In America there are veteans who will talk about there experiences and those who wont even though there they might have post tramatic strees disorder what percentage of veterans talk about there experiences of a war or in the military?
My dad did two tours in Vietnam in a construction unit of the Marine CorpsHe didn't talk about it for years with anyone other than other veterans he knew and even then not muchIn the last six years or so, he's opened up more about itHe has told me and Mom several storiesSome are funny while others are pretty sadHe also got out some slide pictures he took in Vietnam and let us see themIt really makes the Vietnam Conflict come alive and become more personal when I think about my dad being involvedI think about it more now that I have seen his pics and heard his storiesOne he told me was that the only kill he ever had to make was one time when he was operating a large craneThey were building a bridge and snipers were shooting at themDad saw where one of the snipers were in a tree and swung the crane arm around so that it knocked the man out of the treeHe fell and landed in such a way that it killed himHe says its ironic that even though he was one of the best shots in his division when he was at Camp Pendelton (and won two marksmanship medals) yet he never fired his rifle in VietnamHe saw plenty of people who had been shot or blown up thoughIt haunts him to this dayI think books like the ones TimeLife put out several years ago, movies like Full Metal Jacket and veterans magazines he's read have helped him feel more comfortable about talking about it with usHe said Full Metal Jacket and We Were Soldiers were pretty accurate and that some of the scenes in the films were similar to what he saw there.
My dad did two tours in Vietnam in a construction unit of the Marine CorpsHe didn't talk about it for years with anyone other than other veterans he knew and even then not muchIn the last six years or so, he's opened up more about itHe has told me and Mom several storiesSome are funny while others are pretty sadHe also got out some slide pictures he took in Vietnam and let us see themIt really makes the Vietnam Conflict come alive and become more personal when I think about my dad being involvedI think about it more now that I have seen his pics and heard his storiesOne he told me was that the only kill he ever had to make was one time when he was operating a large craneThey were building a bridge and snipers were shooting at themDad saw where one of the snipers were in a tree and swung the crane arm around so that it knocked the man out of the treeHe fell and landed in such a way that it killed himHe says its ironic that even though he was one of the best shots in his division when he was at Camp Pendelton (and won two marksmanship medals) yet he never fired his rifle in VietnamHe saw plenty of people who had been shot or blown up thoughIt haunts him to this dayI think books like the ones TimeLife put out several years ago, movies like Full Metal Jacket and veterans magazines he's read have helped him feel more comfortable about talking about it with usHe said Full Metal Jacket and We Were Soldiers were pretty accurate and that some of the scenes in the films were similar to what he saw there.
