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- The assassination of President John F. Kennedy
- Vietnam
- The 9/11 Attacks
In November of 1963 I was ten years old, attending Union Street Elementary School in the 4th grade. At some point in the day, I don't remember exactly when but it was before the normal end of the school day, we were all sent home. I do remember the teachers all looking very solemn and very concerned when they sent us home for the day.
Oddly enough, I remember quite a bit about 1st and 2nd grades, much more about 3rd, and a lot about 5th and 6th grades.
Of the 4th grade I remember the assassination and the events surrounding it, and virtually nothing else.
1963 is when I learned about death.
Vietnam filled the rest of my school days, from the Tonkin Gulf in August of 1964 to my first year in college, 1971-1972. It followed me until I enlisted in the Air Force in early 1975.
My Dad's generation experienced World War II, two of my uncles and one of my great-uncles experienced it directly, two as combat infantrymen in Europe, one as an Air Force mechanic on Okinawa. Both infantrymen were wounded, both survived. One of my cousins served in the Air Force in Vietnam.
In high school the big magazines of the time, Life and Look had articles on the war every week. One week, in June of 1969, Life published an article The Faces of the American Dead in Vietnam: One Week’s Toll. (You can see that here.) They published pictures of the 242 young men who lost their lives in Vietnam in that one week. I was 16 when I saw that article
1969 is when I learned about fear.
Life rolled along without any major disruptions for the country and for me personally until the 18th of August 1976. I was stationed with the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing at Kadena AB on Okinawa. I was an Airman (one stripe, I put on my second stripe, Airman 1st Class, in September of that year).
The recall sirens went off, we got into uniform and headed to the shop. Everyone wondering "WTF?" - usually we had advanced warning of exercises, perhaps this was no exercise.
It was not.
Two U.S. Army officers had been murdered in the DMZ which separates North and South Korea. (You can read about that here.) The United States was going in and going in strong, the 18th would be sending a squadron of F-4D Phantoms (loaded for bear) to Korea, followed by another as fast as we could generate the aircraft.
We were gathered in the shop with one of our more respected NCOs briefing us on all this. As he said, "We might be going to war in the next few days." One of our junior NCOs actually cheered. Everyone turned to look at the guy with a "what is wrong with you?" look on their faces.
1976 is when I learned about idiocy.
While that wasn't really a watershed event for the U.S., it was for me. (Missed one war, looked like I might have my own to deal with. Turned out not to be the case.)
Life rolled on, got married, had kids, retired from the Air Force and started my second career.
It was 2001, our oldest child, our son, was commissioned in the Navy in May of that year. In late August our middle child, our oldest daughter, began Navy ROTC.
It was Tuesday, a beautiful fall day in New England, it was the 11th of September.
What started as a beautiful day turned to one of horror.
2001 is when I learned about hatred.
I mean hatred on a very real and personal, very visceral level. I wanted (and still want) all of those responsible for this atrocity dead in the most painful, most lingering of ways. I want them to suffer agony most profound.
I want them to know the agony of a loved one going off to work, and never coming home.
I want them to know the agony of a child going off to war, perhaps never to return.
I want them to know the agony of having lost a loved one, in the prime of their lives, and mourning that someone, decades later.
We went to war that day in 2001, we are still at war.
When will it end?
Certainly never if the current crop of politicians are allowed to continue in their jobs.
I will remember that day, this date, until I close my eyes for the last time.
God help me, I will never forgive those responsible.
Like you Sarge I can remember the janitor coming into the classroom and talking to my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Overmann and then leaving while she told us the President has been shot. The years of Vietnam were a horror story with the weekly reports of KIAs and WIAs. Twenty years ago the sky was brilliant blue, mild and then TV showed craziness and dawning realization of hatred and fear. This is one old fart who will never forget or forgive for that day.
ReplyDeleteTwenty three years ago.....got a little too worked up to properly spellcheck myself...... :(
DeleteN12 #1 - We have walked a similar path.
DeleteN12 #2 - In many ways it feels like yesterday. The horror is fresh in my mind. I cannot imagine what it must feel like for those who lost someone.
DeleteWe are of an age. Uncle came to the house before I was to go to school "President's been shot".
Delete9/11 for me was the Pentagon; I wasn't in the building, was just over the hill. Heard the plane hit, went up the hill to see the smoking hole. Yeah, I learned about hate. It's grown like a well-stoked fire; I've got a goodly bit of fuel too.
Boat Guy
Lots and lots of fuel.
DeleteAmen. May God give Peace and hold tight those who have been Lost,
ReplyDeleteMay He comfort the friends and Family of those who Morn and suffer the separation from those they Love.
God said "Vengeance is Mine",
Is it a sin to root for His Vengeance and Pray that it comes soon? Maybe maybe not.
But my prayer is that ALL who played a part 911 either through negligence or Evil intent will be revealed and given the Justice they have earned, so that ALL the world will see.
Lord, may it be your will, not mine own, but I still Pray that it be Your will that it come to pass, soon.
MSG Grumpy
Amen.
DeleteA Prayer on the Anniversary of 9/11:
DeleteO Lord our God, Who art Thyself, the Hope of the hopeless, the Help of the helpless, the Savior of the storm-tossed, the Haven of the voyager, the Physician of the sick; be all things to our land which on this date was devastated by the cowardly and hateful acts of false martyrs; who imitated wicked Herod in his slaughter of 14,000 innocents, whose only crime was to be born at the time of Thine incarnation. For those who lost loved ones, grant the comfort you imparted to the Mary and Martha before you raised Lazarus and care for them as Thou didst care for Thy Mother from the Cross, putting her in the care of the Apostle John. For the survivors, grant them healing in every sense, as you strengthened and healed the confessors. For those related to and aiding the survivors and the families of the fallen, grant the strength and compassion Thou didst instill in Thy foster father Joseph, who was Thy guardian in Thine earthly youth. For those who died, grant them remission of their every sin in Thy great compassion; both those who like the wise servant and the wise virgins, constantly prepared themselves to enter the heavenly banquet at any hour; and those who emulated the Rich Fool, preferring to enjoy earthly pursuits and ignore heavenly ones. To the rest of us, instill in us the knowledge that while the devil still manipulates our Divinely-given free will to his own ends in this world, his power is fleeting and ultimately void, as Thou hast already crushed his dominion, leaving to him only those who freely choose him. Remind us that, while evil at times seems to triumph, and the death of the innocent seems to signal the destruction of goodness, the innocent are at peace, and while the God-fearing will endure a period of suffering, those who adhere to evil shall endure eternal torment. For those who hate us, speak to their hearts as St. Procla sought to speak to her husband Pilate concerning Thee, and as Thou didst speak to Pharoah concerning the Hebrews, to soften the hearts of those who seek our destruction. Spare us O Lord, from us all hatred of those who hate us, and restrain us from any prejudice toward the co-religionists of those who perpetrate terror. Spare us, O Lord, from paranoia and rash acts by which we trample each other like rabid beasts. Preserve, O Lord, all those who protect us, those who serve in our government, armed forces, law enforcement agencies and all first responders. Keep them from despondency, disillusionment, and all things which would undermine their righteous calling to protect us in the manner of our Guardian Angels. And do Thou Thyself care for us in the manner of the Good Samaritan. All this we ask of Thee: our all-powerful and all-loving Savior, together with Thine unorginate Father, and Thine all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. [Prayer adapted from Bishop Basil Essey]
I was listening to morning radio when they announced that a plane had hit one of the towers. "Some general aviation idjit really screwed the pooch," I thought. Gut up to start the coffee and get the paper, turned on the TV for news. "HOLY CARP! That wasn't a Cessna!" Called back for my wife to come out. Saw the 2nd one hit. Listened to the talking heads brather about why President Bush hadn't issued a statement yet - bare minutes after the event when nobody could have any idea what was going on. Whining about him reading to kids while a National Disaster!!! was in progress. A whole, I think, 9 minutes after he was told he made his first statement about it. And was derided because he was as in the dark about it as everyone else. Also that he would be immediately flying back to DC. "HOLY CARP! They;'ve flushed him like a pheasant!" and expected AF 1 to be attacked with hand held SAMs. Rest of the day was a constant punch in the gut. Work that day was surreal, waiting for attacks in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
That day was surreal. I commented to a colleague, "We are now at war."
DeleteAmerica was attacked. The questions are many. 2 Airliners struck and three towers fell.
ReplyDeleteI suspect Seneca the Roman Senator might have words about that.
I know exactly what he'd say.
DeleteSarge, IMHO, this might be your best post ever. I, as well as probably 98% of your readers, have very similar thoughts/feelings. We just can’t express them quite as well. Very well done!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work.
juvat
We must move forward together.
DeleteAmen to what Juvat says.
DeleteJB
👍
DeleteI blame Carter. If he had nuked Tehran in 79 this whole trail of islamic terrorism would have come to an abrupt halt.
DeleteHostages and all. Harsh, I know. But it would have sent a geo-political signal none would ignore to this day.
And we would still have some civil liberties. Maybe we could still get on an airplane and not have to take off our shoes.....
Carter was definitely the problem, nuking Tehran wasn't necessary. Electing Reagan was the cure. Clinton exacerbated the problem, bin Laden was in our sights and Slick Willy said, "Let him go."
DeleteWant an unsafe world?
Elect a weak leader.
Was Carter really that weak? Or was there a concerted effort by some military personnel to make it appear so. Remember Ollie?
DeleteNo, Carter really was that weak.
DeleteAfter the embassy in Teheran I expected something to happen... nothing did.
Delete9-11 we were attacked by a hand full of Saudis, so we invaded Afghanistan & Iraq.
Yup.
DeleteSarge, trailing about a generation behind you I missed Kennedy and most of Vietnam was not anything I learned of really until years later (although I had at least one cousin and one uncle who served there; the cousin you know and graciously remember each year). My life was filled with the trailing elements of the Cold War and became dominated (in a historical sense) by the wars of the Middle East and militant Islam. Within that construct, I have seen at least three: the towers of 9/11, the beginning of the Afghanistan War in 2001, and then the retreat from that war in 2021 (which, I argue, will someday be compared to Adrianople or Manzikert or Vienna in that it marks a change in the power structure of the world).
ReplyDeleteTurning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
- The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats
Very apropos to quote Yeats.
DeleteJFK
ReplyDeleteGoing through A.I.T. (Combat Engineer) at Ft Leonard Wood, we had road marched back from a range in freezing sleet. Maybe ten minutes in the barracks, the company clerk came in and gave us the news. To a man we quietly started cleaning rifles and gear. Then the rumors started. A couple of soldiers had battery powered transistor radios and we gathered around to listen.
When Vietnam started up I was in Germany waiting for the Russians to come through the Fulda Gap. My father wrote me one of the few letters he ever sent (that was my mother's job). He said, "Don't you dare volunteer. I fought in one Asian War and I didn't raise a son to fight in another".
9/11 I was working on my Dodge van and not listening to the news. Suddenly there were long lines lined up at all the gas stations.
Does any of it make sense? Not to me.
Smedley Butler was right.
DeleteHis short book is pdf you can download, look it up you're interested.
DeleteYou mean his comment, "Being really hungover in a firefight sucks, trust me I know?"
DeleteRob - I saw that.
DeleteJoe - No, his stance that war is a racket.
DeleteAh! That one. The man had a way with pointing out the obvious.
DeleteMarine.
DeleteWatershed moments for me were, the Apollo Program, Fall of Tehran, the Challenger Disaster, Gulf War 1, 9/11.
ReplyDeleteApollo was very impressionable to me. Dad worked on the program as the AF Liaison for Range Tracking and Instrumentation Ships. And he knew a lot of the astronauts. That was everything good about our Space Program.
Fall of Tehran/US Embassy Hostage Crisis. Sigh. Thanks to Feckless Carter, one somewhat arbitrarily semi-evil but modernistic potentate wasn't supported as per actual treaties and one maniacal evil backwards dictator was supported by said Feckless Carter. Which told me the US wouldn't do anything for its actual allies. And then the whole US Embassy thingy, where we knew weeks in advance that there was going to be a siege by not-students and Feckless Carter didn't up-man, up-armor, up-gun the embassy. And how far our military had fallen by 79, because we went from being able to do The Son Tay raid in a murderous anti-air environment to, well, not being able to refuel helicopters in a wide open desert.
The Challenger Disaster was the moment I realized that our government was dumber than a 5th grader with head trauma. Having lived in Vandenberg, even I knew that it'd get below 40 degrees once in a while. And living in Satellite Beach from 73 to 83, I knew the temps at the cape also got well below 40 degrees every winter. First winter, 73, was the first time I saw real snow, on Christmas Day. And our feckless idiotic NASA allowed that flying turd to launch. And then to find out the escape pod (the crew compartment) that they told us was supposedly on the Shuttle wasn't, which would have saved the crew. And then to find out years later that the crew survived until they didn't, basically drowning. This was the moment I knew our government was going to lie to us about everything.
And 9/11. Clinton's lack of action against Osama Bin Ladin and dumping it firmly in Bush's lap. The intelligence leaders that knew something was up years before and didn't brief Bush as to what they knew (wow, intel leaders withholding vital intel from a sitting president...) And then the whole "Gosh, we don't know where OBL is, tee hee" until Obama needed a ratings boost. You can't tell me that was pure coincidence.
Sigh ...
DeleteAll good points.
We had a remembrance ceremony at work today. Heard an interesting perspective from a fellow civilian who I didn't realize was in my Strike Group in the Northern Arabian Sea that fateful morning. He was on the Okane, a DDG, so no Satellite TV, and had just gotten up when he went into the Chief's mess, nobody was there. Mess decks- same thing. So into CIC and found everyone there, huddled around a speaker that the cryppies had tuned to the BBC out of Dubai, which was reporting on it. They immediately went to River City (no comms/internet) and were in it for weeks. His mother worked for Chase on the 90th floor. So he didn't hear anything about her until weeks later. Miraculously she had a doctors appointment that day and wasn't there.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Memorial Garden at work, four of our employees who were killed on 9/11 are memorialized there. As is another employee who was killed in Iraq in 2003. I spent a few minutes there, remembering that day.
DeleteIt feels like 9/11 was yesterday.
It was. That's the essence of traumatic events. They're forever fresh in one's mind.
DeleteAye.
DeleteReading later after 911, there was an example of what Americans can do - without any plan or government interference. The Coast Guard had radioed "All available boats" for assistance to rescue people in lower Manhattan. Hundreds of boats of all types and sizes went into the smoke on the water from the burning Towers converging on the Battery. It was an evacuation twice as large as Dunkirk preformed in a single afternoon.
ReplyDeleteWe used to be a "can do" people.
DeleteI remember how blue the sky was.
ReplyDeleteIt was.
DeleteI have to keep my mouth shut, Fed posting and profanity are frowned upon and rightly so. This posting and comments bring mixed tears and anger. Fortunately, I can go out and scream at my Tennessee hills. It lets off pressure. Nobody in town today mentioned the day. SMH.
ReplyDeleteI can't ever forget.
Delete