Vet's Day 2009

Fleming, John H., USMC, 2257213, Vietnam from March of ‘67 thru March of ‘68....11th Marines, First Marine Division. The thirty days prior to arriving in beautiful Southeast Asia, I spent 30 days crossing the pacific in the heart of Hurricane season with 5,000 of my closest friends...3,500 soldiers and 1500 jarheads. I learned a lot aboard ship starting with a near race riot over major issues like cutting in the chow line. It’s not often the Marine Corps birthday and Vet’s Day fall back-to-back and it certainly stirs some thoughts. I suppose it’s no surprise than an Okie, who had seen too many John Wayne flicks, that loves his country and his beverage of choice would be drawn to a branch of the service founded in Tun’s Tavern in Philadelphia in 1775. Please note that is the year before the signing of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But I digress. Many of the lessons I learned, while serving as a surveyor and observer overlooking “Happy Valley,” just west of Da Nang, were never taught at any stateside institution. Many had to do with leadership, facing up to one’s responsibilities, the importance of loyalty to your fellow Marines, an understanding of pulling together to accomplish a mission and some others not suitable for print. But perhaps the most important lesson I learned was respective to post Korea warfare. That’s where old fat politicians, Republicans or Democrats, It makes no difference, write checks young men are expected to cash. And they do with a commitment rarely found in any other segment of our society today. On this special day, I salute those who have given so much in defense of our country. To the “Greatest Generation,” who had the guts and determination to overcome insurmountable odds to preserve the American way of life, we can’t thank you enough. There are very few left who witnessed the bloodbath generated by the invasion of Europe on “D” Day. If it weren’t for flicks like “Saving Private Ryan” or a documentary on the History Channel, there would be little knowledge of what took place during the dark days of Word War II. For the Marines, there were the bloody battles on “Hell Hole” islands like Saipan, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and more. These were places where there were more casualties in a given hour than have occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan combined to date, But whether a vet was a member of the “Greatest Generation” or just making good on some politician’s check, we owe them big time. So when I pick up The Tulsa World and read where one of Oklahoma’s finest has placed a hold on a bill addressing the needs of veterans, as OSU head football coach Mike Gundy once said, “It makes me want to puke.” Senator Coburn had little concern about how we were going to pay for troop deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan when he voted in favor of those political checks. But now he’s blocking a bill, based on costs, that pale in comparison to trillions of dollars allocated to those conflicts. Perhaps we could do away with the insurance for Coburn and his pals to offset some of the costs of the proposed benefits for our vets. In an era where abusing the National Guard and our all volunteer armed services personnel with multiple tours of duty has become the order of the day, do we not at least owe them the best care possible? Semper Fidelis