danjam
03-06-2006, 22:22
A long time has passed since I visited this site. I was brought back by a meeting at a family gathering.
I have moved to the USA. I was attending a Bar mitzvah in NJ and I met a man that I was humbled by.
I was sitting in the bar of a hotel with my uncle and a friend of his with some distant family members, one of was in a wheel chair.
A quietly spoken man, who is a physiologist for people that suffer with post traumatic symptoms. He was asking me about my service in the Israeli army, and I was answering with as much detail as I could, and then I realized that his age and the way he was asking questions, that he was quite familiar with "army" stuff.
He served during 1968-69 in Vietnam and was injured by a tank mine, having his two legs taken off above the knees. I am sure that those of you that know know that very few people with this injury survived, and that this man is one of them.
After verifying this, (his brother was there with us) I admitted to his brother, that I felt embarrassed to talk about "my experience”. I made sure that to all those present at the table, that my experience is no way similar to his, and felt humble to talk to him, I thanked him for his service (I know he served America, but he is family) and told him it was an honor to talk and to meet him.
He was not a professional soldier like many here on this forum, however I felt a man like this is truly a man of respect and glad that he survived and that he was helping other people who suffer from the shock of war. I forgot that he was in the wheel chair and saw ... well damnit ... a hero. If I was half the man he was I would be happy.
Sorry ... just cannot forget that kind of meeting easily.
p.s.
The statistics of survivors of amputees above the knees are shocking. Apparently approximately 450 amputees survived the war and only around 150 are still living today. The exact numbers were lost on me; however this just reinforced my feelings.
I have moved to the USA. I was attending a Bar mitzvah in NJ and I met a man that I was humbled by.
I was sitting in the bar of a hotel with my uncle and a friend of his with some distant family members, one of was in a wheel chair.
A quietly spoken man, who is a physiologist for people that suffer with post traumatic symptoms. He was asking me about my service in the Israeli army, and I was answering with as much detail as I could, and then I realized that his age and the way he was asking questions, that he was quite familiar with "army" stuff.
He served during 1968-69 in Vietnam and was injured by a tank mine, having his two legs taken off above the knees. I am sure that those of you that know know that very few people with this injury survived, and that this man is one of them.
After verifying this, (his brother was there with us) I admitted to his brother, that I felt embarrassed to talk about "my experience”. I made sure that to all those present at the table, that my experience is no way similar to his, and felt humble to talk to him, I thanked him for his service (I know he served America, but he is family) and told him it was an honor to talk and to meet him.
He was not a professional soldier like many here on this forum, however I felt a man like this is truly a man of respect and glad that he survived and that he was helping other people who suffer from the shock of war. I forgot that he was in the wheel chair and saw ... well damnit ... a hero. If I was half the man he was I would be happy.
Sorry ... just cannot forget that kind of meeting easily.
p.s.
The statistics of survivors of amputees above the knees are shocking. Apparently approximately 450 amputees survived the war and only around 150 are still living today. The exact numbers were lost on me; however this just reinforced my feelings.