Im leaving this group. But before I do, I wish to rant. First, my dad has had a whole host of health issues because of what is commonly called Agent Orange (AO). I even experienced health issues after he came back from his second trip over there, from the bush not from the rear. And as I got older the health issues intensified and multiplied. So, Im not unsympathetic. I am, however, disgusted with what I see as some sort of political grandstanding, or a forum to garner sympathetic responses to posts. I was killed in Vietnam. I just havent died yet? Come on! From my perspective, this group should be populated with those of us who were actually alive and old enough to remember the separation and loss of our loved ones. Not by family members who were infants or not even born, living through those times vicariously through stories and old photographs. PTSD? Really? I have PTSD from some of the shitty schools I had to attend while my dad was away. Should I hold the US Government responsible and demand attention, or compensation?! F no! It happens. PTSD in this context should be reserved for those who to this day see those terrible images over and over again, who were there, who lived through the actual events. People get sick. People die from their illness. I will eventually die from my illness. But I will never claim that I was killed by something I never had direct exposure to. I will remain in this group long enough to let some of you curse me or tell me how wrong I am.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:08:21 +0000