Where do old battle buddies disappear to?

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 30 May 2016 22:54:33 -0400

I have looked for many friends over the years, and they have just disappeared. Nobody in our group of friends has contact with them. Just aways makes me wonder if they think about our time together as much as I think about the times we all had together and what they are doing now.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 30 at 2016 10:59 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Mon, 30 May 2016 22:59:27 -0400

Try some of the other Forums, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest. On a professional level Linked-In is excellent and for another Military one there is "Together We Served" I don't know about the Army but the Navy has the Navy Memorial "Lone Sailor" Navy Log you can find folks that way.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 30 at 2016 11:13 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 30 May 2016 23:13:27 -0400

Am I just living in the past thinking about these guys 10-15 years later??

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made May 30 at 2016 11:51 PM

CSM Charles Hayden — Mon, 30 May 2016 23:51:15 -0400

SFC Private RallyPoint Member Here's to us and them like us, and most of them are gone!

I never had many close friends, and damn, most of them are gone!

Response by SP5 Private RallyPoint Member made May 31 at 2016 9:19 AM

SP5 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 31 May 2016 09:19:55 -0400

Keep them fresh in your memories. Time makes paths diverge, and a fond hope is that your buddies from time gone by remember you as fondly as you remember them. My memories go back over 50 years - would any of us recognize another if we came face to face on the street. Memories are valuable.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made May 31 at 2016 10:53 AM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Tue, 31 May 2016 10:53:32 -0400

The truth of the matter is that unbreakable bond only lasts until one of you stops caring.

I've had plenty of them as friends on Facebook, but sooner or later I discovered they deleted me from their lives without so much as a Goodbye.

So while I respected each of them and would have stuck by them until the end, clearly the feeling wasn't mutual.

Some guys take off the uniform and completely close off that chapter in their lives even if it means removing close friends.

Response by SP5 Susan Gutierrez made Sep 7 at 2023 4:35 PM

SP5 Susan Gutierrez — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 16:35:47 -0400

After sesrching for me for almost 20 years my battle buddy found me in my time of need. My son had just died after long illness we both had gone through a lot since we last left the military service. How I wished we could've been there for each other earlier. She's helped me a lot and I'm grateful for her presence on my life now.