It is difficult for me to recall the war without it overtaking my senses and sensibilities. I served my country as a Corpsman attached to the Marines. I do not talk about my experiences and do not wish to do so here. Everyone that served has a story, told or untold.

All of those that served during this war, like all wars I suppose, did so imperfectly. Not all served with valor and bravery. Some did so with greater devotion and sacrifice than others. Some were simply killed outright and are now just a name on a cold black stone wall. However they all served. Whether they were drafted or volunteered they did their duty to their country, they did not shirk their responsibility to past generations. They did not run.

This is what makes them quite different than faint hearted souls like Mr. David Markham. Good for Mr. Markham, good that he had good men to serve, so he could be critical of those that did serve. It seems to me if there is one person in the world that is guilt ridden it is Mr. Markham.

Fear accentuates both the best and the worst in men and war if nothing else steels character for a lifetime. We can never go back and right the wrongs in life, war is not elegant, and it is not gilded with fine thinking and detached hyperbole like Mr. Markham’s.

There were cowards on the battlefield and cowards at home but the ones on the battlefield served their country by risking their lives.

I will never forget the fine young men that I knew that served our country, I will remember my fallen comrades every day for the rest of my life, and will never regret being called “doc”.

It is an honor to have served with such men.

Before I comment, I believe the letter in the printed section of Sept 2's Citizen answering Terry Garlock regarding this topic is more tactful and accurate. Having said that:

"If elected I will bring home the troops." Richard Nixon and Barack Obama. Both elected, both lied.
The country responsible for exporting the majority of the world's heroin during the war: Vietnam and Afghanistan.
This war was not fought to win but preserve democracy. Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan.
If we don't continue and escalate the war the domino theory is the enemy will take over that region of the world. Vietnam, Korea Iraq, Afghanistan.
These were never officially declared wars and denied Vets the proper benefits and treatment upon returning home. Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan.
The combined cost of these undeclared wars is in the trillions.
The WW2 generation is the so called " greatest generation." They got us into Vietnam, Korea, and were behind the scenes in Iraq, and Afghanistan. They also were on the Supreme Court that threw prayer out of schools and voted to legalize abortion. The '60's generation is getting blamed for a lot if misinformation and history revision. There are heroes and idiots in every generation. The problem is the heroes fight the battles while the idiots from the White House and the Pentagon continue the manufacturing of wars and weapons while appeasing the drug lords by guarding the poppy fields of Afghanistan with 30,000 troops. Nothing's changed. The flow of blood, drugs and money. It's Deja Vu all over again and again. If you haven't lived through all this just Google it.

This is a personal comment.

I know and respect both gentlemen as Vets and friends.

From 1969 to 73 I served in Intelligence. I knew the hows and whys of what was going on in Nam and our dealings with Russia and other hot spots. I dealt with the Nam withdrawal.

It is utter foolishness to blame the guys in uniform for what Washington did and the lies they told the American people. They didn't know why, just the jobs they were given in the name of defending their country, which they served with honor to fulfill.

Vets working directly with Nam, all fields, came away with memories and impacts that will be with them their whole lives. Sadly, the 'welcome' homes from some are part of those memories.

I was called a 'Baby Killer' and even had a car full of those 'peaceful' people drive up on a sidewalk and try to hit me. Not a lot of room to run between a building and a street.

The real question is who had more honor? Those who served when drafted or if they chose to enlist or those who ran when drafted? Reality is for everyone who ran someone else took their place.

I see the typical liberal projection is still your tool of choice. Indeed, it is you Markham that should ask for forgiveness for enjoying the fruits of OUR labor while avoiding your responsibilities as both a man and an American.

I know that hiding out in college and arguing that the 'war' (any war that YOU would actually have to serve in) is unjust is the only way to have to justify your cowardice; however, it will only satisfy your attempt to suppress your guilt for a short while. Eventually, you will come to the realization (as you clearly have) that the decision was not yours to make and your responsibility was avoided to do your overwhelming fear, selfishness and sheer cowardice.

Sooner or later David, in the still quiet morning, perhaps while shaving, you will look in to the eyes of a coward who avoided his call to duty.

Terry and thousands of other will, on the other hand, look in to the eyes of a man, a real man, who served and who survived. We will recount with great love and affection the men we served with who did not survive. We will wonder how those other 'brothers' who survived dealt with the tremendous loss and pain and the scars that you will NEVER be able to comprehend. We will look at ourselves filled with pride because we know that we rose the occasion and answered the call. We did so because we were called to serve and it was right thing to do. We did it so self aggrandizing and pathetic excuses for men like you can freely criticize those of us who risked all so we could life with pride and honor and our families could have all of the fruits of freedom. Although you ride the coat-tails of that freedom I for one will never say I did what I did so YOU could voice your jealous, guilt laden, twisted diatribe on the wounded heroes of our military that provide you with the freedom to prove yourself an idiot.

The two things you will never get from me are an apology and any semblance of guilt for serving my country honorably. While I do not speak for Terry Garlock, he is my brother and I know him. I know thousands of veterans who like me have dealt with both the long term and short term consequences of fulfilling an obligation to God and country. I can tell you without reservation that the only guilt I have ever felt as a result of my military service was the guilt of surviving while my brothers fell.

You on the other hand hope that belittling those who faced a greater cause with courage while you hid in fear will somehow relieve you of your guilt for your obvious failure to step up to your national responsibilities and Davey boy, it will NOT.

In short, on behalf of all of the men who proudly served I would like to say that you are the maggot, the "jody", that our D.I.s loved to refer to. So, in conclusion, in honor of SSGT. Renaldo Gonzales, kiss my olive drab ass you brain damaged liberal homo.

Perhaps the next time you shave in the quiet of the morning you will remember this letter, and look in to the eyes of a coward and come to the realization that you are living a lie, and the well deserved guilt from your cowardice can only be alleviated by apologizing to all of the honorable men and women who proudly served in the United States Military.

I guess that I have been waiting forty years for the opportunity for an intellectual like yourself to explain how my life went so wrong. Now I'm going to have to give a call to the orphaned daughter who never met her crewchief father and tell her that her loss was in vain, according to you. I'm going to call some fellow veterans who get by minus the use of sight, legs, or arms and let them know that according to you it simply wasn't worth it. The next time I stroll the paths at Arlington or visit that black granite monument, I'll certainly keep your sentiment in mind.

You are correct in that most who opposed the war did not look upon returning military with contempt, these folks were actually in Canada. You know the ones that President Carter pardoned, those intellectually honest souls that didn't hide behind various school deferments or phony sports injuries, or in many cases joined the National Guard to avoid overseas service. To you the shunnning at airports, bus or train stations, colleges or universities during that era was but a myth.

Gentlemen like Terry Garlock would ask that you get your head out of the sand and attempt to understand a part of our nation's history that you may or may not have experienced. For veterans like myself I prefer to tell you to get your head out of your ass for there are people like myself who have yet to forget the humiliation of being spit upon, told not to travel in uniform, and in general being treated as a second class citizen.

Might I suggest a song for you. "Long Haired Country Boy" by C. Daniels.

That was too much for first thing in the morning, but old, smelly hippies have opinions too, though most are wise enough to keep them silent when it comes to amateur psychoanalysis of others or talking about a history that they know little about beyond "wow..FREE LOVE...I can finally have sex with someone! Thank God for drugs!"

You are entitled to your views, but you are so wrong about so many things you said I don’t know where to start. So I’ll tell you just a few things.

First, the war was not immoral, it was a noble cause of stopping the spread of communism in that region. It certainly got to be a screwed up war with a patchwork of limitations and rules that tied our military’s hands and prevented them from using overwhelming force to prevail. But actually, you guys on the left sold your false message so well that America never realized the real problems in the war. Those stupid limitations certainly got lots of Americans killed needlessly, and so did the encouragement your friends gave to our enemy.

I spoke to the high school class last Thursday, and I can report the kids are bright and very interested, not bored and yawning as you said. As always, I started my talk and powerpoint slides with 3 points of introduction:

1. If I could only teach you one lesson from the Vietnam War it would be “Think for yourself” and don’t be led by the nose by TV news lest you misread the history you live through.

2. Why are many Vietnam vets still angry? Because the truth about them and their war was never really told.

3. Even though the Vietnam War is ancient history, why is it most relevant to young people like you? Because when you know how the truth was bent out of shape in the political struggles over the war, you might be better equipped to be an informed citizen, you might be able to guard against the agenda fed to you on TV. And to do that you should develop the habit of reading two good newspapers, one that leans left, and one that leans right.

When the dust cleared from the Vietnam War, it was your friends on the left who prevailed, who became leaders in our mainstream media, who now occupy academic chairs in our universities. If they had objected to the war and avoided or refused to serve, ask yourself through what prism they viewed the war, and the decisions they made, as they took history’s pen in hand to write their version in our children’s schoolbooks. When they distort the war’s history by emphasizing the negative and suppressing the positive, perhaps they are legitimizing the actions they themselves took long ago. Perhaps.

But one thing is certain. The truth about that war remains shrouded in myths, half-truths and political agendas, and so long as I have breath I will tell what I believe to be the truth. I will do that not only to set the record straight, but because if America ever recognized the truth vs the lies at last, maybe the public would be less inclined to turn into a herd of rats following the TV news pied piper.

Meanwhile, my conscience is clear.

Terry Garlock

How dare you presume to "forgive" Terry Garlock? He has more honor in his little finger than ... well, you know the phrase. You pronounce him guilty, call him gullible and narrow-minded and then have the audacity to call him psychopathic. I think you may need some of those mental health services yourself.

You said it yourself. People were moving on. If people move on and forget, then nothing at all was accomplished. Terry is trying to alleviate that. George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." In his efforts to educate those who have only heard the "peace-loving hippy" version of the Vietnam-era events, he has performed yet another service to this country. What have you done?

BTW, peace and love be with you? Every bit of your letter was insulting and designed to provoke an argument.

Lisa Treon
Peachtree City

What more could be said?
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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.

Mr. Markham,

You, sir, are a Moron. Go live in North Korea. You wont be missed.

Well, here is someone who really appears to have a problem with the military. Ask forgiveness for answering your country's call? You don't blame the politicians, you blame the soldiers, I can well see you spitting at returning service men, your phrase "gullible, narrow-minded military personnel" says it all. The only reason you get to spew your hatred is the fact that people like Terry have fought and died to give you the right. it sounds like you are the one harboring guilt, feeling a little cowardly are we? Getting forgiveness from someone like you would mean less then the residue you find on your shoe after a misstep in a field of male cattle. To ask for honor from someone like you, who doesn't know the meaning of the word, is a waste of time.

I yam what I yam....Popeye