Have You Ever Been Deployed?

[Bobn57]

I did not serve but many family did stating with WWII. My Dad's brother was a Master Sergent in the Army and died May 30, 1944 in Cambridge England during a bombing raid. 6 days before D Day. Two other brothers were in the Marines in Pacific and other brother in Belgium and Germany. They made it home safe. Moms one brother was a bombadier/ navigator on B24 in Mediterrean. He made it home ok. Her other brother was in the Army and saw action in Africa, Sicily and D Day +1 in Normandy. Was in the hedge row battles and contracted malaria from the african campaign. He was sent to England to recover. When he got out of hospital he was discharged but reupped in Colorado to get trained on bombers. War ended before he was back in it. crapy life afterwards....PTSD, heavy alcohol abuse. Dad was 4F but served as a sheriffs deputy during wartime. Moms brother in law was a Gunners Mate, 1st class in USN during WWII and Korea. He was a lifer. Lost overboard off East Coast in 1954 securing/checking deck guns during a storm. Made it out of the shit and loast during peacetime. Nothing but utmost respect for our military and police. God Bless and watch over them. Thanks for letting me share.

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[Bobn57]

I have been helping my mother move and I stumbled upon this old photo of my great uncle from my Dads side in a random photo album. Thought I'd share it with you guys. I don't really know much about my dad's side of the family. I'm not on good terms with my father because of reasons I don't want to get into but my parents had an ugly long drawn divorce when I was a kid.

This is my great-great uncle who served in WW1 and was in the 369th Infantry Division, the Harlem Hellfighters. It was a very proud moment when I discovered this, because people like him have paved the way for people like me who wanted to serve.

I remember my father telling me that I decended from a long line of warriors.

My brother and I both joined the Army aftee high school and went into the Infantry, I was in the 101st and he was in the 82nd. Both went to Afghanistan at different times. Sadly, he went during a really bad time and was in a very bad situation. He has irreparably changed and suffers heavily from PTSD and drug abuse. It is a very sad and ugly situation. I've tried my best to help but there's only so much I can do being the younger brother as well as having my own problems.

On my mother's side my great uncle joined the Army and served in Korea. He has a son (which is my cousin?) that also went into the Army and deployed to Afghanistan.

I think the Harlem Hellfighters were recently awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their bravery during WWI. Well deserved! Too bad not sooner, and thanks for your service!

 

[Bobn57]

I have been helping my mother move and I stumbled upon this old photo of my great uncle from my Dads side in a random photo album. Thought I'd share it with you guys. I don't really know much about my dad's side of the family. I'm not on good terms with my father because of reasons I don't want to get into but my parents had an ugly long drawn divorce when I was a kid.

This is my great-great uncle who served in WW1 and was in the 369th Infantry Division, the Harlem Hellfighters. It was a very proud moment when I discovered this, because people like him have paved the way for people like me who wanted to serve.

I remember my father telling me that I decended from a long line of warriors.

My brother and I both joined the Army aftee high school and went into the Infantry, I was in the 101st and he was in the 82nd. Both went to Afghanistan at different times. Sadly, he went during a really bad time and was in a very bad situation. He has irreparably changed and suffers heavily from PTSD and drug abuse. It is a very sad and ugly situation. I've tried my best to help but there's only so much I can do being the younger brother as well as having my own problems.

On my mother's side my great uncle joined the Army and served in Korea. He has a son (which is my cousin?) that also went into the Army and deployed to Afghanistan.

Here's a link....your family should be proud!
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th...2/text?q={"search":["raul+grijalva"]}&r=1&s=1

 

[TonyNJ]

I spent 3 months in Mogadishu, Somalia and year on Okinawa, Japan. USMC 92-99. When people thank me for serving, I say, "No thanks needed, it was a privilege to serve and represent the US overseas."

 

[Bobn57]

I spent 3 months in Mogadishu, Somalia and year on Okinawa, Japan. USMC 92-99. When people thank me for serving, I say, "No thanks needed, it was a privilege to serve and represent the US overseas."

respectfully disagree.....heartfelt thanks for your service Marine.

 

[FruityJudy]

Brother was deployed to Kuwait for 2 years. He hasn't been the same since unfortunately.

 

[Rapid Red]

Like father like son so that's a yes. It was, at one time a natural progression & the next step to becoming a man after high school.

Should be required today, if doubting that statement just take a good look at reality.

Cheers

 

[IPOGT]

Like father like son so that's a yes. It was, at one time a natural progression & the next step to becoming a man after high school.

Should be required today, if doubting that statement just take a good look at reality.

Cheers

You are 100,000% correct. And a requirement for citizenship.

 

[Sivi70980]

Brother was deployed to Kuwait for 2 years. He hasn't been the same since unfortunately.

All you can do is be as close as he'll let you. If you can find some of the triggers, be there to try and remove them before he encounters them. If he doesn't want to do any therapy, or even if he is, maybe go as well to learn some helpful tools to make things a little easier for him. I lost a great friend I considered brother to PTSD and my wife also suffers from it. It's a rough road for sure.

 

[Sivi70980]

Like father like son so that's a yes. It was, at one time a natural progression & the next step to becoming a man after high school.

Should be required today, if doubting that statement just take a good look at reality.

Cheers

I never served but having been to 2 war zones as a civilian contractor, I can't agree more. My personal experiences are my proof and I was just in the kiddie pool while many others were diving into oceans. The other side of this though is that the fundamentals of service need to remain intact. I see first hand how the army has changed over just the last 10 years and it's not something I fully agree with.

 

[DavidinDurango]

Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club (Viet Nam) X2

 

[Mambruh]

I find it oddly satisfying to be deployed. Don’t get me wrong I love being the family at home (wife and 3 year old) but there is a calmness to the chaos and doing the job. I miss the what we did and what we supported. I don’t think there’s another job I could do this well which is why I plan on being in as long as I can. I’m not even a super blue (Air Force) type of person. I’ve only been deployed 6 times so far but I’m sure it’ll be more in the future.

 

[IPOGT]

All you can do is be as close as he'll let you. If you can find some of the triggers, be there to try and remove them before he encounters them. If he doesn't want to do any therapy, or even if he is, maybe go as well to learn some helpful tools to make things a little easier for him. I lost a great friend I considered brother to PTSD and my wife also suffers from it. It's a rough road for sure.

These days, sadly, you don’t even have to serve to get PTSD. Plenty of triggers to go around just living a “normal” life now.

 

[Sivi70980]

These days, sadly, you don’t even have to serve to get PTSD. Plenty of triggers to go around just living a “normal” life now.

True story. Sucks. So glad I'm not a parent. Near impossible to prepare someone to live in this world I think.

 

[wingnutt]

Twice myself, once with Army once with Air Force (long story) but irrelevant because I came back the same way I left…

my response to ”thank you” is I’d rather you thank the guys who left a piece of themselves over there…be it physical or mental, it’s heartbreaking to watch from the inside as well.

on a happier note, my grandpa was on Normandy Beach at the ripe old age of 16 (he lied to get out of orphanage) and after his passing we got a notice from a third party about a map that you can purchase.

what they did is input his name and service number, along with his unit into the database and it spits out a personalized map that showed where he, his platoon and/or his unit landed, marched, camped and fought.

….if I can find the map when I get home, I will post up a link

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