Before these riders departed Phoenix for Las Cruces they were briefed. The briefing was as good as I had ever seen in the Air Force. I had not realized the logistical challenge this ride posed. But every conceivable scenario was gone over and addressed. This picture was taken on 17 May 2012, Sig... Two days ago I posted an upload titled 'Feelings and Opinions'. I was surprised at the variety of responses. So here is an attempt at clarifying the issue. After being discharged the day after Christmas 1967 I returned to New York City. One month later the 'Pueblo' incident occurred off the coast of Korea, in spring 1968 Tet happened, and so did Khe Sanh. When I returned to the CONUS I realized right away that things had changed while I was overseas. Long hair, hippies, and protests. The protests and the less than welcoming reception didn't really bother me, since I was not native born and my family lived in Germany. At that time I didn't care about politics, didn't have a TV and went on with my life. I move to Arizona, joined the Arizona Air National Guard, went to college and had a good job with the State of Arizona. In late 2005 I retired. Two years ago I joined a VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) post here in Arizona. The post I joined is a 5 star post, meaning they are involved in a lot of community service, from helping homeless vets, visiting and cheering up disabled vets, for providing a color guard for funerals when requested, to cooking hamburgers for returning active duty troops to supporting the cadets in various high schools and much more. All four major branches of the Service are represented at the post, with the Army representing the largest group. To my knowledge all or nearly all of the members of the post are former enlisted, no commissioned officers. The Army guys are the ones that wear the most pins; 101st, Big Red, tank units, airborne and what have you. I realized at that time that those Army guys, those draftees, did most of the dirty work during the war, it was them that fought the war in the trenches, or more correctly in the jungle, it was them that put their lifes on the line, it was them that lost comrades and buddies almost daily, and it was them who were wounded and required hospitalization that often lasted months. It was those guys whose parents didn't have the financial means or political connection to send them to college or getting them an exemption, who paid the biggest price. It was those guys that received wounds that caused the loss of a leg or paralyzed them, and it was them that came home with psychological damage. A leg lost 40 years ago can still be verified 40 years later, but the psychological damage they received is not so easily apparent. Most of these guys get some kind of disability for wounds received or disability for PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). They all seem to be functioning normal - with much medication, psychiatric counselling, and the support of a loving family. But sometimes one of them says, 'well the wife wound up on the floor last night' and there are several that have a knowing smirk on their face and know exactly what he is referring to. The guy who made that statement had another recurring nightmare and either kicked his wife out of bed or she left before she got kicked out. I suspect that most of them have PTSD to an extend that they are incapable of forgetting and forgiving. I sometimes wonder how much it would take to upset their carefully maintained 'normal' life style - I suspect not much. I was lucky, I was in the Air Force, yes we lived in tents and ate out of mess kits, but I never saw anybody get killed. Yes we saw body bags being brought to the 15th Aerial Port at DaNang and flown out on C-141s daily, but that was not personal.