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All-Conference [442]
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the Vietnam/Golden Corral post jogged a memory
Jan 31, 2020, 6:30 PM
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You often don't know of the gazillion people who have served. In the early 70's, my brother got married. It was in the summer when I was a VMI cadet. I was with the family at the bride's house. We were sitting around talking and her dad mentioned the book he was going to write. I wondered at the time what a country mailman from Virginia would write a book about but didn't say anything. Fast forward to 1994 and my brother, wife, and their kids were going to DC because they were in the 50th anniversary of D-day and meeting with Al Gore, VP at the time. I found that Ray Nance was one of the Bedford Boys who had the greatest percentage population of casualties at D-Day. He died in 1994 at age 98 and his obituary was in the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and AP among others. He was the last of the Bedford Boys. His book was published after he died and is available at the National D-day Memorial in Bedford Va. I served, but only briefly, as I was one of the many that were let out early of their ROTC commitments in 1972 as Vietnam was ending.
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All-Conference [442]
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Re: the Vietnam/Golden Corral post jogged a memory
Jan 31, 2020, 7:22 PM
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Correction: he died in 2009 at age 94.
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All-In [27289]
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Re: the Vietnam/Golden Corral post jogged a memory
Jan 31, 2020, 7:26 PM
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Good story. We will never hear all the tales that should be told about some guys and gals who we will never know. I guess it’s supposed to be that way. Hopefully none of these tales will be repeated about today’s serviceman. War should be avoided at all costs because the next one could be the last for us all!
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CU Medallion [56094]
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CU Guru [1397]
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Re: the Vietnam/Golden Corral post jogged a memory
Jan 31, 2020, 8:38 PM
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The invasion pool is an awesome experience. Beautiful part of Va.
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Hall of Famer [22127]
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Re: the Vietnam/Golden Corral post jogged a memory
Jan 31, 2020, 8:49 PM
[ in reply to Re: the Vietnam/Golden Corral post jogged a memory ] |
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In 2008, one of my grandsons took me to Washington, DC, to visit the WW2 and Korean War Memorials, plus all the others. On the way up we went by Bedford to visit the Memorial there. It's well worth the visit.
If you are interested in historical events related to recent wars you may want to pay a visit to the town hall at Six Mile. I believe there were four veterans from that area that were honored with the Medal of Honor, an unusual high number from a small area.
In October, 1950, I was on my way to Korea, and we had stopped in Japan for a few days. At the PX Beer Garden one night, I saw a SSgt with the MOH Ribbon. I saluted him and the other guys with me wanted to know why I saluted him. And then I told them why. I visited with the SSgt for a while but he was very modest and really did not want to talk about his award.
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All-In [48598]
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Before I completed training and left for Nam, a group
Jan 31, 2020, 11:05 PM
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of trainees were at an airport in Georgia and saw a soldier in uniform with that ribbon. We were in awe and felt too lowly to even approach him. Kinda wish we did now.
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All-TigerNet [10526]
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Re: Before I completed training and left for Nam, a group
Feb 1, 2020, 10:57 AM
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There is an organization in Charleston that honors MOH winners on a regular basis. Not sure if it s every year, but one of my friends who was an Army reservist has attended and sat at a table with an MOH winner. When the master of ceremonies asked veterans from each branch of the service to stand up, my friend said he wasn't about to stand up in front of all of the MOH winners. He said the MOH winner at his table tapped him on the arm and told him to stand just as those who had served during wartime. They are indeed a humble group of brave men, but do not consider themselves any different that the average serviceman.
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110%er [6867]
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Re: the Vietnam/Golden Corral post jogged a memory
Feb 1, 2020, 11:09 AM
[ in reply to Re: the Vietnam/Golden Corral post jogged a memory ] |
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I think that the Korean War memorial is the most moving of all the memorials. It shows the figures of the soldiers trudging through the snow and mud with icicles dripping from their helmets and beards. Really conveys the misery of that war that isn't much talked about.
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Orange Blooded [3826]
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Re: Greatest Generation for sure, going to get the book
Jan 31, 2020, 10:15 PM
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Thanks for the story.
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All-TigerNet [10822]
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That’s really cool, my grandpa fought in the
Feb 1, 2020, 10:58 AM
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Battle of the bulge. He had some wild stories
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