A lot of you have experiences that you learned from, but did not want to share. I have one of those...but I am thinking about sharing it. I don't want to trigger any memories for folks on the Pointy end of the stick. My experience does not make me look good in any way. The best you could say about it...is I was truly naive.
You see I was born just after World War II. I grew up on Audie Murphy, John Wayne, The TV Show: Combat, and the comic books: The Haunted Tank, Easy Company and Sgt. Rock. Every weekend we watched: "Victory at Sea."
So, like a lot of young men, I thought War was glorious, noble, and filled with heroes of all kinds. When I went Active Duty, and got sent to Tigerland, where they train folks for RVN specifically... I had a head filled with garbage. I thought I would be brave, win medals, and come home wreathed in glory and admiration. I know...I know...embarrassing to say the least. I was a kid. Hormones were raging, I was still a virgin, and only recently had seen my first pair of boobies. I had never lived on my own...and the only fights I had been in ...well, the only wounds were to my pride.
And having been indoctrinated by Hollywood and never having had any experience of my own...I thought I would be a heck of a soldier. And like any curious- incredibly unaware - punk kid, I hungered for the real stories from the real Warriors. And that led me to a confrontation with a Highly Decorated Combat Vet...an E7 from Texas. I pestered him until he taught me a lesson.
So should I post that lesson in my sort of autobiographical posts about: My Time in Service. Or should I just drop it and let you all know I apologize for my innocent ignorance...and I am truly sorry. Let me know in the comments. It sure doesn't make me look good, but I think young soldiers might need to hear it. It is a coin toss for me.