Post by Son of a Vet on Jan 5, 2004 14:32:05 GMT -5
I am one of five children of a Vietnam Veteran. My father passed away on August 10, 2002. He served 25 years in active Army and retired as a Command Sgt. Major. He also served an additional 11 years providing for the soldiers today by running the post Commisary at Ft. Drum, NY. Upon his passing, we tried tirelessly to get a burial with full military honors and we were basically denied. Instead we were afforded two soldiers (dressed in thier greens) and a tape player for TAPS. When we asked Fort Drum for his honors we were asked if he had been a General or a Medal of Honor winner, and of course he was not. Thus he was denied full burial honors. He was however awarded the Bronze Star. He never spoke about how he won the award, but I'm sure they weren't handing them out at the mess hall. My point is that it is now January 5th, 2004 and we have all written several letters to various places with NO RESPONSE. My father never wanted money, medals, or parades in his honor, the only thing he wanted was to be burried in his blues with his boys carrying him to his grave and the service he dedicated his life to to recognize what he and all of the soldiers in the past and today have done for his country. He missed out. He always said that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. I guess he learned that the hard way.