15 - On Veterans

I am proud of my service and I am saddened when I hear of our troops firing on unarmed civilians. From Korea on we were in all together different conflicts. We were imposing our way on other people. In Korea we partitioned the country to keep the Russians out and when the North decided to unify the country we stepped in to keep them separated as we didn’t like the Russians way of governing. Fifty years later they are still not unified and the conflict is still very likely to erupt again. Even when they can’t feed their people, they still resent our imposing our way on their country and won’t rest till they throw us out. We partitioned Germany and until they unified their country we never made them accept our way until they did it themselves. It appalls me when I learned of our troops thinking that they had to be baby, women and old people killers and it was something un-thought of in World War II for me. In Vietnam we never should have been there in the first place. Sure the South Government asked us but they had been installed by the French after their 100 year rule to take over and rule like the French did. But remember that the French and English and Spanish imposed Christianity on the people they took the land away from. If you didn’t conform they wouldn’t hire you to work or educate your children. No wonder all the countries that the colonial gave is got out of had nothing but revolution and chaos. They want to rule their own destinies. We did the same thing in the Philippines. The only thing was we got out and let them make their own mistakes. The corruption that ensued was a legacy from the Spanish rule that was imposed on them when Spain took over. They come in built big churches, jails and told them Christianity was their only choice. We did a little better but they are still fighting among themselves. When we walked up the gangplank with our bags it was with the knowledge that it wasn’t a round trip ticket we had. It we came back it would be in a body bag, blind, or crippled or we would have to win. When my outfit landed on the canal in 1942 they knew that the Marines were about to the end of their rope and they weren’t going to get pulled off so the North Dakota boys knew they had to win or they were history. They had the distinction of being the first Army troops in World War II to take offense action all before that were P.O.W.’s from the start of the war till then. We never left wounded or dead buddies. That’s why when Sergeant Nelson was wounded I stopped picked him up and carried him back. It was unthinkable to leave him. Likewise if we had a KIA we brought him or them back. That’s why our outfit had almost no missing in action. If the body could be found we brought it back or went back and got it.

In Nam the troops knew it was for a year and that at the end of six months they got a R&R before the second tour of six months. If the big bomb hadn’t been dropped we would have still been there. We know how the Jap treated POW’s and all the people they overran. They thought that they were destined to rule the world and all others were low life and only fit for slaves. Now these veterans that think that they got a dirty deal and were short changed are a bunch of crying babies. The government should have backed them and we should never have been there in the first place. But most of their troubles they brought on themselves. No one made them snort and smoke. This they can only blame themselves for. No one gave us a free ride but they gave us the opportunity to go to school learn a trade but we had to help ourselves. We had 52-20 that is $20.00 a week for 52 weeks or till we found a job. We had the GI Bill to go to school. Most of the vet’s never used the 52-20 as they all wanted to get on with their lives. I didn’t take advantage of the GI Bill as I was afraid that the jobs would be gone so after a trip to Montana to see Grandpa and Grandma. I found a job the 1^st day and 37 years for Meadowmore, Blue Bell, Arden Farms and Darigold until I had to retire with a disability. Work was steady providing the wholesale side of the dairy business in the Wenatchee valley. Deliveries of milk, ice cream, cottage cheese to stores as the retail business changed from mom and pop stores to supermarkets. For a while frozen food was delivered as it was beginning to become popular. There were many years servicing schools with milk products as a regular route. Inevitably office management was part of the work since companies keep records. Innovations changed the trade as stores and trucks became larger and workforces became smaller and consolidations of processing plants separated production from delivery. One of my bright ideas was to bind ice cream together for the trip from the plant to a local holding area reducing the refrigeration requirements.

1 - The Wenatchee Valley

2 - Ken's World War II Experiences

01-Into The Army 02-California Living 03-Food, Drink & Rations 04-On Patrol 05-Never Volunteer! 06-Jungle Patrols 07-Foxhole Lore 08-God In the Foxhole 09-Life As It Was 10-Humor 11-Entertainment 12-The End of the War 13-After The War 14-Coming Home <Previous 15-On Veterans

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