[Peace-discuss] Vietnam Redux

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Echos of Vietnam  once more- during 'Nam a 3 day "R & R"  (rest and 
relaxation) tour was the norm to help warriors temporarily recover from ongoing combat 
effects but it was not to a location back home but to some other location such 
as Phillipines. Okinawa, Thailand, Australia, and maybe for senior command 
staff- Oahau.  This new "R & R" policy indicates that  a long term commitment of 
occupation with recognized ongoing combat is eminent. Sending troops in and 
out of combat will only increase casualty rates by allowing them to refocus on 
civilian life rather than combat. This policy will also require that more 
trops be "in-country"  to replace those who leave for 2 weeks. And who pays for 
this?  But then we must recognize that this occupation is Illegal!! Rather than 
providing warriors "R & R" we must ensure DOD officials and our President 
removes all troops from iraq and the region. 

doug

***

Soldiers Home for Two-Week Vacation From Iraq
By WILEY HALL, AP

   
 
AP
Pvt. Jim Short holds his eight-week-old baby girl Rachel for the first time.  
   
LINTHICUM, Md. (Sept. 26) - The first U.S. troops to get a two-week vacation 
from their work in Iraq landed on the East Coast early Friday and were looking 
forward to seeing their families, eating home-cooked food and getting some 
sleep.

"The first thing is, get a good nap," said Pvt. Bryan Harper, 23, a member of 
173rd Airborne Brigade from Portland, Ore.

"Two weeks is not a lot of time to spend on leave," he said. "I've learned on 
leave you don't make plans because they never work out. Just spend time with 
family and friends."

Harper and the other 191 soldiers who arrived at Baltimore-Washington 
International Airport about 6 a.m. are the first wave in the military's largest home 
leave program since the Vietnam war.

A dozen family members waited at the airport to greet the soldiers, most of 
whom were catching connecting flights to their home cities. After waving to TV 
cameras, some pushed through a crowd of reporters to get to the pay phones. A 
sign read: "Welcome Home U.S. Armed Forces. Thanks for Serving Our Country."

   
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"It's good to be back," said Pvt. Larry Burns, 20, of Burlington, Vt. He was 
looking forward to seeing his wife and his daughter, Alexia, who was born two 
weeks ago.

Pfc. James Short, 23, of Pittsburgh, cradled his 8-week-old daughter in the 
airport, saying simply, "It feels great."

Staff Sgt. Christina DiFlaurio, 36, of El Paso, Texas, was looking forward to 
surprising her daughter, who turns 16 on Oct. 2.

   
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"I hope to be there when she gets home from school, sitting on the couch, 
saying, 'Hi!"' DiFlaurio said. In her knapsack was a stuffed camel she bought in 
Kuwait as a gift.

The group left on Thursday for a 16-hour trip that included a stop in 
Germany, where 78 soldiers got off the plane for leave in Europe.

The announcement Thursday of the leave plan stirred excitement among families 
of troops serving in Iraq, but many said the two-week break will bring 
heartbreak when it's time for their loved ones to return to duty.

The program was ordered to provide relief and boost morale for forces serving 
12-month tours of duty in the hot, dangerous and sometimes primitive 
conditions in Iraq, as well as those in support roles in neighboring countries. That 
means it's available to the vast majority of the more than 130,000 troops 
deployed there, officials said.

The program offers 15-day vacations, with some transportation paid, for every 
soldier, sailor, airman or Marine staying in region for a year, said Marine 
Maj. Pete Mitchell, a Central Command spokesman.

The government pays for the flights to Germany and Baltimore. Troops 
continuing on from there to their homes or other places will cover that expense. 
Eventually the military hopes to also have flights to Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth 
and Los Angeles.

Yearlong rotations were ordered during the summer for most troops as violent 
resistance to the occupation spiraled and the Bush administration found little 
success in getting more nations to contribute forces.

The subject of deployment lengths has been sensitive, with some soldiers and 
their families complaining bitterly about delays in their homecoming, repeated 
deployments and the extension of tours.

"First of all, rest and recuperation ... is essential just because what 
they're being asked to do is pretty darn difficult," Mitchell said of the troops. 
"But it's more than that; we also believe rest and recuperation will improve 
readiness."

He said the mental and physical break from Iraq will make forces "that much 
more alert, that much ... more on top of the game."

Bob Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of American Foundation, took an 
opposite view, saying he recalls that there was a disproportionate number of 
casualties among those back from leave in Vietnam compared to the rest of the 
troops. He said troops go through a rigorous and intense period preparing for 
deployment, then take time to adapt to a combat zone.

"To get yanked out of that is such a trip in your own head ... it makes it 
really hard to come back in," he said. "It was sort of like you broke stride ... 
you're distracted."

Still, he said, he would never say he was against giving leaves.

"My memory of my R&R experience is very vivid," said Muller, who served in 
the war in the late 1960s with the Marines. "The night before departure was just 
raucous, exuberant, everybody was pumped. A week later, coming back, nobody 
said a word - and I mean it was absolute stone silence."