Farewell Marine- How a Marine Says Goodbye

http://www.pcsuccess.us/yrg/farewellmarine_final.swf

Thank you.

:usa:

Semper Fidelis

I never really understood why soldiers when asked about combat have little to say….
but I think their thoughts are with their fallen comrades… and such things they are loathe to share…. Ive committed what must be the sin of asking a number of soldiers about combat… WWII, Korean, Viet Nam, Iraq…. its taken me a long time to understand why they wont talk about it… but watching this makes it easy to see…… though until you have stood in their boots… I dont think you can ever truly understand….

Derek~
Thank you for sharing that with us all.
As for why a soldier avoids talking about what he or she has seen/been thru,is because everytime we talk about what we did what we seen what it felt like brings back the feelings of the war,the conflict,the hostile situations we were in.It is the pain of reliving our pasts that stick with us everyday,every holiday,every moment and we try very hard everyday to put these unwanted memories in the back of our minds. So when someone comes up and asks what did you do as a soldier? Forces us to lose our battle of dealing with our minds and memories of such painful events.

never having been in combat I never really understood it… though seeing a movie like flags of our fathers PERHAPS gave me some insight.. though I hesitate to look to hollywood for ANY reality…. however Ive heard from some veterans that the movie did a good job dealing with how soldiers feel about the experience…. I count myself fortunate that I never experienced it first hand… somethings are very hard to live with… its amazing that soldiers do as well as they do…. as for me… its taken my lifetime… but I will NEVER ask a soldier questions relating to combat again….. and I apologize for being so foolish as to having done it a number of times before…. but I simply did not understand…. all I know is that in NO case did a soldier ever answer my questions… and I could see that they were uncomfortable with even being asked…. so why I kept trying is anyones guess… I spose the word “stupid” comes to mind…..

well put rivereyes.

RiverEyes~
It is not stupidity it was human nature. We are all curious of certain things in life,mostly things we have not experienced ourselves first hand. So your curiosity drove you to ask what you did not know and wanted to know. You wanted to feel thru a soldiers eyes what you cannot in any movie,book or what ever else one may turn to without going str8 to the source. I spent ten years in the service I seen things I prefer not talking about today, my boys ask me what things were like, I just tell them it is things that cannot be described thru words and they usually leave it at that. As humans it is the point of closure we look for in many unknown questions that run thru our minds.
Like yesterday morning we lost our mom to cancer, she was young just turned 60. I arrived to the center a minute after her passing. But when I walked into the room and seen her laying there upon that bed I felt pain drive thru my entire body. My mind just ran wild. I thought back to when I was in the service what I seen? I remembered the fallin soldiers I seen during one tragedy. I should have been feeling the pain for losing my mom but I felt the pain of all the dead I have come across in my life.
It is all so real now again and I have turned to the bottle to drowned out my sorrows. I know it is not right and is not the answer but for now it is the only way I can get away and clear my head or numb the feelings.

sorry to hear about your young mother, I do also get that same feeling every year around xmas time when my family gets together to remember our first child. i also miss my friends that are not here and I still have no answeres as to why they are not here other than it was thier time and God has them in a much better place and we will meet agian when it is my time to go home. just knowing that they are up with God, makes it a little easier every year.

agian, sorry to hear about your mom!!

shane

RiverEyes
I too went through feelings like that when I had to end life support for my mother when she was 48. It brought back feelings and images of Viet Nam. But the bottle is not going to help you. You need to think of all the great times you had with your mother. Charish her memory and honor her by taking care of yourself as she would want you to do. God bless you and remember, you have a hugh family here at IDA for support.

I’m no war vet, but several of my friends have returned and they only speak of good times or equipment, never the unspeakable events.
look at it this way though, If a vet told you his/her story, could you really even begin to imagine what it was really like? One my good friends tells me its not comprehensible and impossible for others to be empathetic to the events. Theres no way a vet can speak of his stories and be fully understood by those who weren’t there.

Thanks guys… This is really a great site…

Freeking Goose Bumps up and down my arms…..

Thanks for sharing that

That was Awesome!!!!

Being non military and a not a vet…The only thing I do when I meet or find out that some one has served in combat or been in the military is to say.

THANK YOU!

Thanks for the post, and again thanks to all the veterans. You guys and gals have my utmost respect

Having been there – having done that, watching videos such as this bring it all back. I do a mental honor roll of brothers lost and friends not in touch due to the passing of time and distance. They bring back so many strong emotions but I can’t pull myself away from watching. I watch with a tear in my eye and a feeling of pride in a job well done. I’m sure that all Marines and former Marines 18 to 80 have the same response. I have a sense of loss every time Marine casualties are announced and I don’t expect that it will ever stop. All I would ask from our country’s leadership is that they give our troops a clear mission, the tools to complete it with, and get them home.
Semper Fi
DB3 SSgt USMC

Excellent stuff.

My dad was a paratrooper in WWII and jumped on D-Day and again into Holland where he was severely injured. Dad would tell us “humorous” stories from the war, but never the combat stories. He made it through D-Day ok but as he said once, “If I thought about all the friends I lost in the war I would be a nervous wreck.”

When his son, (my oldest brother) also became a paratrooper and was sent to Viet Nam, Dad told him to “keep your head down and don’t try to be a hero”. I’m glad he came home safe. My brother never talked about the war until just a few years ago. He still says he wants to go see The Wall in Washington DC but just can’t do it quite yet. It’s been 35 years and he still has some issues.

I travel a lot for work, and I try to do a little gesture when I am in the airports. I make it a point to see if any guys in uniform (usually young new recruits) are in the bar/restaurant, and I always say simply “Thanks for serving”, and pick up their tab. It’s a minor thing but it’s all I can do.

For all you guys who have served in any capacity: Thank You.

Dave

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Freeking Goose Bumps up and down my arms…..

Thanks for sharing that

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Ditto. Thanks for sharing. The pictures tell the story.

Very moving pictures!
I don’t know how many of you have been to Arlington Cemetary in DC and have seen the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. The trip out east is worth it even if that would be the only thing you could see.
Very emotional event.

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I never really understood why soldiers when asked about combat have little to say….
but I think their thoughts are with their fallen comrades… and such things they are loathe to share…. Ive committed what must be the sin of asking a number of soldiers about combat… WWII, Korean, Viet Nam, Iraq…. its taken me a long time to understand why they wont talk about it… but watching this makes it easy to see…… though until you have stood in their boots… I dont think you can ever truly understand….

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Its because like my late uncle said ( Three tours in NAM by choice) ” civilians are fascinated with war and what it was like,even though they will never understand, we don’t shun them for asking, its human nature”

hookem~

You are 100% correct that trip is worth being present for the Changing of the Gaurd alone. It is a moment of silence that will send goose bumps throughout your body. I was there July 2001, it is a place I would recommend everyone to atleast go to once in there life. There is so much history there, so many things to do. It is the closest thing one can find in the category time travel. DC goes way back, and you stand in buildings that our living&dead Presidents once stood, Benjamin Franklin once stood along with many more that helped build the foundation of this GREAT NATION!