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I used to avoid using the term "Vietnam ERA veteran" when referring to myself because I didn't get orders to Vietnam until a couple of weeks before we left the country (oops, never mind...). At the time, I served in the same "type" of unit in which CMSgt Etchberger (recently awarded the MOH) did. Later in my career, I flew as a radar navigator in a war-ready FB-111A bomb wing, but again, the Big Whistle never blew while I was there. Although I came within a couple hundred feet of dying one night while flying with the USAF's worst pilot, I never had a shot fired at me in anger. And I'm OK with that!
That said, the Armed Forces depend on EVERY warrior, from the airman who takes ID photos in the CBPO to the SEAL who kills Al Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan. We were all trained to be a vital part of the total force; we admired and rightly respected those who performed tasks we believed were more "important" and more dangerous than those we did, but we were all critical to the success of the mission for which we were trained.
Join and enjoy the fellowship of your fellow warriors. NO ONE there will hold you in any lesser esteem than the others in the group.
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