Comments for From the Editor's Desk: A long-delayed welcome at http://lakeconews.com , comment 1 to 5 out of 5 comments http://lakeconews.com Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:14:38 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://lakeconews.com/content/view/3696/925/#comment-4079 As a marine of that time and later SF was my debark station. Some of my recall has a little different take than yours. I\'ll choose not to take about it if you please. The point of this correspondence, no left wing Democrats attacking the right with made up stories? Lets use the word \"LIE\" not miss spoke but a lie. I was sent to hell holes by both sides and to this day am a nonpartison. Carter, Johnson I knew them well.Good life - James Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:46:55 +0100 http://lakeconews.com/content/view/3696/925/#comment-4075 My father in WW2 was in the Shore Patrol in SF and went on to the SFPD. My mother was one of the first Woman Marines or BAM, also in the same war. I had a cousin in Vietnam, Steven, who I used to write every few days and send food and cigars. I was 10 years old. Another cousin was a Captain in an artilley unit. I also saw SF go Hippie, and in my neighborhood the Inner Sunset, I saw many American - Chinese- and USSR flags, as well as POW/MIA, I am not sure of the date on the last, probably later I am not sure. The part about folks not being thankful, I believe has been an urban myth. I saw uniformed Navy and Army on Haight street, down near the bowling alley on Arguello. The local mostly out of town flower children, never gave them a bad time. These were mostly kids much older than me with my short hair and glasses I never had a bad time. The ones that protested the war, believe it or not, were mostly the local radicals and cold_war_slurs. I had an uncle that was a union business agent in the Longshoremans Union in the City. He was the red headed stepchild, as he was according to my dad a cold_war_slur. These folks were many drunks, and could get edgy. According to Uncle Red they were taught how to egg on a group of people, and were professional Union Aggitators. I am refering to the abusive protestors. The only time I saw the Haight get interesting is when a camera from TV was around. Everyone wanted to get in the pucture. I also rode the bus the 6 Masonic, 38 Geary and the N Judah and all the rest home from private school near Van Ness. I saw many serviceman with all the local crazies and never saw anyone being disrespectful. I am sure they were afraid of getting beat up if they did. I sure saw the young men as strong,and the uniform was like a cops,another one you did not mess with. I am writing this for myself, and have a sister who is a Col. in the US Army, married to another Col. - she is an MD and was in the first Gulf War, and he has been in both, as he was called back from the Reserves years ago. I am a lefty and get bugged when folks talk about how their was disrespect for the Vietnam War. If you google the one about those soldiers being spit on - you will find it has no basis in fact. Just as now folks respect the poor man or woman who went to Iraq or Afghanastan. I haste the war, but still respect those who served. Also remember those who were dragged into service in Vietnam had no education deferement, or Reserve like Bush and Clinton. These folks had little education and came of age when this country had an economy that one could survive on with a small wage. The economy has changed and these Vietnam vets in their late 50/s and up have like most in the working class been screwed repeatedly. I remember the 18 percent interest rates, the expensive fuel costs that got me laid off in 82. Worrying about my job in the recession and housing collapse or 92. And now. The story long ago in Vietnam was the Republican Right wing, attacking the Left with made up stories. The illusion of the Silent Majority, and that we were winning in Vietnam, up until the end arranged by Kissinger. I firmly thank all those in the military service. The real problem for the vets is the false belief that they will get an education when they got out. They were lied to past the Korean War. The time in the military for many was not a help to the survival in this brutal economy. Their formative years were wasted. Anyway enough of my personal rant. Thanx for the forum. - CobbMt Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:08:29 +0100 http://lakeconews.com/content/view/3696/925/#comment-4024 for this wonderful article. I\'m glad to see a collective acknowledgment of the sacrifice that is just \'another day on the job\' to our veterans. Heartfelt thanks to all veterans of all ages and walks of life. - Donna Christopher Sun, 30 Mar 2008 09:11:09 +0100 http://lakeconews.com/content/view/3696/925/#comment-4023 we should honor ALL vets is to NEVER NEVER NEVER endanger them unless we TRUELY need to. This country is a disgrace in that regard, we don\'t have a collective clue as to what\'s going on in the world or why it\'s happening, let alone what to do about it. Foreign policy here is drafted in the boardrooms of corporate America, who\'s profit\'s are what our military is oftentimes used to protect under the banner of keeping safe \"American interests\", an obscene euphamism for rich people\'s investment portfolios. We screwed the \'Nam vets, we screwed the Gulf war vets and now we\'re screwing the latest batch of men and women soldiers by betraying their trust they had that we\'d not needlessly waste their lives, and ignore their needs when they returned. Our founding fathers would turn in their graves if they saw what had been done with and to our military in just my lifetime, it\'s been a disgraceful period in American history. - smurf Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:46:13 +0100 http://lakeconews.com/content/view/3696/925/#comment-4020 As I assisted my husband outside of Safeway on Friday the reactions of people were interesting. The generosity was heartening. The curiosity was appreciated. The discomfort exhibited by some was to be pittied. There were those with memories to share, not only former soldiers but those who lost classmates or relatives. What was disheartening to us was the preteens who didn\'t have a clue what it was all about and weren\'t interested in finding out. One young lady returned her clover saying, \"I don\'t need this.\" As the saying goes, if we do not learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it. Thanks to all. - yellowwing Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:38:31 +0100