06-16-2017, 02:24 PM
[quote RockyRaab]The postscript about losing 2,000 a day was written 12 years ago. Almost all WWII veterans are gone now. One still with us is the 90 year old crewman who shared a ride in a B-17 with me earlier this month.
[.IMG][url "http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/RockyRaab/B17%20Flight%20May%2017/IMG_1004_zpscq1hxvmp.jpg[/IMG]"]http://i27.photobucket.com/...pscq1hxvmp.jpg[/IMG][/url]
Most Korean War vets and too many of my Vietnam brothers have passed already. We all go sooner or later, of course. Sadly, far too many of our heroes' stories pass with them untold.[/quote]
As part of my job with the VA I process death notices for our veterans, most old but some young, the hardest of course being our younger veterans due to suicide. I intentionally put off reading your story because I know what it does to me, but this morning I knew I had to read it regardless of the tears it may bring. I come from a long line of veterans, including my brother and myself, but some days with my job I start to see names and file numbers as just that and nothing more. I guess in some ways we don't want to feel an emotional connection to the claims we look at, but sometimes we need to feel a deep connection to remind us of why we do it. So thank you again for posting this story, it helped remind me of why I do this.
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[.IMG][url "http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/RockyRaab/B17%20Flight%20May%2017/IMG_1004_zpscq1hxvmp.jpg[/IMG]"]http://i27.photobucket.com/...pscq1hxvmp.jpg[/IMG][/url]
Most Korean War vets and too many of my Vietnam brothers have passed already. We all go sooner or later, of course. Sadly, far too many of our heroes' stories pass with them untold.[/quote]
As part of my job with the VA I process death notices for our veterans, most old but some young, the hardest of course being our younger veterans due to suicide. I intentionally put off reading your story because I know what it does to me, but this morning I knew I had to read it regardless of the tears it may bring. I come from a long line of veterans, including my brother and myself, but some days with my job I start to see names and file numbers as just that and nothing more. I guess in some ways we don't want to feel an emotional connection to the claims we look at, but sometimes we need to feel a deep connection to remind us of why we do it. So thank you again for posting this story, it helped remind me of why I do this.
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