My dad was a marine and he would never buy a KIA car and was surprised a car maker even chose that name because to him KIA means killed in action which was more definite than the MIA which possibly means KIA too
My dads time was the Korean War and the Vietnam war ended before I may have been drafted
But as a young boy my mom often took us to hot spring hotels in beitou and there were always a handful of young ladies in their twenties around near the front desk
I didn’t know in the sixties why they were there until the late 70s when I came by that knowledge but by that time they had disappeared
I don’t think they were there only for the GI though
One of my two younger half brothers knew I liked to take pics and asked me if I had any I took in world war 2 as he thought I was really old compared to him as I was 22 compared to his then 8. Even our dad wasn’t old enough to be in WW2
I guess he thought our dad probably fought dinosaurs
Well, we were in Iraq and Afghanistan a long time, and a LOT of people were there. Some 2-3M American military have been to Iraq and Afghanistan post 9/11. Probably another 250k from the other 5 eyes? And maybe Another 200-500k US contractors? Total US funded contractors exceed US military.
In my experience, Iraq and Afghanistan are very different, for many (most?), than previous conflicts in terms on constant connectivity, contact, awareness, and willingness to discuss.
Maybe it also depends on what that individual did
What role he played
If he was responsible for killing lots of people perhaps he would rather keep quiet about that
If he was in a support role perhaps he would be more open
I know actually two Iraq veterans one was in a support role and while not talkative bout Iraq he will say a few words while the other says absolutely zero about it and deflects any questions you may have
I suspect his role was perhaps rather unpleasant
One other friend is in his 70s and he missed the Vietnam conflict by being sent to Europe lucky him
He talks a lot about his days in Europe
Young and GI in Europe those were the days
And he said his dad was in WW2 and sent to the jungles including PNG and he never talks about his time there except that he got malaria
40 years or so ago I had some coworkers in Taiwan who were in the helicopter gun ships in the Vietnam jungles and the group of 4 and myself went to see Apocolyse Now and they said the film was very realistic the helicopter scenes
About wars and people in it my first job I was 18 and my boss was an American running a small buying office in Taipei for an American Sports equipment company who had worked with AHNOLD when he was a body builder and he himself piloted a P51 for the Flying Tigers and was shot down in China
But he lived to bail out of his plane and was then sent home What a story
He was half a century old at the time I met him, his words
I don’t know… the “warrior” culture is so celebrated a lot of dudes are way into it these days and very open to talking about it. The exception is the specops guys - those guys are generally good at keeping their mouths shut (although I know one chatty ass ranger sniper).
I am not a shrink, but my simple thinking is that for most people being subjected to a situation where you are killing other people it’s not pleasant and it’s not something you really want to expand upon with your friends unless they are super super close to you because it’s something that you are perhaps not proud of , on the other hand. If someone you know is a sadist or you suspect that he is a sadist he may want to talk about all the gory things that he did but I’m not sure that’s the kind of person I want to hang out with i would rather emphatically say I wouldn’t want to hang out with such a person. Then you have the other type of person who likes to pretend he did all those things to get some sort of one upmanship on you to tell you how tough he is so you don’t mess with him that kind of person could be just full of it.
I shared an apartment with one guy who was supposedly an ex ranger sniper. Telling me about working with spooks in central America shooting targets in the jungle. They would give the target and he would pull the trigger. I don’t think I could do that to be honest especially not in a war situation. Never knew to take him seriously or not but I’m pretty sure he was ex military. Was a kindergarten teacher and student at the time I knew him .
Course Taipei used to have its very own Post Home in Shilin. That’s where you could have found your Vietnam Vets. Originally the base for the Flying Tigers.
It’s been a long time but I want to say it was near this intersection I think. Near a furniture shop called Ricardo Lynn I think
That’s probably gone too?
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