You sound just like a whiny little girl cappy. You stated that I disparaged you because of your service? That is a lie and you know it. Why are you always trying to become a victim? Quite to the contrary I thank and I am grateful to every veteran that has ever served. No matter which branch or no matter the capacity. Regular active duty, reserve, guard, anyone that has put on the uniform has written that check.

I did not disparage veterans at all, quite the opposite, I paid tribute to them in my own words. I responded to a poster from a FOREIGN country that commented on America's part in the Vietnam War and in my view that poster was disparaging our veterans and those that served in Vietnam and other parts of SE Asia. You then stuck your nose in it and defended that poster! How could you take the side of someone from another country commenting on that war, when they are not from here, they did not live here at that time and do not have ANY idea of the toll that war took on this country. The Vietnam War in some people's views tore this country apart. An to this day, to a degree it is still tearing us apart in large part because of MAGGOTS like YOU.

That person from Scotland said in so many words that MORE important than the losses we experienced of fine young men and women are the questions about why and what for. I disputed that and here is exactly what I posted:

"I would speculate that those that lost loved ones in the Vietnam War would not think that asking the reasons why and what for are more significant than the loss of their loved ones. You sound just like one of the maggots from that time period that were hiding somewhere while being protected by those better than themselves.
Let the dead rest and let those they left behind reflect and rejoice in their valor."

You take from that, that I was disparaging our veterans and those that served? Are you retarded? That person from Scotland is certainly entitled to their opinion but you taking their side AGAINST our country is over the top and yes, in my mind makes you a maggot.

In this post as well as some of your other post you clearly slam our veterans. "Wrong war, wrong place, blah, blah, blah, etc. etc." , you sound just like those idiots that threw things and spit on our troops when they returned home. I would think that a lot of our veterans myself included, while they did not expect a ticker tape parade when they returned they would have at least wanted to be respected and receive some thanks from a grateful nation for doing what they were asked to do.

As for whether or not you served in Vietnam I guess I do not really know but you do not talk like it. Your postings about your service just somehow do not sound genuine and the dots just to not connect. If you did serve then my thanks to you. I served myself, but I did not talk about it then, I do not talk about it now, and God willing I hope I never have to talk about it. Most Vietnam Veterans I know do not talk about it in detail and do not want to. You seem to want to shout if from the rooftops. Maybe that is your therapy or quite possibly, likely, it is something else. But, again, IF you did serve you deserve the respect and thanks of all of our other veterans. But, that does not give you the wherewithal to disparage our veterans or war effort or defend a foreigner that has no "skin" in the game. Not only do I think you are a maggot, I think you owe our veterans an apology.

There is a movie called "Jar Head" and there is a great line in that movie about veterans serving in combat. The Gunny is talking to (shouting) at his new recruits and inquiring about their backgrounds. He approaches one recruit that is a legacy Marine (his father served). The SGT. asked the recruit about his father's service in Vietnam. He asked the recruit about his father being a combat veteran, the SGT asked the recruit does his father ever talk about ? The recruit tells this SGT. "he talked about it only once sir". The SGT replies, "good, then he is not lying".

People will ask questions about the Vietnam War as long as there is a United States. There will always be what ifs? We were there because we were obligated by a treaty to be there. I know most liberals and other military haters like you think that we should only abide a treaty when it is convenient. Most veterans view that war that if the military had been allowed to fight the war and not the politicians then the results would have been much different. But even having said that, we did not lose that war, the South Vietnamese did.

Was it the right war? Were we in the right place? I think we were, others may differ. But I can guarantee you one damn thing, we were there for the right reasons.

Oh, and BTW, yes, "I am one of those "brainless" flag wavers" as you put it. I wear that proudly and I will always support my country right or wrong, especially on foreign soil.

What did this country do to you to make you hate it so much?

God bless our veterans and God Bless the United States of America.

Going the e-mail rounds.
We hold a deep debt of gratitude to all our veterans, deceased and living and to those men and women still serving our country.


A little history most people will never know.


Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 57 years since the first casualty.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam ..

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam ..

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.

8 Women are on the Wall, Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest . And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam . In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.

"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds -
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.

"Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God."

- from High Flight - John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Greetings All!

I am a newbie here, but have been into photography since 1976. I started with a Ricoh 500G rangefinder, and moved on to a Minolta SRT-202. Eventually I acquired a Nikon F Photomic with a nice variety of lenses.

I ran a color darkroom in my home, using a Beseler 23CIIXL with a Dichoric Color head, and processed prints in open trays. That ended when my daughter came along and we needed the room!

I sold all of my film equipment a few years back, and now use a Canon T1i and T5i, with a variety of lenses between 28mm - 500mm fixed. I also have a couple of very nice Canon zoom lenses. My latest acquistion was the 40mm pancake. I like it very much!

I look forward to being a member of this forum!

Hi folks. I am Kelly, a life long (and a long life) hobbyist photographer. Started in the darkroom in high school, but went digital about fifteen years ago. I am still shooting with a Nikon D200. I like to think that I am proficient with Adobe Photoshop but am learning new things all the time. That includes a few tricks on this forum. I have done a lot of things over the years, but carpentry, and auto mechanics have been the mainstay. Currently I teach automotive and diesel technology and am counting the days until I can retire and play with Photoshop and my cameras.