When I was a kid most of our dads served in WWII and our grandfathers in WWI and few ever talked about war when the men got together.
Different era. Most of those guys served when the military was still segregated. And even though it wasn't by Vietnam, it still was unofficially.
The thing that blows my mind about WWII was just how expansive it was. While even one death is too many, we whine and cry about Iraq and Afghanistan, and Vietnam was certainly a significant war, we lost nearly half a million people in WWII. That would be like if every single man, woman, and child in Kansas City were killed. EVERYONE in the country was affected. It completely changed our society. I just cannot imagine going through that.
My dad remembers our relatives who served. Even though they were treated like second class citizens back home in the US. They went and fought. James and Yancey. Yancey was a tanker. The original Black Panthers.
Toe, look up info on the 505th. Awesome group, very relevant in WWII. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/505th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)
To those of the Greatest Generation who served in that global shitshow... God bless all of you and thank you from the entire planet. Salute!
I have been to air shows where the group had planes flying and on display. I appreciate what the group does but there was reason that it's members felt they needed to change from the old name. The old name interfered with donations.