Remembering, Veterans Day, November 11, 2019

Nurses, Vietnam, 1969

Don Madden, Vietnam, 1969

Tens of thousands of American troops remain deployed all over the world, some in war zones such as Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and — even still — Syria. And the United States maintains even more troops overseas in large legacy missions far from the wars following the Sept. 11 attacks, in such allied lands as Germany, South Korea and Japan.

Although deployment numbers fluctuate daily, based on the needs of commanders, shifting missions and the military’s ability to shift large numbers of personnel by transport planes and warships, a rough estimate is that 200,000 troops are deployed overseas today.

Remember: Veterans Day, November 11, 2013

It's Veterans Day. You get a break from work, maybe a break from school, and lots of sales to shop at. Just remember that this is what veterans saw on D-Day, June 6, 1944, on the beaches at Normandy.

Thanks to our government, this is what the few remaining veterans of D-Day, most in wheelchairs, saw at the World War II Memorial in Washington DC last month.

Wait, you ask, if the park was shut down, how did they get in? Gee, do you really think after surviving D-Day they would let a barricade stop them? They didn't.  But, you ask, how could the government be so stupid as to shut down something like a memorial to war veterans?  Easy. Only 89 of 435 House members have served either on active duty or in the reserves. In the 100-member Senate, only 19 are veterans.

I served in Vietnam. I came home.

Barry Brown didn't come home.

James Clifford McKittrick is still MIA.

Part of John Jones came home.

Please remember that there are still men and women serving in the armed forces. I hope they come hope so you can honor them on Veterans Day.

Frozen in Time

This little Dude doesn't really look that cold and frozen, it's just the photo. He's a work in progress but he told me he wanted to hold one of my snail shells.

Speaking of cold, which is a nice thing to do as we heat up to over 100 degrees in the afternoons, right now I'm reading the book Frozen in Time. It's about a cargo plane that crash-landed in Greenland in 1942 and the subsequent search-and-rescue mission.  When I was in Vietnam I was with the 37th AARS.  AARS stands for Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron and our helicopters were referred to as "Jolly Green Giants"  because they had a large dark green frame.

Here's your latest Netflix recommendation: Silver Linings Playbook, a 5-star movie.  Jennifer Lawrence is a powerful actress, pretty good in The Hunger Games, incredible in Winter's Bone and totally awesome in this one. (Did I really just use the word "awesome"?!!!)

Susan is a big fan of the AMC-TV show The Killing and thinks Joel Kinnaman is a great actor who is being ignored.  He hasn't done many movies but one available on Netflix was Easy Money so we watched it. He is great.

The latest Sweater Child give-away was at the Turtle Pond at the University of Texas here in Austin. It disappeared within a week.

Remembering, Memorial Day

Photo by Todd Heisler, 2006 Pulitzer Prize, Feature Photography.

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process. "See the people in the windows? They sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. And they should."

Photo by Todd Heisler, 2006 Pulitzer Prize, Feature Photography.

Go here and begin with the first photo to read and see the whole story, including details about this photo . . . only if you are strong.

Go here to understand why remembering our past means so much to me. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and if you see a veteran, take a moment to thank him or her for serving your country.

Yesterday's Warrior

When I finally made it out of college it was 1966 and Vietnam was a dark shadow growing larger every day. I was young and thought I was bulletproof. My friend Jimmy and I decided we were true-blue American patriots and would serve our country by joining the Air Force and becoming fighter pilots. We would strut off to war, rule the air, collect medals, fend off adoring females and live a fantasy bachelor life.

Instead, we both got married, Jimmy died in a plane crash during pilot training and I wound up going to Vietnam to serve with a "Jolly Green Giant" helicopter rescue squadron that picked up pilots who had been shot down. That's how you get slam-dunked into being an adult.

I'd like to think I'd forgotten most of those 368 days of my life in Vietnam but somehow they float around in my subconscious. I made this piece early on in my reincarnation as an artist and never really thought too deeply about why I did it the way I did.  But you Blog Readers keep emailing me that you like my stories so Susan tells me I have to dig a little deeper. 

The figure does look like me; I wasn't free to leave Vietnam until the Air Force said I could; when I came back from Vietnam it was to a country that didn't like what I did so I kept quiet about it; and I tried to forget being there. My dog-tag, tucked into the wire around the figure, includes my blood type.

Today people tell me I'm a very "grounded" person. Maybe that slam-dunk in my 20's, followed by 32 years of having a corporate foot on the back of my neck made me "grounded". All I know is that making art makes me feel like I'm floating, light as a butterfly, all the time now.

Remembering on the 4th of July

Re-enlistment ceremony, Kabul, Afghanistan

The 4th of July is our Independence Day, when we celebrate our 1776 Declaration of Independence, which includes this statement:

We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Make sure you mentally do a little editing to get this phrase correct:

 that all men and women are created equal,

Our military armed forces serve to protect our independence, and women serve in our armed forces, in both support and combat positions. So far, while serving in our armed forces, 111 women have died in Iraq and 28 have died in Afghanistan. We like to have lots of parades on the Fourth of July and I hope your parade includes a section for military veterans, especially the women.

Please remember also those who served and are no longer with us, among them Captain James Clifford McKittrick and Captain Barry L. Brown.

Captain Barry Lynn Brown, Killed in Action, Vietnam, May 5, 1968

Remembering: Barry Lynn Brown and James Clifford McKittrick

Arlington National Cemetery

Heart weeps.

Head tries to help heart.

Head tells heart how it is, again:

You will lose the ones you love.

They will all go.

But even the earth will go, someday.

Heart feels better, then.

But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart.

Heart is so new to this.

I want them back, says heart.

Head is all heart has.

Help, head. Help heart.

__________

Head, Heart, by Lydia Davis

_______________________________________________________

Memorial Day is a Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May to honor U.S. soldiers who died while in military service. On this long Memorial Day weekend enjoy your picnic, your barbeque, your family gathering and maybe a long break from work.

But before you do, please go here to see why it is so important for me that you take a few moments to remember two men who gave their lives defending our country and the freedoms we have.

 Captain Barry Lynn Brown, Killed In Action, Vietnam, 1968

Major James Clifford McKittrick, Missing In Action, Vietnam, 1967

It's My Story and I'm Sticking To It

In January 1970 I came home from hot and steamy Vietnam and headed directly to Pease AFB in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where I spent long hours on the runways counting the days (471) until I would be a civilian again. Susan describes that entire time as "The longest winter I've ever lived through."  

We lived in a quadplex, next door to Rick and Marie, their adorable toddler, Rebecca, and their beautifully trained German Shepherd, Angel. Rick was a pilot and Marie was a quasi-hippie, which was the best you could be when you were an officer's wife, but she definitely had earned her credentials by being at the real Woodstock.  

When Rick wanted to have some cheap amusement he would convince me to put on a padded jacket and then work on training Angel to attack on command. You don't know fun until you've had a snarling German  Shepherd leap at you with all 376 pointed teeth on display.  

 

One of the interesting things we learned about snow was that as it piles up it buries everything in layers as each snowfall comes down. It looks beautiful until it starts to melt in the spring and then everything it had covered up melts down into the ground at once. This results in an incredible amount of fertilizer for the earth; that's why Spring is so vibrant up north.   But in between snowfalls you see frozen on the 4' snowbanks the reminders of might have been there.

You may not have known it but I'm also a poet.  One morning I wrote a poem for Susan to see when she woke up.

Ode To A Dog Turd

There is a frozen dog turd

Outside my kitchen window

Surrounded by a sea

Of soft virgin snow.

Good morning.

I love you.

In a desperate attempt to shed the trappings of being a maintenance officer, I took pottery lessons in Exeter at night, in an old building by a river. I kept the first one (top photo above) as it proves that yes, I can make wheel-thrown pieces. It is about 5" high. The second one is also about 5" high, Susan calls it "Nuclear Reactor" and it and the bowl were sold at the Student sale. Skip over more than 32 years -- everything I do now is hand-built.

Remembering on the 4th of July

On the 4th of July it's easy to recognize our flag and wave it proudly at parades and picnics. Just in case you don't remember, the second flag here is the POW-MIA flag. There are now 1,714 veterans listed by our Department of Defense as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

I've talked about this and about being in Vietnam (here and here) in the past. It still saddens me to think that James Clifford McKittrick's family is still waiting for him.

The 4th of July is our Independence Day, when we celebrate our 1776 Declaration of Independence, which includes this statement:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Don't forget the men and women in our Armed Forces who are making sure you have those unalienable Rights.

Remembering

On this Memorial Day weekend enjoy your picnic, your barbeque, your family gathering and maybe a long break from work.

But before you do, please go here to see why it is so important for me that you take a few moments to remember those who gave their lives defending our country and the freedoms we have.

Captain Barry Lynn Brown, Killed In Action, Vietnam, 1968

Major James Clifford McKittrick, Missing In Action, Vietnam, 1967

Armed Forces Day

DaNang, Vietnam, 1969

Army Nurses, DaNang, Vietnam, 1969

Today is Armed Forces Day, a day to recognize and honor the men and women of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

Not happy about the way your government is doing things? Protest (peacefully). The people serving in your Armed Forces are making sure you can.

One Step

Diane asked "Where Were You on July 20, 1969?" as man first walked on the moon.

Don: It was Day 176 in DaNang, Vietnam for me. I set up my big reel-to-reel tape recorder to tape the broadcast of the moon landing that we were able to get there on the base. I wanted to have a verbal record of history being made. (One of the "spoils of war" most Vietnam vets recall is being able to buy cameras and stereo equipment incredibly cheaply at the base/post exchanges. Many long, tedious, exhaustive conversations there had to do with the various pros and cons of the equipment being contemplated for purchase.) The recorder reel would tape for about 2 hours so when chow time arrived I left it running and went to grab a bite. The chow hall had the broadcast on so I listened there to the actual landing. When I came back, the recorder was shut off! My roommate had come in, seen the recorder going and thought I had forgotten to turn it off. So he turned it off for me. So much for the recording of history.

Susan: I walked out into the parking lot of the apartment building I lived in and looked up at the moon with binoculars. It seemed as if you looked hard enough you'd be able to see someone there. I knew history was being made but all I could think of was that Don was probably looking up at the moon the same time I was, halfway around the world, away from me.

Don: A movie that is still makes be hold my breath as I try to white-knuckle the space module down is Apollo 13. For a real kick, download Google Earth. Click on the icon for Moon and in the Layers box click on Apollo Missions, Apollo 11 (the moon landing). You'll be able to watch old video clips of the landing transmissions and see close-up photos. Cool stuff. And it's interesting to scan the surface of the moon and see all the little national flags showing the landings over the years. I had no idea there had been so many hits on the moon by other countries.

Remembering on the 4th of July

Today, July 4th, is designated as the day we celebrate our 1776 Declaration of Independence, a national holiday with its roots strongly based on a foundation of political freedom. That freedom has been protected and preserved by our military forces and continues today.

I took the photo above of some army nurses in Vietnam, not because I knew any of them (I didn't) but because they were the first American women I had seen in months and they all smiled at me. Their job was to help patch up the wounded soldiers, making the pain and fear ease as they smiled and joked with them.


Today, women are on the front lines in Iraq, even though the government likes to pretend women don't serve in combat positions. They had courage, dedication, and responsibility back in 1969 and they still have it in 2009. When you see veterans marching in our 4th of July parades, look hard for the women. Do you see any? You should.

Americans will have picnics, parades, concerts, and fireworks, all in celebration of our country's birthday. We'll also remember those who died making sure we still have that political freedom today.


Captain James Clifford McKittrick is still Missing in Action. And I'm still waiting to be able to send his bracelet to his family.


Captain Barry Lynn Brown was returned to his family. I was the one who gave his family the flag that had covered his casket.

Remembering

The last Monday of May (May 25, 2009) is set aside to commemorate U.S. men and women who died while in military service. The gravestones at many cemeteries will be graced by U.S. flags placed there by family members and volunteers.

Although I like to think of my blog as a humorous and entertaining glimpse of my life, today I want to give you a piece out of my past, and I want you to be able to see Memorial Day not as parades, picnics and flags but instead as people, families, and children, both here and gone.

HBO recently showed a special program called "Taking Chance", which depicts the Military Escort Duty of a Marine Officer, based on a true account. In case you aren't aware, a Military Escort accompanies the body of any serviceman killed in duty overseas, all the way from arrival in the United States to the burial/final service where the Military Escort presents to the family the American flag used to cover the coffin. Military Escort duty isn't assigned, Military Escorts volunteer for the duty. In January of 1968 I volunteered for service in Vietnam. And I volunteered for Military Escort Duty.

I watched the program "Taking Chance" and went to tell Susan.
Susan: I remember you did Escort Duty when we were stationed in California. Do you remember anything about it?
Me: (without thinking) His name was Brown and I took him home to a little town in Illinois.
Susan: You were in the service for 5 years and up until now the only name you can remember from that whole time was your roommate in Vietnam. But now, all of the sudden, you can remember the name of the man you did Escort Duty for?
Me: Yes.

Susan did internet research and found a U.S. Air Force Officer named Brown who died in 1968 and had an Illinois hometown. More research pulled up a post from a David Brown, asking for information about his father, Barry Lynn Brown. Was it the same person? Susan did more internet research, made many phone calls to funeral homes and VFW centers where finally she talked to a very helpful veteran, Bruce McMillan. He offered to go to his local library and do more research for her and was able to mail her a copy of the local May 6, 1968, newspaper with the large headline "...Killed in Vietnam".

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Washington, DC, April 2009

I emailed David telling him I didn't know his father but that I had served as Military Escort at his father's funeral. As a result of remembering his father's name, Susan's research, and Bruce's help, I've now been able to communicate with Barry Lynn Brown's sons, David and Kent; his widow, Patty; and his grandson, Connor, who never knew his grandfather but wants to go into the Air Force. They have been incredibly generous in their appreciation of what I did for them, yet they were the ones who made the ultimate American wartime sacrifice.

What did I do for them?
When my name came up to the top of the volunteer Military Escort Duty list I got a phone call telling me that within 12 hours a flight would be arriving from Vietnam and I was to meet it to begin Escort Duty. Not until I showed up did I find out where I was going and who I was escorting. I did my best to preserve the dignity, honor and respect Barry Lynn Brown deserved. I presented the folded American flag from his coffin to his widow, "from a grateful nation".

I can think of no greater honor I could have had than the privilege of escorting the body of an American serviceman, killed in action, home to his family.

Captain Barry Lynn Brown, Killed in Action, Vietnam, May 5, 1968

On Memorial Day, when most people think of small American flags placed on gravestones, think back to May 1968 and visualize a very young widow and her two sons, ages 1½ and 2½ years old, being handed a carefully folded flag by a very solemn young man.

Think also of the family of James Clifford McKittrick. They are still waiting for him to come home. I'm still waiting to send them my POW-MIA bracelet.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Washington, DC, April 2009