Once again it is my honor to share the story of another veteran. This one is unique in that it was written by the veteran himself. I only edited it. Hopefully, it will encourage others to open up and share their stories with friends and families, or here on my weblog. Keeping these experiences bottled up inside is not healthy. This one is submitted by LTC Robert Quinter, USMC (Retired), a fellow member of RallyPoint, a blog for all military personnel.

On June 10th and 11th, 1970, the village of Phu Thonh was attacked by a North Vietnamese Regiment. The attack was later described as the largest massacre of Vietnamese civilians since the Hue massacre in 1968. Because of the dominance of the US and ARVN forces during the day, the attack was accomplished at night, starting at about midnight and ending prior to sunrise. During the attack, a team of U.S. Marine Corps helicopters, a U.S. Air Force gunship, and an Air Force flare aircraft provided evacuation of wounded and injured military and civilian personnel on a continuous basis, despite the intense combat situation on the ground.

Phu Thonh was militarily insignificant other than the presence of a small group of Marines working with the Vietnamese residents. Located southwest of Da Nang, between An Hoi and Go Noi Island, I believe many of the villages had relocated, or had been relocated, from the infamous “Arizona Territory” north and northeast of An Hoi.

A Destiny of Memories by David Ramati is not a war novel, not in the usual sense. It is a warrior novel exposing the baggage that the warrior carries home with him.

Scenes of battle play in his mind’s eye while reality plays out around him, and it is often hard to distinguish between the two. The nightmares that bedevil his sleep are little worse than the friends and family as well as strangers who judge him for the war they sent him to fight. It is a tale that every warrior has lived (if they were “fortunate” enough to live). Sadly, those who fought in Vietnam suffered worse than most. Denied the opportunity to decompress among comrades on the long voyage from battlefield to home, these warriors were transported almost as swiftly as Star Trek crew members and dropped into another battle, an uncivil civil war raging between their peers. No one has told this story better than Ramati.

There’s an app for everything. What’s the most unusual one that you’ve installed?

The difference is simple. Police enforce laws, investigate crimes and apprehend perpetrators. Secret police enforce/protect a government/regime, and control or eliminate opposition. In some cases, legitimate police forces have functioned as secret police forces, as with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Once again, since the Parkland shooting, I am reminded of how grateful I am that I do not live in a democracy.

“What’s the problem with a democracy?” I hear you cry (thinking that we really are a democracy). What’s wrong with majority rule?

...and I wonder why you, why anyone would have to ask. Think about it. What is more democratic than the Internet?

Many Americans perceive President Trump as the Devil himself, incarnate. They call for his impeachment. I’m told that a petition begging that end collected more than a million signatures in less than a week. Well, collect away. I don’t care how many sign. A hundred million. Two hundred million. We don’t decide who will be impeached and who won’t, not even We the People. The law decides and it's clear.

I have often joked about falling off the Earth. During my almost six years in the military service, it seemed that I had. I am a native of Baltimore and the Civil Rights Riots occurred and the Orioles won their first World Series championship while I was attending Infantry School and then serving in Vietnam. Laugh In and Star Trek appeared on TV while I was stationed in Hawaii where broadcasts were aired by tape delay a week later, but no one was watching. Thus, I was disconnected, oblivious to the popular culture of the time. Literally, it was as though I had fallen off the Earth.

Now, I have a new excuse and a new joke. I suffer from Transient Global Amnesia (TGA). The operative word is “Transient”. It passes. It’s temporary and I have no memory of anything that occurs during an episode. The brain loses the capacity to form short term memories. My wife tells me that I keep repeating the same thing, “Something’s wrong”, but I don’t know what. And, if she asks me about anything happening during a TGA episode, I can’t answer correctly. When it’s over, I announce that I was abducted by aliens. That’s my new joke.

Do you have hope for the future of America? Or have all the stories of doom and gloom gotten you down? Well, one week  gave me a boost of confidence in our nation and our children, its future. You may have already seen two of them but missed the real story behind the scenes. The third is a very personal experience, one in which I escorted three WWII Veterans to a high school to meet the students who wanted to pay their respects and learn their history. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did

Our odyssey began with the latest screw up by our cable company. On December 6 I notified them by telephone that we were moving on December 15 and would require them to transfer our service on that date. When I attempted my next call, the phone was dead. Using my cell phone, I was able to contact the cable company to find out what had happened. They informed me that they had responded to my service request to disconnect my service.
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Wonderful.

When I asked them to restore it I was informed that they couldn’t. They were in the process of switching from analog to digital phone service.

So what?
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Well, they’d try.