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morrobay1990Title: Holiday
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
morrobay1990
Genre: post canon
Word count: 220 + notes
Warning: Talk of war
Disclaimer: Jack & Ennis are AP's.
♥ Jack
A soldier walks through Arlington National Cemetery checking that each headstone has received its American flag in preparation for Memorial Day, May 28, 2012.
ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service, May 25, 2012) -- Soldiers placed more than 260,000 flags in front of gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery May 24 as part of the "Flag's In" tradition preceding Memorial Day weekend.
Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted.
2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.
58,148 Americans were killed in Vietnam.
75,000 were severely disabled.
23,214 were 100% disabled.
5,283 lost limbs.
1,081 sustained multiple amputations.
Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21.
11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old.
Of those killed, 17,539 were married.
Average age of men killed: 23.1 years.
Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old.
The oldest man killed was 62 years old.
As of January 15, 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
“It’s Memorial Day.”
“Huh?”
“Today’s Memorial Day…funny, we never been on a trip when it’s been a holiday.”
“Yeah.”
“You know anybody in the service?”
“Nope. You?”
“One guy…lived a couple farms over…went to ‘Nam in ’67. Same year we…”
“Yeah…”
“Came back…wasn’t the same.”
“Yeah.”
“You think you could ever do that? Go off to fight in a war?”
“Could if I had to.”
“Takes somethin special, I think, be able to do that. Seen it on the news, them guys fightin in that jungle, never knowin when some mine is gonna trip ya up, blow ya sky-high…some guy come out from behind a tree, slit your throat…makes ya wonder how it must be to live like that every day, thinkin about it…”
“Your number never come up?”
“Nope…coulda got a 2-C, ag deferment – that’s what they call it…that’s chicken-shit, though…took my chances…woulda gone.”
“Mine woulda been 3-A, hardship, ‘cause a supportin the kids…I woulda gone, too, if my number come up.”
“How’d they make it through that shit? Fightin and dyin for their country…everybody hated that war, but they went anyway. And the Korean War, world war before that...yeah, takes somethin special do somethin like that…fight for your country, maybe die. Makes ya think…makes ya think how good we got it here…’cause of them…’cause a all of them.”
Author:
morrobay1990Genre: post canon
Word count: 220 + notes
Warning: Talk of war
Disclaimer: Jack & Ennis are AP's.
♥ Jack
A soldier walks through Arlington National Cemetery checking that each headstone has received its American flag in preparation for Memorial Day, May 28, 2012.
ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service, May 25, 2012) -- Soldiers placed more than 260,000 flags in front of gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery May 24 as part of the "Flag's In" tradition preceding Memorial Day weekend.
Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted.
2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.
58,148 Americans were killed in Vietnam.
75,000 were severely disabled.
23,214 were 100% disabled.
5,283 lost limbs.
1,081 sustained multiple amputations.
Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21.
11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old.
Of those killed, 17,539 were married.
Average age of men killed: 23.1 years.
Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old.
The oldest man killed was 62 years old.
As of January 15, 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
“It’s Memorial Day.”
“Huh?”
“Today’s Memorial Day…funny, we never been on a trip when it’s been a holiday.”
“Yeah.”
“You know anybody in the service?”
“Nope. You?”
“One guy…lived a couple farms over…went to ‘Nam in ’67. Same year we…”
“Yeah…”
“Came back…wasn’t the same.”
“Yeah.”
“You think you could ever do that? Go off to fight in a war?”
“Could if I had to.”
“Takes somethin special, I think, be able to do that. Seen it on the news, them guys fightin in that jungle, never knowin when some mine is gonna trip ya up, blow ya sky-high…some guy come out from behind a tree, slit your throat…makes ya wonder how it must be to live like that every day, thinkin about it…”
“Your number never come up?”
“Nope…coulda got a 2-C, ag deferment – that’s what they call it…that’s chicken-shit, though…took my chances…woulda gone.”
“Mine woulda been 3-A, hardship, ‘cause a supportin the kids…I woulda gone, too, if my number come up.”
“How’d they make it through that shit? Fightin and dyin for their country…everybody hated that war, but they went anyway. And the Korean War, world war before that...yeah, takes somethin special do somethin like that…fight for your country, maybe die. Makes ya think…makes ya think how good we got it here…’cause of them…’cause a all of them.”
