Comments on: PTSD Marine Kills Brother, Self

The Troubled Marine Had Met With President Bush Just Weeks Before Driving To The Grand Canyon To Commit Suicide

[Renegade.Rivers]

ranger1948

Sounds like you have had some wonderful experiences. i wish my health was better so I could travel more. Sometimes it wears me out just to go to the VA Hospital which is 100 miles away. I know seeing the poverty of those folks sure makes one appreciate what we do have. Its so unfortunate that so many here in the States don''t realize just how poor some people really live. I wish you the best, and would love to hear more about your experiences, as thats about all I can do anymore is enjoy them through others I know. God Bless and keep you and yours. I am getting tired, and need to lay down. Its been nice talking with you.

[ranger1948]

renrivers
I hve a good retirement so i can live well anywhere but with the average wages here being 3 to 11 dollars a day i live like a king. I would highly reccomend thios place to anyone. You don''t need a car as public transportation is very cheap by American standards. I am learning to speak Thai but is a little rough as i also speak Vietnamese and Philipino. But this place is paradise. They shot the James Bond movie "The Man With a Golden Gun" at Phuket beach. I think it is the most beautiful beach in the world.

[starleo146]

Posted by renrivers at 11:16 AM : May 18, 20

What you have posted here is so true, and let me say my friend it is a sad note isn''t it, and my heart is with them I have a grandson who is a marine ,I come from a military family and what they do for us it is inconceivable to me not more Americans would not flood that white house, and congress, with letters that would turn there heads and make them feel so ashamed they can not help but turn it all around, and until we as Americans do that nothing will change I feel. That will not stop me from fighting for their rights, the best equipment, which I also feel they are being shortchanged on, I cannot tell you how I feel that leaders of our country think so little of what our troops need all the way around it has to change

[middleman8]

His first mistake was volunteering for Iraq, etc.

His second mistake was hugging the bush.

You pi$$ on a bush, not hug it.bush.

[Renegade.Rivers]

. I am moving back to Las Vegas in September. Where do you live ?

Posted by ranger1948

I live on a little place in the country here in Illinois. its part of a family farm that has been in the family for nearly a century. I raise a garden, and try to do what I can to live off the land. Unfortunately my health has been pretty bad for the past several years, and I can''t do nearly all I would like to and more importantly need to. I spent to much time in the military, and got wounded and injured several times. I now have become almost incapable of doing much due to those problems. I have three surgeries that I am scheduled for over the next year, one on my neck, one for a hernia I have from a prior surgery, and one for prostrate cancer, so I don''t know how long I left for this world. i just take it one day at a time.

e-mail me if you like my e-mail is: [e-mail]. I''d be glad to hear from you, and if your ever out my way, you know your welcome, as is any of my other brothers that might be passing through.

[ranger1948]

renriver
I loce to travel and made myself a promise once the kids were out on their own i would do so . Last year it became a reality so i did it. I found the Thai people to be the most friendly in the world. I rarely see any get mad and i know there is crime here but i walk the streets day and nite and feel very secure. I made a point of getting to know all my neighbors. I started buying candy bars and passing out to the children when their parents were with them so i got to meeet the parents who in turn introduced me to all the other neighbors, now i freely give candy to all the children. Some of the parents are too poor to ever be able to buy candy for their children. The children come into the street and talk with me and walk along with me and are waiting when i return friom the store. The happiness on their faces is more pleasure than i ever spend. I will miss here when i leave and can''t wait till i can return again.

[ranger1948]

JAMESM12341
If you have noticed he has been posting very rational and has made some very good points lately. Geve hia break, he has been thru hell also.

[Renegade.Rivers]

Its funny that you talk about Thailand, because I have thought of moving there several times. I was stationed at Long Thaun, North for a while in Vietnam, and the Thailand Troops were stationed at Bearcat. I always enjoyed going down and visiting with them there. They alway made me feel welcome, and I always wondered what Thailand would be like.

Sounds like you got a good life, my hat is off to you.

[ranger1948]

extremophil
Who would know him better than his wife. Have you ever been treated at a VA facility ? It is like herding cattle for the most part.

[ranger1948]

renrivers
I agree withwhat you are saying. I wrote my senators two weeks ago and have heard nothing back (big surprise). I told them Americans are tired of waiting for change and if i didn''t see change by november i would be looking for all new blood to vote for. I think it is time we quit trying to be the world police, and addressed the problems we hacve at home. Also thanks for he offer , i really appreciate it and my door will always b open toi you as well. I am moving back to Las Vegas in September. Where do you live ?

[extremophil]

"Kellee Twiggs said the decorated Marine would still be alive if the military had given him enough help."

BULLLCRAAP! Some people CANNOT be helped, no matter how hard different individuals try....because they REFUSE to help themselves. The whiners in the world will never understand this.

[ranger1948]

jamesm12341
I have talked with McVet and if you have noticed recently he has calmed down a lot. I think he is making some good points with his comments and beleive me him and i were going heqad to toe for a while but i didn''t know about his condition. I even questioned whether he was a vety, now we are on friendly terms and i plan to visit him when i return to the states later this year. I always enjoy meeeting other brothers in arms.

[ranger1948]

renrivers
I went toa village that worships king cobra''s and was allowed to hold a ten foot long king cobra without controlling its head, they showed me you can live in peace with these animals and it is a wonderful experience. I took pictures and made film of these things as most people would not believe it without seein it. Thailand has been a wonderful experience.

[Renegade.Rivers]

ranger1948

I too am a 100% disabled Vietnam vet, and my son was a parachute rigger in the Navy. My family has a military history that goes back to the Revolutionary War, where one of my grandfathers served under General Washington at Valley Forge. I too support our troops to the hilt, because I know that they don''t make the choices they just follow the orders handed to them. I just fear that our country has lost sight of many of the things we once held dear, and have been willing to buy a pig, in the poke. I fear even more that the candidates that are running for office either don''t know or don''t care about the bad juju we are bring on ourselves as a nation. It all troubles me much, and has caused more than one sleepless night. Thanks for your kind words, and your kind offers, and the same is alway open to you. My door is always open, and their is always a warm fire, and coffee in the pot for any brother that needs a warm place to lay his head, or a warm meal in his belly.

[ranger1948]

renrivers
It does make you appreciat life and how precious it really is. I never want to hurt anyone again, well most anybody, there are some pukes on here that come to mind. I have been living in Thailand for over a year and love it. I love the people, the traditions, culture, and love interacting witht he animals here. I have given two cobra''s to the red cross snake farm here where they produce antivenom. I was bitten a couple of mionths ago but luckily was a dry bite and had little effect on me. We have owners of elephants bring their elephants into the neighborhood and sell bags of sugarcane to hand feed the elephants. A lot areout of work as economy is also bad here and it costs a lot to feed an elephant each day. I went to a monasterty where the monks teach to live in harmony with all animals, and they let wild animals come and go to the monastery as they please. They feed them when they come and they let the tourists have their pictures taken with the wild animals. I had my picture taken sitting on a rock with two full grown bengal tigers.

[ranger1948]

McVet has other medical conditions and i am not sure how severe they are but i think they are serious so maybe treatment for PTSD isn''t a priority for him at this point. As brothers in arms we should all wish him the best as we would all other soldiers and marines who have returned from battle.

[Renegade.Rivers]

We talk the talk and we walk the walk but we do it together brother. If i can do anything for you let me know. I will always be ther for you. That is what the brotherhood is all about. I feel i was one of the lucky ones.

Posted by ranger1948
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Yes, we were and are the lucky ones, we have been able to at least live our lives, and watch our children and grandchildren grow. We have been able to put it out of our minds far enough to at least cope, and have some semblance of sanity. Yes were are the lucky ones. Many have and were never so lucky.

[ranger1948]

RENRIVERS
I was MACV/SOG 71 - 72. i AM 100%disabled Vietnam vet, I have a son who was hurt on duty with rangers whos is 100% disabled and is an attorney today, I have a daughter who just returnd from Iraq and she also saw combar while there, my youngest son is getting ready to enlist for army rangers against my advice. I am proud of my service to my coutry and proud of the service my children have given, but i am against the war in Iraq. But i will always support our troops 100%. They never ask which wars they gt to fight, they follow orders like all true soldiers do.

[Renegade.Rivers]

starleo14672

It pains me quite deeply to know that we have so many leaders who have never walked a step into a combat zone, for I know if they had, they would never have made many of the choices they have. They would never have sent these young men and women off to war as they have under the false pretenses they have. There is no amount of money that is worth the cost of the conflicts we are now in. I would rather walk, ride a horse or a bike, and heat with wood, than I would to see these conflicts go on over oil. Every time I fill my vehicle up with gas, I can''t help but see the blood in the oil. We have as a country, denied ourselves peace in order to live a life that is filled with luxury, and at the expense of many young men and women''s lives, in my mind no amount of money and luxury is worth even one of those lives.

[ranger1948]

renrivers
I have loked the enemy in the eye when i shot him, when i snapped his nck, when i cut his throat and heard his screams when i called in airstrikes on his position. Yet i never hated anyone i killed. They were also soldiers fighting for what they believed in. There were also cases where we foud them chained inside their tanks so hey could not come out to surrender, they had to fight to the death. No one knows the horrors of war until they have been there.