[movermike] movermike: Don't You Ever Call Me A Vietnam Vet!

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Posted by movermike:
Don't You Ever Call Me A Vietnam Vet!
http://www.movermike.com/posts/1186534785.shtml


   I haven't had the lack of morals to call myself a Vietnam Vet. [1]Ace
   of Spades however cites the Wash. Post column by [2]Jose Antonio
   Vargas who writes that Markos "Kos" Moulitsas Zuniga is a Persian Gulf
   War Vet, even though Daily Kos served a three-year stint in Germany
   during the Gulf War. (I am assuming Gulf War One.)

   I was about to be drafted in 1965 and somehow got into an Army Reserve
   unit, the 104th Timberwolves, a test section company HQed in
   Vancouver, WA. I was active at Ft. Lewis for basic training the first
   three months of 1967, and served advanced basic at Ft. Ord. I went in
   at 125 pounds and came out at 165, a mean fighting machine able to run
   a minimum of six minute miles, mile after mile after mile. Vietnam was
   the one place I feared.

   In total, I served 119 days of active duty, went to summer camp for
   two weeks every year for six years and was on inactive duty after my
   six year gig for another length of time. I am not a veteran and do not
   qualify for vet benefits because I did not serve over 119 days.
   Compared to guys who served in "Nam, I am not a Vietnam Vet. I don't
   have that thousand yard stare. I was never shot at. I never shot at
   anyone. I did wear combat boots.

   If I were [3]Daily Kos, I would make sure to disabuse anyone from
   thinking I was a Persian War Vet, before any one gets the idea to test
   me under fire!

   [4]Daily Kos [5]Vietnam [6]Mover Mike

References

   1. http://ace.mu.nu/archives/236291.php#236291
   2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/05/AR2007080501580.html
   3. http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=11410
   4. http://technorati.com/tag/Daily+Kos
   5. http://technorati.com/tag/Vietnam
   6. http://technorati.com/tag/Mover+Mike