Greetings..... I actually AM a veteran, but I'm not a combat vet, nor Viet Nam vet. My dad was in Viet Nam as a civilian contractor and I was very aware of it from the get go.

US Naval aviation, stationed at Mirarmar 1978-1985 (VF 126 Fleet adversary training school), the rest was either in the Bay Area or at Whidbey in Washington State (P3C Orions, surveillance planes). Electrician, worked on aircraft navigation systems.

I got into the Moodies in 1968 when one of my brothers dragged in Days of Future Passed. Darn if I can remember if he was in the Navy then, but the Moodies were one of many music groups my brothers (both Navy as well) enjoyed while deployed. I collected Moody stuff off and on until 1982 when I was in the Navy, pregnant and husband deployed (not necessarily in that order) and found LDV.... it really helped me out during a very stressful time. I didn't start connecting the dots until 1990 when I went to my first live Moodies concert.

Believe me, it's stressful when you're trying to inspect planes, and suddenly find you're too darn fat with child to dive down a jet intake.

Were you land based? With the Marines? My you probably DID see some action. One of the things that happened in my family, my dad was over in Nam prior to the draft being cranked up, when President Kennedy was still in office. He saw the trend of the build up.... Brown and Root, their construction company, was owned by Lady Bird Johnson. When he got home, Kennedy was assassinated, LBJ took over, and after the election, escalated.... my father heavily advised my brothers to find their way to the US Navy, where they could sleep in a relatively safe bunk on a boat, rather than slogging through rice paddies. They volunteered and did so.... s*** now I'm reliving all that. Still makes me angry to think about.

By all means, talk and tell sea stories if you wish. I have a few of my own, but don't want to take over the conversation (which I can easily do) (you may have noticed)

Bottom line: me 'ats off to you shipmate, I was in during a very peaceful time. The toughest thing I had to deal with was failure to duck when an F4 hit me with jetblast, ooo eee... bad mistake, but I lived to tell the tale. Combat stays with one.... my dad was WWII vet, and it sorta ruined all his sweet boyish laughter you could say.

As John Lodge says "Congratulations, you've made it this far!!!"