Stapuff's blog: "The Things We Do"

I was there yesterday too. Myself and members of my club, Second Brigade MC, and the Viet Nam Vets MC traveled to DC from the state of Kentucky Friday morning. The trip was unpleasant to say the least. We drove thru a nice little snow shower in the Virginia mountains. Rain pretty much the rest of the way. At 4:30 Saturday morning we were rousted out of our lest than sound sleep… 13 guys in 3 hotel rooms. We went from there to a quick breakfast and caught the train. Instead of the usual exit point the organizer had asked the we go a bit further than Foggy Bottom station. They did not want any trouble and neither did we. It still got us to the memorial. When we got there it was quite a site. We came in from 18th street on constitution. We went by the place where the Gathering of Eagles set up. It was impressive, but I had friends that had never been to the wall so that was our first stop. The park service had set up security literally on and around the wall… Security included metal detectors and searches. You could not get near the wall with pack of gum. The security was both a disappointment and a relief. I hated that we would have to worry about our own citizens defacing a memorial to fallen solders… Solders that fought to protect the constitution that the protestors were hiding behind. After I took my brothers to the wall we went to the Lincoln Memorial. That was were we had agreed to meet. There were brothers from all over the country. In addition to the Viet Nam Vets, Legacy Vets, and the Second Brigade there were other motorcycle clubs, Legion Riders, Patriot Guard, and representatives from every veteran's organization. There were active duty solders and retired veterans. I had one young man, maybe 15 years old, that was standing next to me… He thanked me for coming to the event and told me that when he was old enough he was going to join the Marines. What your friend said was true, there were a lot of people on both sides. There was yelling back and forth from both sides of the street and a lot of emotion. Myself an many of my club brothers walked thru the protesters camp too… We did it before the reinforcements came, and eventually we were prevented from visiting. They did not have as much to say to us as your friend. I think they were a bit surprised, but they were pretty uneventful. The reinforcements for the police came and the bicycle racks were set up, but the focus was not on us, but the protester. We made our stand and invited the protestors to visit us, but the invitation was declined. They preferred staying on their side of the street. When the parade started it was loud and there was a lot of yelling on both sides, but nobody was harmed, that I saw. At one point all of us at the Lincoln Memorial turned our backs on the protestors, but I do not think they even understood why we did it or what it meant. They did not seem to understand the concept of respect. They were mostly kids with a few leftovers from the 60s peace movement. The kids did not understand what they were doing. That was clear. What disturbed me was the adults that were teaching the kids in their camp. The old "Students for a Democratic Society" were there. There was a lady flying a PLO flag. Another group called out that an Iranian visitor was a hero of their movement. It was insane. Greasy, I have rambled quite a bit… I will leave you with this last comment. On our side of the street we all stood proud. We knew our cause was just and stood by it. On the other side of the street many of the participants were wearing masks. When the "happing" was over nobody carried their protest signs home proudly, like we did the US Flags we were given. Instead, if they kept them at all, they hid them so nobody could see. A few of the protestors showed up in the train car we were riding in… We did not bother them, that is not our style, but they tried hard to hide who they were. That is when it hit me… Like so many things the mob carries a lot of power. As a group they were pretty loud, but once the mob broke up there was not much for them. They hid from the world what they believed in so strongly only hours ago. There is a not so old song that makes the point. If you do not stand for something you will fall for anything. If you made it thru this whole note forgive me for rambling. If I can ever digest all that happened yesterday I will try to come back with something more concise, but I cannot make any promises. LRB Danno Second Brigade M/C Chapter H Kentucky

Soldiers Missing in Action from Vietnam War are Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. They are Maj. Frederick J. Ransbottom, of Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Staff Sgt. William E. Skivington Jr. of Las Vegas, Nev.; both U.S. Army. Ransbottom will be buried in Edmond, Okla. on Jan. 13, and Skivington will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23. Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army. On May 12, 1968, North Vietnamese forces overran the Kham Duc Special Forces camp and its surrounding observation posts in Quang Nam-Da Nang Province (formerly Quang Tin Province), South Vietnam. Ransbottom and Skivington were two of the 17 U.S. servicemen unaccounted-for after the survivors evacuated the camp. Search and recovery efforts at the site in 1970 succeeded in recovering remains of five of the 17 men. A sixth man was returned alive during Operation Homecoming in 1973 after having been captured and held prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese. Between 1993 and 2006, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted eight investigations and four excavations in the vicinity of the camp site. The team interviewed former North Vietnamese officers and soldiers who participated in the battle. Some recalled seeing the bodies of U.S. servicemen near one of the observation posts, and U.S. eyewitness accounts placed Ransbottom and Skivington near the post. During an excavation conducted in 1998, two U.S. servicemen who survived the battle accompanied JPAC to help locate the observation posts, but found no evidence of human remains. Later excavations conducted in the area yielded human remains, identification media and personal effects for Ransbottom, Skivington and several other soldiers. Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of the remains. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

Free Motorcycle Magazines for Deployed Soldiers The Carolinas' Full Throttle Magazine is now available online for deployed service personnel. Anyone who wishes to have access to the online version needs only to contact me at this address to request access. We will also mail print versions to anyone who requests it FREE of charge. Call 336-885-5400 with a complete military address to get on the mailing list. Mark Infield Editor / Owner The Carolinas' Full Throttle Magazine, Mark@FTCarolinas.com Another suggestion is to donate your magazines at most VFW, American Legion, or DAV posts where they have boxes for donations to be sent to the troops. Also you can take them to your nearest VA hospital or any other place you find where can be enjoyed.

Vets scorned in homecoming from another war help today's soldiers When John Kelley came home from Vietnam in 1969, he couldn't believe the disregard and disrespect he encountered when people learned he'd been to war. "We were primarily pictured as drug users and baby killers,'' he said. When Fred Becker came home in 1972, the first thing he did was slip into the airport restroom and change into civilian clothes. His hope was anonymity. "But I was still identified as a GI,'' he said, and therefore subject to derision. Never again, the men vowed. Today, they're part of a generation of Vietnam veterans using their experiences -- at war and at home -- to mentor and counsel the current generation of warriors. Becker, a member of the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club, spent Wednesday at Fort Richardson talking to recent returnees from Iraq -- conversations he never had when he returned from Vietnam. Kelley, the state service officer for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, spends his workday guiding new vets through the benefits system -- assistance he never got when he returned from Vietnam. And at the Veterans Center on Tudor Road, Bob Erwin and Bob Nelson use their service in Vietnam and their degrees in psychology and sociology to address the mental health issues of veterans -- help that didn't exist when they returned from war. All of the men are motivated by their Vietnam, and their post-Vietnam, experiences. "The Vietnam veterans have vowed that no other veteran would be treated the way we were,'' Kelley said. With the number of Iraq veterans growing, the Vietnam vets are getting a chance to live up to that promise. Nelson said about 40 percent of the people he counsels are veterans of the war on terrorism, with Vietnam vets making up the rest of his clientele. When the two groups come together in therapy sessions, something special happens. The old guys are eager to shepherd the young guys, to make sure they don't make the same mistakes they did. Sometimes they do that with words of wisdom. More often they do it simply by sharing their troubles. At a recent therapy session, Nelson said, an Iraq veteran who often sits quietly finally spoke up. "You guys are good to me,'' he told the older guys. "I know that drinking's not going to work for me,'' he said, looking at a vet who had failed to find comfort in a bottle. "I know arguing with my wife's not going to work for me,'' he said, looking at another vet. "And I know quitting my job's not going to work for me,'' he said, looking at yet another. "Now all I've got to do is figure out what is going to work for me.'' The room filled with laughter. But it was a serious moment. The old guys who had made destructive choices saw how they could make a difference for someone else, and the young vet had listened and learned. Sometimes, Erwin and Nelson said, Vietnam vets come to group sessions not because they have something bothering them but because they want to be there for the Iraq vets. They've been there, they've done that, so they know a little about what the guy who spent a year in Baghdad went through. "If you didn't smell it, see it or touch it, you don't understand it,'' said Nelson, who served twice in Vietnam, in 1964-65 and 1972 and once in Desert Storm. "We know that hearing the whop-whop-whop of a helicopter blade is enough to send us back to Vietnam,'' said Erwin, who was there in 1966, 1969 and 1970. Today, the sight of a white pickup might catapult a veteran back to Iraq, where such vehicles often are bombs in disguise. Different triggers for different generations, but the result can be the same: unwelcome memories and a cold sweat. The difference is it's OK for today's vets to admit to such feelings, and to seek help for them. It's OK, in part, because of Vietnam vets. Their needs sparked the law that mandated the country's 209 Veterans Centers, the first of which opened in 1979 to provide outreach to Vietnam vets who for too long had been disregarded and disrespected. Veterans Centers are open to all veterans now, although Vietnam vets still outnumber all of the others put together. Only now they don't just go seeking help. They go offering help. "The older vets love the young ones,'' Nelson said. "They almost smother them. They want to get them healed as fast as possible.'' The Anchorage Daily News