GARY JACOBSON

WAS IN VIETNAM 1966-1967
FIVE MONTHS BEFORE BEING WOUNDED AND TAKEN OUT OF COMMISSION.

I WORKED IN A BEAUTIFUL SOUTHEAST ASIAN PARADISE FOR MY RICH UNCLE... YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS UNCLE SAM
WITH
B CO., 2ND/7TH 1ST AIR CAVALRY
UNITED STATES ARMY,

BASED AT CAMP BETTY NEAR PHAN THIET IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS.

I WAS DRAFTED.

MY JOB WAS A GRUNT, A GROUND POUNDING INFANTRYMAN IN THE NAM. PARTICIPATING IN AN EVENT THAT TOOK THE INNOCENCE OF MANY A YOUNG BOY, AND CHANGED US ALL FOREVER.

BEFORE I WENT TO NAM I WAS GUNG-HO NAIVE, ANSWERING THE CALL TO SERVE GOD AND COUNTRY TO PRESERVE THE FREEDOMS OF AN OPPRESSED NATION BESET BY COMMUNISM.

AFTER NAM, I RETURNED TO MY HOMELAND ACROSS THE POND WOUNDED IN BODY AND SPIRIT, DISILLUSIONED IN MANY WAYS THAT WOULD LAST A LIFETIME, BY A NATION THAT WOULD USE ME AND MY BROTHERS AS CANNON FODDER IN A WAR THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ENDED IN A FEW WEEKS IF WE HAD SHOWN THE MORAL FIBER TO FIGHT AS THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL NATION ON EARTH. I WAS DISMAYED BY THE POLITICS THAT FANNED THE FLAMES AND BY THE CORPORATIONS MAKING MILLIONS ON THE BLOOD OF AMERICANS.

NOW, I AM STRUGGLING WITH PTSD AND AGENT ORANGE. I AM STILL DISILLUSIONED. I'M SKEPTICAL OF AUTHORITY. I DO NOT TRUST MY OWN GOVERNMENT !

THE WORST THING ABOUT NAM WAS THE UPHEAVAL OF VALUES TAUGHT BY SOCIETY BACK HOME, TAUGHT BROTHERLY LOVE ONE MINUTE, THEN HANDED A RIFLE AND TOLD TO KILL. I REGRET THE LOSS OF INNOCENCE THE MOST BECAUSE WE COULD DEAL WITH THE HEAT AND PHYSICAL DEMANDS, BUT LEARNING TO HATE IS A HARD LESSON TO UNLEARN.

THE BEST THING ABOUT NAM WAS AND IS THE COMRADESHIP WITH MY BROTHERS IN ARMS.

KNOWING WHAT I KNOW NOW I WOULD NOT GO TO NAM AGAIN. THERE ARE MADMEN IN THIS WORLD THAT MUST BE STOPPED... AND I WOULD STAND AND OPPOSE THEM AND PROTECT THE LIBERTY OF MY FAMILY, BUT NAM WAS SENSELESS !

MY WEB SITE URL IS http://pzzzz.tripod.com/namtour.html

The Vietnam War was a horribly traumatic enigma for an entire lost generation. We were the flower of America's youth, who found the toll heavy to bear in body, mind and soul.

I AM PROUD TO HAVE SERVED MY COUNTRY, BUT HOPE WE CAN LEARN FROM THE HISTORY OF THIS "UNDECLARED WAR". I SINCERELY HOPE WE WILL NOT DOOM OUR CHILDREN TO FIGHT SENSELESS BATTLES AS WE DID, SHACKLING THEM TO SIMILAR FATES SUFFERED BY THEIR FATHERS IN THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF "WAR TO END ALL WARS" IF WE DO NOT LEARN THE HISTORY OF WAR, LEARNING THERE IS NO GLORY IN WAR... ONLY DEATH DESTRUCTION OF VALUES AND MISERY, THEN WE ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT, AND THE NEXT WAR WILL INEXORABLY COME ! SOMETIMES WAR IS A NECESSARY EVIL... SOMETIMES NOT... SOMETIMES THERE'S VIETNAM.
MY FERVENT WISH IS THAT THERE BE PEACE EVER MORE, AND WAR NO MORE ! MY GOAL IN WRITING IS TO EDUCATE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO IDEA OF THE REALITIES OF WAR. I WAS THE SPORTS EDITOR OF MY COLLEGE DAILY NEWSPAPER WHEN I WAS DRAFTED... AND LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, NAM CHANGED THE DIRECTION OF MY LIFE INDELIBLY AND FOREVER. NAM EMBEDDED MY SOUL WITH A NEW SET OF SENSES
....FOREVER !

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