireman's carry across the open ground.

The awesome sight that my dad said happened at that moment was that the corpsman had dark black hair when he crossed that field under fire and as he returned under even more intense fire, his hair color changed to grey, then to white.

In my time in country, we saw many similar acts of bravery by medics. Some of those guys did things that guys with guns wouldn't do...I salute you guys... you guys are special to many of us who returned home from combat. Thank you and welcome home.
 
C.S.Powell said:
The question is not a trick question.
Firing a 155mm or dropping Iron or Napam from the sky is combat. Being hit on patrol and trying to be over run is up close and personal, you actually see the enemy when you pull the trigger. There is a big difference, you see what your rounds actually have done.

American soldiers never lost a war, American politicians have and are trying to do it again.
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On behalf of friends who have rained hell from the sky, please be aware that those comments can get you badly messed up in a bar. Being in the sky is not to be invincible. MANPADs and all kinds of other things can ruin your day.
 
The book "Generation Kill" is a good book, by Even Wright, I believe.

It's about 1st Recon BN spear heading the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The author tell's it how it went, even down to the enlisted personel busting on the officers and the shooting of a little girl. I read it 4x now, I can never put it down.
 
Walter,

I am amazed that someone who was not THERE, and therefore has no rational point of reference, can diagnose a psychiatric disorder and suggest a method of treatment for symptoms perceived in an internet post.
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What surprises me is that someone who read my post would say that I have diagnossed anyone with PTSD. That would be rather foolhardy of me to do without seeing the person (and without being either a Psychiatrist or a Psychologist) just as; it is incorrect for someone to say I made such a diagnosis. Yet one can make conjecture and develop of hypothesis based upon just the information that was given in the post in question. However, I did not even make a hypothesis. The bottom line of what I said was this:

I am not saying this is necessarily you, just maybe there was some PTSD in your life at that time, the time you just described above. It maybe something to consider if you are still taming demons today because if untreated, PTSD can literally last a lifetime. Hopefully you are over it if that was the case. If not, then it is failry easy to overcome with some assistance. It is time consuming sometimes but, definitely a mountain that you or anyone can climb with the right guide.
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PLEASE NOTICE THE WORDS MAY AND IF IN THE ABOVE QUOTE, I meant them literally. I merely pointed out some things about PTSD of which someone may have not been aware in relation to the so called taming of demons by use of force, since a use of force, like was described, sometimes is a classic example of the reaction of someone suffering from PTSD (it does not take a doctor of any sort to realize what are the symptoms of PTSD but if you wonder how I know it is because I majored in Forensic Psychology for my Master's program).

As for the part of your comment that
there is no rational point of reference
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, come now and be realistic. Do you really believe that in order for someone to determine that another is suffering from PTSD, the person making the determination has to have actually suffered through the same trauma. That is pretty far fetched but; it often one of the reasons a PTSD sufferer will give to avoid treatment. They say, no one else can know what it was like unless they were there, therefore noe one but another sufferer can help me and even then that person does not know exactly what I am suffering. This is, in part, the isolation that a PTSD sufferer creates for himself. Sure while I, or anyone else who was not there, can not know first hand what it was like in Vietnam or in any other situation in which we were not present, I can know exactly what it is like to suffer from PTSD and; I can no about the symptoms of PTSD. I do not even have to suffer from it to understand it.

You see while the cause of the trauma is somewhat important to understand so that it can be addressed specifically; what is more important is to understand that there was a trauma, and the normal reactions to such, and how to overcome those reactions and, that those reactions within certain parameters are quite common among PTSD sufferers no matter what was the trauma that set them off. One need not ever suffer from PTSD, or from the same trauma as a person afflicted with PTSD, in order to make a diagnosis or to understand PTSD or the suffering caused by it, nor to help alleviate it.

As far as working out of PTSD on your own, I think you possibly are fooling yourself if in fact you diagnossed your self correctly. Maybe you did, and I hope so but; I would tend to doubt you have completely overcome PTSD on your own. One of the classic symptoms is isolationism. This does not have to be on the surface either but can show up in such things as a refusal to seek counseling and other more subtle things than becoming a hermit. Thinking you can go it all on your own, that lone American hero type thing, is sometimes one of the most self defeating things a PTSD sufferer can attempt.

PTSD is not some strange or incurable mental disorder, it is often an overpowering set of normal reactions or defense mechanisms to conditions that create mental trauma. There should be no shame in being a PTSD sufferer; as a matter of fact I think just the opposite, there often is probably some cause to believe the person so afflicted was a survivor (and maybe even rather heroic) at some point in the face of overwhelming danger.

Please don't get my reasosn for bringing this out wrong. I have been there and done that as far as PTSD goes, probably for much more time in my life than I want to imagine and, due to many more traumatic events than I would like to believe were traumatic. I am not certain I am over it all yet, but I am getting there. As I think I said earlier, the actual source of the trauma does not matter all that much in the development or even treatment of PTSD; the fact is that certain aspects of any mental trauma can cause someone to suffer post traumatic stress and in some people that leads to PTSD. Many times people are not aware they are suffering from it if for no other reason than they think the things they are doing are helping them to cope, when it truth the things they do often perpetuate the PTSD. Thats why, after reading the post about taming demons by either beating or witnessing beatings, I made my earlier post. It was only the the sense of hey, think about this if you have not already. No diagnosis offered at all.

Again, I am not diagnossing anyone, nor am I making a commentary about you or your mental health. I am just putting some information out there so folks, who have been affected by some bad things to the possible point of being traumitized, can take them into consider. I apologize if anyone thought otherwise.

On that note I will shut up.

All the best,
Glenn B
 
B co, 1-41 Infantry , !st AD
oct. 05 2003- present
OIF June- 12- 04 to June -10- 05
Baghdad, Iraq / Abu- Ghraib/ Biap area
Bradley Gunner
 
After some of the previous posts my contribution was small. I drew combat pay and was in harms way, but here I am whole in mind and body. I thank God alone for that. Lots were not as fortunate as I..........
 
Combat

On the Navy Corpsman/Objector who served...That's a typical Navy Corpsman. If a Marine is down, the Corpsman is GONNA go. Doesn't matter if a One-Star orders him to stay put, he'll ignore it and go.

On the relating of combat experience...You'll find that only rarely will anyone who'd seen it will be willing to talk about it in anything other than general terms. "Yeah...I was there. It was bad." Press for details, and he'll change the subject. 99% of the "war stories" that you hear are told by the ones who were in the rear with the gear and the beer.

Them that talk didn't do. Them that did don't talk.
 
1911Tuner said:
On the Navy Corpsman/Objector who served...That's a typical Navy Corpsman. If a Marine is down, the Corpsman is GONNA go. Doesn't matter if a One-Star orders him to stay put, he'll ignore it and go.

On the relating of combat experience...You'll find that only rarely will anyone who'd seen it will be willing to talk about it in anything other than general terms. "Yeah...I was there. It was bad." Press for details, and he'll change the subject. 99% of the "war stories" that you hear are told by the ones who were in the rear with the gear and the beer.

Them that talk didn't do. Them that did don't talk.
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People in the rear where REMF"S, don'ts ask for the real meaning, you should know it.;)
 
As far as the idea goes that "raining death from the sky" isn't actual combat, I offer the following fact:

During WWII the 8th Air Force in Europe suffered more casualties than the entire Marine Corps did in the Pacific. Saw this on a program aired on the History Channel about the air war in Europe.
 
C.S. Powell. Is this more bullchit? I'm not answering!

When I first saw C.S. Powell's question starting this thread, I thought, oh here we go, Rambo time again. (I use that word a lot in my two weeks on this forum)

Turns out I was wrong for the most part. My cheek is wet, and some of the posts bring back memories that really don't matter to anyone but me.

To my Brother Vietnam Vets who are still struggling with the reception we got when we came home, I advise you to look for some help. We didn't do anything wrong. Be brave again and help yourself to understand that we can be proud of our service, even if not proud of individual events or circumstances.

I really tried NOT to post a reply, but I had to recognize and thank those members here who I would proudly walk with. You all know who you are.

Thank You, and Welcome Home Brothers (and Sisters), from all conflicts, who have paid the price for our Freedom.

4th Infantry Division, Central Highlands, 69-69

(Nothing is foolproof for a determined fool)
 
Thought about posting, then didn't, but then Moondoggie inspired me, that ol' Master Gunny. :) (the coolest rank in all the Marine Corps, IMO)

So now I guess I'll post briefly about my experience. USMC-R 0844 Field Artillery fire control, our reserve 155mm battery was attached to 3/10, 2nd MEF during Desert Shield/Storm.

Lord knows I didn't see the worst danger there, but being an artillery unit, we don't expect to take small arms fire. Iraqi counter battery fire did try to find us several times, but our radar units picked them up pretty quick and we were able to "turn them off" in short order. Actually, we did take small arms fire briefly, from a Marine infantry company doing some "clearing by fire" of a bunker complex that was between our units. (Nobody was hit, fortunately). Know your target and what is beyond it...in their defense, you couldn't see your hand six inches from your face that night after the oil fires were in full swing.

Did we see our targets? Did they see us? No, but they were trying to kill us and we were trying to kill them right back. Just because we didn't see them doesn't mean they're not still dead. Doesn't mean that trying to fight and do your job in pitch black doesn't take a bit of a toll, doesn't mean there weren't times I wanted to dig a hole with my e-tool and crawl inside. At the time, we didn't know the battle was so one-sided in our favor.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I saw enough of the elephant to know what it looks like, even if I didn't crawl up on its back and go for a ride. My wife's great uncle did that in the Pacific as a rubber boat recon Marine when he was 19...his lamest stories make my best ones sound sad, but he never tries to make me feel like he's any more of a combat vet because he got to/had to watch his foes perish.

So there you go...
 
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