The New Face of Veterans on Memorial Day...... - YouLookFab Forum

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The New Face of Veterans on Memorial Day......

Ledonna N.

Veteran

Hey Fam. I just wanted to post this if you want to watch. It's 27 minutes in length. I am in the last 8-10 minutes with a fellow Combat Veteran.

All of these you women are in there early 30s but believe me when I say age ain't nothing but a number. I am 43 and I have mad respect for each one of them. They are part of my sister circle and my thrifting FB group. We get together when we can some in large groups. I am so fortunate to know these ladies. The connection was instant because Our sacrifice during war brought us together. Our bond forever is that we are sisters in Arms.

I just have 1 request well technically 2. On Monday Americas Veteran day when we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. There lives. A moment of silence at 3:00 pm this is thes designated time for our nation to remember.

Next just if you run across a veteran. There are many of us. Say thank you for your sacrifice. It is so much more than I'm articulate enough to to express.

Meosha and Holly in the first and last segment are wounded medically retired veterans. Who you cannot see the physical disabilities and pain they deal with on the regular.

All of us suffer with some form of mental or physical wounds. I did not say that for sympathy. I said that because we even get push back from older veterans. ,our brothers and sisters in arms. It is so very challenging we have to earn a seat at the table.

Awe I don't mean to be preachy I respect all that have served and all that have sacrificed and all those that support. Anywho if you want to chec out the interview here it is. I provided a link.

http://www.wciu.com/videos/chi.....d-veterans

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28 replies

Latest reply was from Ledonna N.

Runcarla

Veteran

Ledonna, you rock! -and what a well done news feature.

My beloved Grandpa was a medic during WW2 in France and assisted at the liberation of some concentration camps. Didn't talk much about it for many, many years. He did a European tour as a tourist late in life with his son (my uncle) who was with the airforce for a very long time. G'pa opened up a bit at the time and after that trip.

DH's father flew the Burma Hump during WW2. He was from Scotland, and flew for the UK. He trained in Canada, and immigrated after the war because he liked what he saw and thought there was opportunity for a good life on this side of the pond.

My father was a youngster (b. 1935) during WW2. In Germany. Bordering France. He was wounded when the rail line into his town was bombed by the Allies, and he says he was always hungry because of food shortages. He still sets off the metal detectors in airports because of shrapnel that couldn't be removed.

We always respect the memorial days (different countries) and have a lot of respect for the men AND women who sacraficed. We also extend our sympathies to folks affected by war and fighting in their homeland.

Anonymous

Ledonna, thank you for posting this, I feel like I heard something for the first time.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Memorial Day is an important time to remember all who fought and sacrificed.

Ledonna, thank you for your service and ongoing stellar attitude. I'm so very happy that you've found your tribe and feel blessed. Long may it last.

rachylou

Veteran

I have to leap right into the middle... The thing about not knowing who's served, who's a veteran struck a chord loudly with me. With a professional standing military, people are cordoned off. Going through day to day life, there's no felt presence at all.

I think about this because of one old friend in particular. We had a big falling out and probably would not be friends now if he had not re-upped again. He called me before deploying, well, I think because I'm a person of many formalities and he wanted to hear the ritual formal words of send off. Wanted the signal from the civilian side, as well as those from his CO, if you know what I mean. And when he did, I started thinking about the formality needed for returning - the return signal and actuality of standing down but also of continuing something that of course becomes core. 'Formalities' is often a term used to mean 'superficialities,' but I use it differently. I think of it as Giving Form, which I don't know, for me seems vital for such...transitions?

Anyways, of course it's not as simple as 'going through the formalities,' so I continue to think about it. I'm going to send him the link...

And of course, thank you for your sacrifice Ledonna on this Memorial Day <3

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

Thank you for your service, Ledonna. My dad did not die in service in WWII, but thankfully lived a great many more years. Nonetheless, I still think of him on Memorial Day. He is "Jake" in this account by one of his crewmen "http://www.398th.org/History/V.....ssion.html"

Ledonna N.

Veteran

I feel some type of way choosing a wisdom or therapy etc button. I want to click all of them. Thank you for sharing your memories. For all your loved ones who served. For rembering or just thinking about all of them no service or sacrifice is to small or to great.

Ummlila I tried go look for your dad the site is so big. My iPad is changing I will be looking at the site again. I love history especially military history.

Rachylou you understand your friend. I understand you. That is all .

Angie you are so right it is a solemn occasion to remember all.

Isabel I'm humbled truly and happy

RunCarla wow thank you for sharing such an amazing journey of your family.
My daddy was a Marine in Vietnam. He did not talk much either and suffered many demons because of it. He only shared his journey once with me. I can only honer his memory by living a healthy life that he could not.

mad respect to you all.

Anonymous

Thank you -- not just for your service, but for your sacrifice. It is a very big sacrifice to serve one's country in the military, and we should be grateful every day that there are good people like you who do this for us. God bless!

Gigi

Veteran

Lovely interview, Ledonna. I had never thought of the fact that civilians just assume that younger women are not combat veterans. And I had never thought how difficult transitioning back into civilian life would be, even for someone who has not seen combat. It truly would be like leaving a family behind. I learned a lot tonight. Thank you for your service!

Ledonna N.

Veteran

Xtabay we all are good people on our individual and shared journey. I think we all just want to be heard and share our journey.

Gigi I'm on the cusp of older veteran and the under 35 vet. It's an interesting place to be. The generation is very much different in an exciting way yet we all share a bond.

Thank you both for taking the time to read share and listen.

catgirl

Veteran

Beautifully said. Thank you for sharing and for all you have done and continue to do. I particularly feel we as a society do veterans a disservice by sending them to serve and then expecting them to return quietly to civilian life without enough support and assistance for the toll that transition does take. I've read a few books on the subject of war but this one really affected me and opened my eyes about what it means to live as a veteran in the civilian world:

http://www.amazon.com/What-Lik.....0802145922

Ledonna N.

Veteran

AlaskaG There are so many great reviews for the book. My have to check it out of the library.

There are so many resources f or Veterans but there are a o many who Self isolated like myself.

I went to the Jessie Brown VA hospital for the first time in 13 years. It felt like coming home. My friend Meosha was getting an award and was the guest speaker. Or I would not have went.

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heather.enhui

I'm going to watch the video later when I get home from work. One thing you said made me think of my brother, a Desert Storm vet. While it was not a big war compared to others, he was affected by things he saw and experienced. It troubles me that other veterans would insinuate you or any others were not worthy of respect! Thank you for choosing to serve, Ledonna!

kkards

Veteran

Ledonna, you are an amazing women, and I am humbled to know you, even in this small way. Thank you for your sacrifice, and for your continued commitment to your fellow veterans.
On this memorial day, I hope that we as a nation, and other nations around the world, find ways of working together so that the need for Memorial Day is to honor the past and not the present.

Ledonna N.

Veteran

Heather, Desert Storm was Everything the sacrifice so great. I enlisted right after it was over in 93 I saw the reminents of war in Kuwait. I remember. We must educate the ignorant. Each one reach one each one teach one. Now a days we don't walk around like some of the more seasoned Veterans. With hats and medals pinned to our clothing. We are all sisters and brothers. Just been a minute sense the Family reunion. Lol

Kkards I agree wholeheartedly with you. I want peace for our world. I am humbled by your words and return them to you.

Anonymous

Thank you for your sacrifice, thank you for reminding me of goodness, compassion, and who we should be thinking about when we hear the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ledonna N.

Veteran

Isabel thank you so much. A long long time ago in a different life. I was told that freedom is never free. There is always a cost. I did not know what that meant then we'll, not full. Now at 42 having been through some things I understand a bit better.

Sihaya

Veteran

Ledonna, thank you for your service! You look wonderful on TV, stylish and comfortable in your own skin. I can't imagine how hard it must be for you to have witnessed and worked in the conditions in which you did. I hope you have found enough community, support, and the right "Jalils" in your life!

Ledonna N.

Veteran

Sihaya it took many years for me to feel Slightly comfortable. Life has a way of healing g and correcting itself.

Anonymous

Dear Ledonna I absolutely have to learn English to understand you when you speak you have a beautiful voice

Chris987

Veteran

I never served myself, but some of my older family members did or knew those who did.

My Dad graduated High School just as WWII ended and joined the Navy in part to qualify for the college funding benefits (as many do today). He did not see combat but was sent to the South Pacific as a radio operator on the mission that tested Nuclear Bombs on Bikini Atoll. (Google "Operation Crossroads" for more info). He and his fellow recruits had volunteered for the Navy and had no idea what risks they were taking. He never ever talked about it, not even when we asked about the "yearbook" he had commemorating it. I wish I had had a chance to discuss it with him but he was never open to it.

My Mom had two cousins who served in the Navy in WWII and saw combat in the South Pacific, one of whom suffered serious brain damage from sulfa drugs he was given to treat an injury and never fully recovered.

My father in law's parents sent money from the US to close relatives in the Netherlands during the winter of '44/45 blockade when thousands of Dutch citizens died of starvation.

I feel so strongly that we must learn all we can about the past and maybe some day we'll figure out how to live in peace.

I am so grateful for your sacrifice and service LeDonna and thank you so much for sharing this video. I learned a lot and feel so inspired by it. Next time I am in a conversation about veterans I will make sure we discuss the many young women who have served in recent years. And I did honor the 3pm moment of silence.

Ledonna N.

Veteran

Chris thank you so much for sharing your family history. So much sacrifice yet so much selfless giving.

Benard thank you.

JAileen

Veteran

Ledonna, I enjoy your posts SO MUCH. Thank you for your service. My sister in law lost her husband in the Marines when his plane crashed. That was a real tragedy as he was so full of promise, not to mention their young child who grew up without a dad. I thought about them today.

Ledonna N.

Veteran

JAileen oh my .....I'm so sorry for your loss and Sacrifice . I have no words. Thank you for sharing.

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

Ledonna - thank you for your sacrifice. I really enjoyed watching this news feature. You guys are doing something AMAZING.

As the wife of an ex-army officer, I know exactly how hard it is to make the transition from army to civilian life. I agree with Meosha - "sacrifice" is a better term here.

Anonymous

Some of my cousins served, and my son-in-law is now in the Marines. All of my family members and I are very thankful for the sacrifices our brave men and women of the armed forces give on a daily basis. I also want to mention my nephew, who is a police officer and recently risked his life to protect school children from a gunman.

rachylou

Veteran

Oh wow, BC...props to your nephew.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

LeDonna, thank you for your service and for your amazing attitude. You looked and sounded wonderful on the TV!!

Ledonna N.

Veteran

BC least we not forget the danger that people like your nephew face everyday. HMMMMM I wonder if there will eve come a time when peace will be common instead of the other.

Thank you Suz yeah thank you

Maneera it is so important to never forget the spouses or family that sacrifice as well in the U.S. if we loose someone who has served during combat they are called gold star families and will be taken care of by the government for the rest of their lives. It in no way replaces what was lost but it is something.