[Joe Wicked]

I have not had the pleasure of sitting down with many WWII vets, but I did grow up in a house with a Vietnam vet. It was really hard. I have memories as a young kid where my dad had flashbacks and was back in the jungle. He eventually drowned those away in alcohol, but that came with its own problems. Now he is 59 this year and is in so much pain from the effects of Agent Orange and other stuff. He gets such severe cramps in his legs that they will twist around and look deformed. At times the muscles will rip themselves. It took years for the VA to get around to accepting patients with these symptoms, and now it seems to be too late as none of the treatments are working. With how bad he is, I am afraid he won't be around too much longer, people are surprised at how "young" he is after looking at him.

Knowing what he went through and how it tore him apart mentally and physically, really puts into prospective what vets go through during a time of war. This is why I personally thank service members of all branches, no matter what job they are doing, and why I joined out of high school. I wanted to give something back to those who gave so much and those who gave all.

A bit of self pride, my Step Son informed us last week that he is joining the Air Force. He is 19 about to turn 20 and is finalizing his paperwork before bootcamp. I was very impressed as he scored an 88 on his ASVAB. He is, like most teens, very headstrong, so I think he has a wakeup call coming, but I am always impressed when our young make the decision themselves. We did not know anything about it until after the ASVAB was taken and he needed birthdates and stuff for his paperwork.