My uncle was a man I could respect. He went through living hell in Korea and I never knew.

[IsItJustMe]

I had an uncle who passed away a couple of years ago. His name was Chuck and he was an uncle by marriage. I first met Chuck when I was about 6 years old.

One half of body and his face was severely disfigured. I never asked Chuck what happened to him. I always figured that if he wanted to tell me about it, he would, if not, that was fine.

Chuck was a very graceful kind and humble man. Although his disfigurement was hard to look at, it never got in the way of my relationship with him, for at a deeper level I always knew that he had the soul of a Saint.

About two years ago, Chuck died. I had a long conversation with my aunt after that. She told me about how Chuck was in the Korean war and that a mortar shell had landed on him. She told me about the nightmarish pain, suffering and agony he had to endure years afterward.

Maybe it is just me, maybe it is a deep seated personal trait that is within me. Here is the point, McCain constantly milks his POW status during Vietnam that occurred a long long time ago. While I don't disparage that event, it does not seem appropriate, to me anyway, that he would constantly bring it up and use it to garner support for his bid to be the POTUS.

In my mind, my uncle was much more of a hero. My uncle took the punches that life handed him. My uncle never complained about it or never tried to use it in anyway to get any type of approval from anyone about it. My uncle had true character. Something I think McCain is sorely lacking.

[NC_Nurse]

1. No shit. Where is the McCain that didn't use his POW status as a crutch.

They USED to say he didn't like to talk about it. Yeah, right.

[roguevalley]

12. My Uncle John was with the first marine who were landed on Guadalcanal

during the invasion and had to be abandoned due to the Japanese Navy. He was starved, surrounded and had to live that way for six months. He made it as far as Bougainville before getting shot and nearly dying. He never spoke of it but he did find Baa, Baa, Black Sheep da bomb and made his only comment about the war: "That's just how it was."

Real vets don't talk about things much. We had POW's in our family too and they had nothing to say. Your Uncle and Aunt sound like saints. I salute them and hug them.

RV

[glowing]

2. Many people think he uses his POW wayyy too much.. you aren't the only one.

[juno jones]

3. The live graphs don't lie

They dropped when McC brought it up...

[Hepburn]

4. K&R for Uncle Chuck

I had an Uncle Chuck, too. He was a Navy pilot in WWII. My mother's brother. He was the best person I could imagine...and he never talked about the hell he went through in the So Pacific. He passed on over 20 years ago and I still miss him. He was the one person in my life who never even when I was a toddler ever treated me like a kid. My opinion always counted to him.

So...a K&R for both our Uncle Chucks! :hi:

[fadedrose]

5. You're overlooking something....

Your uncle had a good wife, a loyal wife, and a good support group in a family of acceptance - you included - something all veterans need.

Many men wouldn't stay with a woman who had the same disfigurement, like McCain for one....

[tularetom]

6. We never knew my dad had won a Purple Heart until after he died

and we found it in his safe. Turns out the bad back he had all his life was due to an injury he suffered in WWII.

I'm not sure our mom ever knew. If she did she never told us.

You're right - people with class do not try to capitalize on things that happened to them or attempt to play victim.

[ensho]

7. the Koren war was horrible for the troops - horrible

I still cringe at the awfullness they had to go through. it was different from Viet Nam. horrible in a different way. cruel.

[grasswire]

8. I believe your Chuck is more typical of soldiers.

My Uncle Bob, an Army Captain, was a prisoner of the Japanese on Corregidor after the fall of the Philippines. He was hit by shelling when he was dragging wounded men to safety from the artillery barrage as the Japanese took occupation. His leg became gangrenous and was sawed off in a makeshift surgery in a cave. He was a POW for several years.

I never heard him say one word about his war experiences. Not one word. The only reason I can make assumptions about his feelings is that he refused to buy a single item that was made in Japan, for the rest of his life.

He had kept a diary on the labels of fish cans in the prison camp, kept it hidden from the Japanese. When he came home to his family, a couple of his brothers read the diaries before he was required to send them to the War Department for evidence of war crimes. Nobody ever spoke of what they read. Nothing.

Another uncle was at the Battle of the Bulge. The only hint we ever had of his great misery and continuing nightmares was his inclination to jump out of his skin at loud noises. He was nervous all the rest of his life.

Pimping one's own war experiences just wasn't done. It just wasn't honorable.

[renate]

9. I have a slightly different feeling about this

I don't have a relative who suffered like that in a war, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt.

The men and women who went through hell and kept their pain to themselves suffered their entire lives. One Veteran's Day I was visiting a WWII vet in the hospital and thanked him for his service. We talked about his life, and he'd had a good one, successful in business and in his family life; then we talked for just a minute or two about the war, and suddenly he just burst out in the most heartbroken sobbing, talking about witnessing the death of a friend 60 years earlier. The pain was still so fresh and he was crying as if it had happened last week.

So I wouldn't criticize a vet who brought up his experiences and didn't suffer in silence. Some people might deal best with their emotions by going about their lives as if they felt normal, but some people would clearly benefit from airing their feelings.

McCain, on the other hand, is pimping out his experiences solely for pity and votes, not to help in his emotional recovery. So what he's doing is not terribly noble. And in that, I agree with you 100%.

By the way, Uncle Chuck sounds like an absolutely wonderful man. How lucky you were to have him in your life! (And vice versa, of course!)

[ladyVet]

10. My f ather was in Korea.

It's only been a couple of weeks since I found out he had actually been on the front lines. He never talked about it, only about being in the motor pool and driving officers around. My ex (a freeper who is voting for "the lesser of two evils" i.e. McCain) only talked a couple of times about his service during Viet Nam.

McCain just uses his experience for political points.

[goodgd_yall]

11. It never seems right to me

when these purple heart guys or POWs shove it in peoples' faces. My father was in the Air Force and the sense I got was, in military culture, that was frowned upon very strongly.

Your uncle sounds like he was a real upright guy. I'm sorry for your loss.