Ice Armor Suit/Vietnam!!!!!

As im sitting here reading IDA my 58 year old father calls and he is at Scheels sporting goods here in St. Cloud..Ice Armor suits are on sale orig $299.00 he says and as he was lookin at them the salesman says they were just marked to $199.00..so i tell him to pick one up and he said he was gettin one as well..a few minutes later he calls back and said hes not gettin one as they are made in Vietnam..My father served in Vietnam so i respect his decision not to support their economy…Im not doggin Ice Armor at all, its just hard to imagin that so many years later a war can effect my fathers decision on whether to buy a product or not…It makes you wounder how the people serving Iraq are going to react to different things when this war is over…I respect my father and look up to him for many things and that whole part of his life he never talks about and i hope before he passes away we will have a good fish house talk about his experience in Vietnam…Just thought id share…Jay

Jay~
Sorry to hear but I understand where your father is coming from. I have been friedns with a few vietnam vets and what happened over there and what they saw was something most will never talk about and will take there memories to there graves with them.. Hope you will be able to one day lift the story off his shoulders and let him know you understand and show him the respect that he once was lacked when returning to our country from that war…
It is sad today people from that era disrespected the soldiers coming home and yet today they feel the compassion for those same soldiers.. What changed there minds today compared to the days of the war?

Jay,

I’d recommend talking to him, probably sooner than later.

I’ve got 2 tours flying Army helicopters in Vietnam of my 7 total years in the US Army, that I’m pretty proud of.

When we came home it was a whole other time in our country, and we did not get any (or much) support from most of our nation. Yes from family and friends. All we heard from back home when watching AFVN news was all the demonstrations going on by a bunch of hippies, who probably lied their way to a 4F.

Your Dad would probably enjoy talking about it, and even more so be proud that you asked him about it, and cared enough to (really) want to know more about him, and what he had been through. Sone tours were VERY difficult on Soldiers, and what they had to endure every day. Us old guys are not all that verble some times, and it might take a few tries to get into a good conversation, but keep asking…

Good Luck, and say hi to your Dad from me, from a fello Vietnam Vet….

Jack..

I work with a guy that was in Vietnam, after working with him for 3 years, he will tell a few stories about his time over there. But, he is also one of those guys that if you were to ask him about things over there, he would tell you. Some of the stories he has told are funny as well as not.

Just got home from Scheels yep entire suit for 199.00 at the register it rang up 192.50

I sometimes work at the local American Legion and my wife tends bar there on the weekend, so I am blessed to know alot of the vetrans that live in and around my community. Many of them feel that it is a patriotic duty to buy products made in the USA.

When I was younger my older brother was home for a visit. We were doing some work for my Mother and we needed some things from the hardware store. He told me to run down to the small local hardware store. I said why dont we just drive 15 more minutes and get everything much cheaper at a bigger chain store. He preceeded to inform me on the benefits of supporting your local economy. One of the things he said was, “One day you will need something ASAP and you will go to the local mom and pop shop and it will no longer be open and you will cuss all the way to the chain store because you didnt support them when you had the chance”. I always remebered this conversation with him and try to pass it on to my own kids as well as our other youger brother who I dont think will ever get it. Spoiled brat.

Remember when you buy USA you are supporting American jobs and alot of times probably jobs held by fellow IDA members as well as your neighbors.

Support Local and National. We will all benefit.

As I always tell people today, being a soldier myself hearing all the American people thank us and show support and gratitude now when there were men doing what they were ordered to do in Nam coming home to these bleeding heart haters. It makes me wonder how Americans could act this way to Americans doing what they were ordered to do. Anyways war is a demon in itself and can have lifetime effects, God Bless any soldier who made the ultimate sacrafice to make America what it is today.
In loving memory of my hunting buddy SSGT James Wosika Jr. KIA Jan 07 2007 Fallujah, Iraq. Miss you already bro but will never forget…..

This Vietnam Vet thanks you for all the kinds words guys. RVRAT you may need to have some patience but let your dad know you would like to talk to him about his experience in Nam.

RVRAT
I’ve been thinking about this for a few hours now and thinking about what happened to our POW’s in Nam. Some of which could very well still be there. Tell your dad, I’m with him.

Thanks for all the replys…had to show my dad as well he appreciates all the kind replys as well…it got us talkin a bit too about the subject…jay

Sometimes a father doesn’t want to tell his “boy” about the harder times in life.

Sometimes a father doesn’t want to share the hardships he went through with his “boy”, because the boy see’s his dad as “superman”.

Sometimes a father doesn’t want to open up the personal felt failures to his son due to pride.

Give your pops some space and time. Let him know you care and want to know. And most importantly, let him know you respect him, through both good times and bad.

Growing up, my father did no wrong, he told me so!
Today, we share many, many stories of both of us being “not so perfect!” Lots of laughs and even a few tears!