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Clemson Sports Icon [56549]
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I was just talking to a friend about D-Day....and we both agreed that we are the
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Jun 6, 2024, 6:47 PM
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luckiest generation possibly in U.S. history. We both turned 18 in 1976, shortly after Nixon got us out of Viet Nam. I had seen several older church buddies get drafted and sent over seas, yet I was spared that as the draft was over about the time I would have been eligible. My generation NEVER had to sacrifice jack squat.Never had to fight a war. And I and my buddy, among many others our age, are grateful to our predecessors and those who followed!
Spud
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National Champion [7860]
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Re: I was just talking to a friend about D-Day....and we both agreed that we are the
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Jun 6, 2024, 6:51 PM
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There are a lot of bass that wish you would have been born earlier and went to Nam.
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Clemson Sports Icon [56549]
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Just spit my tea all over the floor!!***
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Jun 6, 2024, 6:55 PM
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Clemson Icon [27125]
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Orange Immortal [65713]
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CU Medallion [19258]
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Very Well Said Spud
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Jun 6, 2024, 7:44 PM
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Turned 18 at Clemson in Sept 1979 and graduated in 1984. In no way could I overstate my appreciation for how much simpler, safer and happier those times were ... without war, major conflicts, and media b.s.
Thanks to the Greatest Generation and those before and after who sacrificed for America so we had it better!
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Orange Immortal [61303]
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Yep! I turned 18 in 77 and I have always thought the same thing, about
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Jun 6, 2024, 7:57 PM
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how fortunate we were. It was really a great time to grow up and come of age. I am forever grateful for the WW2/Korea/Vietnam guys who sacrificed so much and made it all possible.
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Clemson Sports Icon [56549]
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A fried send me this Greenville headline today....My first thought at seeing
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Jun 6, 2024, 8:04 PM
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The headline of ine article referring to the "Japs" is how razy this current generation would be if we go to war and start calling the enemy a slanderous name. They don't even realize we call the enemy Japs, gooks,chincs, etc is to dehumanizing them so our soldiers will have less qualms about killing them...which is the name if the game in war....at least it was in WWI and WWII.....
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Valley Legend [12681]
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the current generation would surrender on day 1***
Jun 6, 2024, 8:08 PM
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Clemson Sports Icon [56549]
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Orange Immortal [65713]
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Clemson Sports Icon [56549]
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Clover, I saw a video the other day where this guy was interviewing girls about
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Jun 6, 2024, 8:26 PM
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20 to 25 years old. He asked them if their home was broken into by multiple thugs, would they want their boyfriend to have gun to shoot them with. Two of them said,"No, I wouldn't want him to shoot them...just fight them....". The guys said,"If there were four or five of them you would want your boyfriend to have to just fight them with his fists". The girls said,"yeah, I mean they are just robbing us...."...Maybe the government used those names for the citizens here at home.....but I have read many reports that we did that. Now, like you, I would have no second thoughts. None.
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National Champion [7499]
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Re: A fried send me this Greenville headline today....My first thought at seeing
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Jun 6, 2024, 8:28 PM
[ in reply to Re: A fried send me this Greenville headline today....My first thought at seeing ] |
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Amen! Called the VC some awful names i will not write on this board. Dang! They deserve it. I am living proof that if one does not register for the draft exclusion (1965) while in college one would get drafted. Got my notice as a 2nd semester soph year in February. Draft Board agreed to let me stay in school until the end of the semester. Spent 6 year plus on active duty. Must admit I was a slow learner. Spent 2 long years in RVN. Lord Bless me for I am here today at 80 years old and counting. Life is Good.
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Orange Immortal [65713]
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I think life feels better for being there
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Jun 6, 2024, 8:39 PM
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and making it back here.
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Clemson Sports Icon [56549]
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You knew my father in law.....He didn't have as severe fo injuries as you did,
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Jun 6, 2024, 9:35 PM
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but he had one bad enough that if he had not have found some American soldiers he would have bled to death at 18 years old in WWII...(By the way, he got shot on July 4th...he always joked about that) Anyway, I think he pretty much enjoyed the easy life after that. He never fussed much about anything during the years I knew him. He was thankful for everything he had. AND HE NEVER TOOK A PENNY FROM THE GOVERNMENT FOR HAVING A LEFT ARM THAT WAS NOT THE EVER THE SAME AFTER HE WAS SHOT. He landed on the beach I think about 3 weeks after D-Day....He got wounded twice on the same day. The first, he was in a crater from a bomb and they were getting shelled pretty bad. He was in a crater with a German/American and he was going to run out to another crater,and the German said to him,"Dodson...don't run out of here , you'll be killed"..." Leon (my father in law) said back to him,"The General said retreat...I'M RETREATIN'!!"...and he ran out and jumped in another crater about 20 feet away. Just as he did, a bomb went off right on top of the German/American killing him instantly and the shrapnel from that also got my father in law...A few days after that he got shot through the left arm by a German machine gunner...The scariest thing I had done by the time I was 18, was to run down the middle of the field on kickoff coverage!!
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Clemson Icon [26914]
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Valley Protector [1431]
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Re: I was just talking to a friend about D-Day....and we both agreed that we are the
Jun 7, 2024, 12:52 AM
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Actually the draft stopped in May, 1973 the month I graduated from Clemson...my draft number was 3...but never drafted..
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Clemson Sports Icon [56549]
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My brother in law is about 5 ot 6 years older than me...He went 1A for a year
Jun 7, 2024, 6:46 AM
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and didn't get drafted......
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Clemson Icon [26511]
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I was born in 1947, so my age group either faced the draft or
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Jun 7, 2024, 5:44 AM
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voluntarily served.
For me personally I wanted to serve, applied for an Army Scholarship at Clemson, received it, and willingly agreed to serve the four years active duty required. I suppose my Dad's service in WWII, as an Army Artillery Officer (he commanded an Artillery Battery in the invasion of Okinawa) influenced my attitude about service. By the time my younger brothers came of age the draft was over; however, to this day I remain thankful for the scholarship and opportunity to serve.
Age has a way of providing a little more rationality in thinking, and I remain incredulous that, as a young man, I thought it would be fun to jump out of perfectly safe airplanes quite capable of landing on solid ground. My folks never could understand what drove me to those kinds of risks, although my Mother joked that I simply liked to "show off!" She may have been right! LOL.
When I think of those wars...WWII, Korea and Nam...I realize it was my Grandparents' generation, largely born in the 1800's, that led our efforts in the first two; my parents' generation, called the "Greatest," that were in charge of Nam. Now, it's my generation in charge of subsequent ventures.
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Orange Immortal [65713]
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I beg to differ.....
Jun 7, 2024, 7:19 AM
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on one point - all those planes didn't seem quite capable of landing safely. One of the WWII vintage planes shook and rattled so much taking off that I was happy that I didn't have to be on it when it landed. And it didn't help that the trainer on the ground had just told us that one plane had skidded off the runway the week before due to mechanical problems. Plus , he reported that those older planes were soon to be retired and sent to some south American country.
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Clemson Conqueror [11596]
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Re: I beg to differ.....
Jun 7, 2024, 10:25 AM
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That sounds like the B-24's when they were brand new!
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Clemson Conqueror [11596]
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Re: I was just talking to a friend about D-Day....and we both agreed that we are the
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Jun 7, 2024, 8:47 AM
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Starting with my first relative (bunch of gg's grandfather) who fought at Kings Mountain in the Revolutionary War, all of my ancestors have been "warriors". My great grandfather at 15 years old served with Wade Hampton's 1st SC Cavalry and fought at Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and Gettysburg (among many others). He attended the 75th and final reunion of the Blue & Gray in Gettysburg in 1938 (or 37). My father's two brothers were Navy Chiefs in WW II (both career sailors) and my dad served on the most hazardous duty of all as a Merchant Marine officer on tanker ships. I never heard my dad or uncles ever mention anything about the war ..... nothing. But I knew that they realized it was their duty and expected to serve ..... without slaps on the back and congratulations! That is just the way they were.
Both my brother and I both served in the Marines in Viet Nam ..... him in 1967 and me in 1970 .... both graduated from Clemson and I was the first member of my family to have ever gone to and graduated from college. I think even then we thought it was our duty to serve. I don't think there is any question that those who served in WW II were the greatest generation, but I would not ever discount, those same men (and women, as even those that did not serve sacrificed in some way) and their offsprings that have served since then.
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