#vietnam vet

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

STILL THE ONLY FIGURE IN SF/'80s HARDCORE TO HAVE SERVED IN THE 'NAM.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on assorted shots of Vietnam War vet, co-founder, and six-string noise-monger of SF hardcore/noise/ punk rock band FLIPPER, playing a gig somewhere in the Bay Area, c. 1981. 📸: "Toyranch." Sax player unknown.

MINI-OVERVIEW: "Looking back, Falconi says there's plenty of factors in his life that influenced his work with FLIPPER, but there’s one that stands out above all: the Vietnam War.

“If I hadn’t gone to Vietnam, I probably wouldn’t have started FLIPPER,” Falconi says.

Falconi spent two years in Vietnam, from '67 to '69, and he came home with a new determination to live by his own rules. The army showed him how to focus on his goals and work to reach them.

After Falconi got out of the Army, he moved to San Francisco. It was 1970, and for the next decade, Falconi would dedicate his life to art -- mostly sculpture. He earned an MFA in art from UC Berkeley and almost completed a second master's degree in music from Mills College, where he experimented with early synthesizers and other noise-making instruments.

But it was John Gullak, guitarist for THE MUTANTS, who introduced Falconi to the electric guitar. The two were hanging out at Joe "Target" Rees's studios in San Francisco, where THE MUTANTS were being filmed, and Gullak let Falconi play around with his guitar and amp.

"I never had that much loudness,” Falconi said. “So a week later, I had a guitar and amplifier, and I was starting a band.""

-- KQED, "Meet FLIPPER's Ted Falconi, Vietnam Vet and Punk Rock Legend," by Kevin L. Jones, published November 10, 2017

Sources: Lifted these from my Facebook page (in turn lifted from Hiveminer), & www.kqed.org/arts/13814497/ted-falconi-vietnam-vet.

[esonetwork]

'Back To The Dirt' Book Review By Ron Fortier

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/back-to-the-dirt-book-review-by-ron-fortier/

'Back To The Dirt' Book Review By Ron Fortier

BACK TO THE DIRT By Frank Bill FSG Originals 307 pgs

In his afterword, author Frank Bill tells us his father served in Vietnam from December of 1967 to Jan of 1969 as a Marine. We mention this reviewer was in-country between the summer of 67 and summer of 68. We were one of thousands of American that served there. For reasons we won’t get into, we generally don’t read books involving that war. Why we opted to look at this one was the slant it employed dealing primarily with the lasting affects of that conflict on the book’s protagonist thirty years later.

Miles Knox is a pragmatic middle aged veteran working a tough, dirty factory job. Since his days his Vietnam, his life has been filled with drugs, booze and merely finding a way to get by day by day. Eventually, he becomes involved with a beautiful young stripper working at a local men’s club. Though young enough to be his daughter, Shelby has suffered own hardship being abandoned by the mother and raised by an abusive father who is also a vet, but one totally twisted by his combat experience. Somehow Miles and Shelby find mutual solace together.

When her younger brother, Wylie, while strung out on drugs, murders his suppliers, a young married couple, all hell breaks loose. The couple’s young son, Shadrack, escapes and flees to the safety of his uncle, Nathaniel Timberlake, a former police officer. Enraged by the death of his brother and sister-in-law, Nathaniel, with the boy in tow, sets out to find Wylie and deliver his own vengeful justice. At the same time, Miles can’t find Shelby and becomes worried something bad has befallen her.

As the night wears on, both he and Nathaniel’s paths crisscross. When they finally meet and join forces, the true horror of what they uncover far surpasses even their worst imaginings.

Frank Bill is a terrific writer with so much courage and integrity he portrays the fragility of life with all its blessings and curses. His sensitivity is palpable in his characters and by then story’s conclusion, one is left emotional spent. “Back to the Dirt” is a brilliant work of reality…disguised as fiction. Don’t miss it.

[icarusredwings]

Thinking about them watching a 'Nam documentary and Wade keeps pointing out guys like "Do you know him?"

"No."

"What about him?"

"No wade."

"Oh! What about that guy? He looks important."

Until eventually Logan DOES recognize someone and perks up like an adopted senior dog seeing it's past owner.

"Oh.. Oh my god.. That's fucking Boot!"

Wade gets excited and is like "Yeah!! Boot- wait whos boot? Tell me about Boot you old beautiful beast of a man."

He starts talking about this bunkie he had while Wades kicking his feet and litsening bc no duh he loves hearing these weird stories and suddenly he stops and is like "Holy shit- that's ME" and sure enough on the screen is Boot and Logan in the back of a truck, reloading a very large gun.

"Why's he called boot?"

"Because he was an amputee so he only ever needed one boot."

"That's.. really sad actually."

"It was hilarious at the time... Anyway.. dosn't matter. He's probably super dead by now anyway."

Afterwards, seeing how bummed out this made him, Wade uses that big brain of his and his annoying mouth to actually FIND Boot (Whos real name is Carl) and as a suprise takes Logan to a nursing home to see a really old Boot.

As great as the gesture is and how happy Logan was for those first couple of days, It soon dawns on Wade that Oh shit... Boots going to die eventually and its going to break Logans heart. What has he done? So now hes emotionally conflicted because yes, Logan was ecstatic to see him but Logan isn't dumb. The mans 83 for god sake.

To be continued..

[damthosefandoms]

i love you vietnam vet au cherrycola where soda hasn’t written to anyone in months because he’s terrified and he doesn’t want to give his loved ones hope. but one day he just up and sends a girl he hasn’t spoken to basically since he dropped out of high school a zero-context letter saying “i get why you hate fights now” and something implying he’s been in love with her since first grade, and in the package with the letter is a book with a cherry blossom flower pressed inside. because he saw it in a dark time over there and it reminded him of her.

[artbyblastweave]

If you gave me disney fuck-you money I could make a Punisher Sitcom that this website would eat out of the palm of my hand

[mugloversonly]

Christmas Pie

Written for @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt: DESSERT @steddiemas prompt: EGGNOG, BAKING wc: 989 rating: G CW: NA summary: Steve is back in Hawkins, missing Eddie. But at least he has Wayne to keep him company. ao3

Steve sighed as knocked on Wayne’s door. Last week went by too quickly and now he was back home, waiting for Eddie.

“Steve! Come in.” Wayne smiled as he opened the door, waving him inside. “I just finished the eggnog. Eddie hates it, so the only time I can drink it in peace is during these few weeks. You aint gonna complain are ya?” He asked good-naturedly. Steve huffed a laugh.

“No, I actually like eggnog.” He knocked the snow off his boots before he tucked them into the corner. “Don’t tell Eddie I said that.”

“You’re secret’s safe with me.” Wayne chuckled. The two men made their way to the kitchen, one of the reasons Steve was here today was to learn how to make Eddie’s favorite Christmas dessert. But when he walked in, he was extremely confused.

“What are these?” He asked. Wayne pat him on the shoulder.

“Cranberries. Ed’s favorite is Cranberry Lemon Christmas pie. Granny Munson’s recipe.” Wayne stepped into the kitchen and waved Steve forward.

“Huh, for some reason I assumed it would be something sweeter.” Steve chuckled. Eddie had a sweet tooth like nobody’s business, so he thought it was a fair assumption. The two men washed their hands and began prepping the pie. As they worked they talked; this was one of only a handful of times Steve has talked to Wayne without Eddie present.

“What was Eddie like as a kid?” Steve asked as they kneaded the pie dough.

“Rambunctious as all get out. He’d get into all kinds of trouble.” Wayne laughed. “I remember this one time, his mama stormed into the trailer after church. Now, we was just at church together, mind. So, in the ten minutes we’d been separated, Eddie tore his new dress playing in the dirt with the other boys. I laughed and said ‘I told y’all to buy the kid some church pants.’” Steve paused his hands.

“A dress? But Eddie’s...Eddie.” Steve said confused. Wayne gave him a calculated look..

“Eddie didn’t have the words to explain that he wasn’t a girl, at least not that young. Now, I had some idea, but his parents were surprised as all get out.” Wayne said softly. “It’s why he lived with me.”

“You had some idea?” Steve asked. Was Wayne like Eddie?”

“When I was sent to Nam, I met a man. We was close, so close in fact that it could have gotten us kicked out of service.” Wayne raised his eyebrows at Steve. “But when we came back, he wanted to end it between us. Said, that he wasn’t all that truthful.” Wayne smiled. “Said he wasn’t really a man named Sean, but a woman named Sheila. Said she was sorry for making me think she was a man, but she couldn’t pretend to be Sean anymore.”

“What happened?” Steve asked, pie forgotten for the moment.

“Ask Eddie to tell you about his spitfire Aunt Sheila some time.” Wayne smiled fondly. “She died from cancer a while back. That orange stuff hurt a lot of people.” Wayne sighed. “I woulda married that girl, if the law looked past what a person looked like.” Steve thought about that for a moment.

“Did you know before Eddie told you?” Steve asked.

“Sheila did. Said she recognized similar behaviors from her childhood to Ed’s just..in reverse.” Wayne tried his best to explain. “She was the first person he told. Then me. Then his parents.”

“What did they do?” Steve asked when Wayne didn’t seem to continue.

“Not good things Steve. Like I said, there’s a reason Eddie finished growing up with me.” Wayne said, a certain finality in his voice. Steve took the hint and went back to safer topics.

It was after the pies were cooling that Eddie finally called. “Hey, Eds. How are you?” Steve asked when it was his turn, he let Wayne go first; partially because that was his son, but also because Steve didn’t want a timeline on his call with Eddie.

“I’m alright. Miss you, sweetheart.” Eddie sighed. Steve could hear him getting comfortable in the hotel bed.

“I miss you, too. But I learned how to make your favorite pie!” Steve said enthused. But instead of a happy reaction, Eddie groaned.

“Was it cranberry lemon?” He asked apprehensively.

“Yes?” He responded confused. Eddie sighed, resigned to his fate.

“I told Granny I liked it one time as a kid because she was old and I thought she was dying. Turns out she wasn’t I just didn’t know what old people looked like. Then she made it every year ‘specially for me, so I was stuck eating that pie every year while I hated it. I thought when she died the pie would die with her, but nope, here Wayne is making it nearly fifteen years later.” He paused for effect.

Steve burst into laughter. “Why not just tell him?”

“He’ll be mad he wasted so many years making it. Promise me you’ll take that to the grave Harrington!” Eddie groused down the phone. He thought about dragging it out, but Steve remembered how happy Wayne was and couldn’t do it.

“Alright, alright. I won’t tell him.” Steve held his hands up as if Eddie could see him. “It’s late, I should let you get some sleep.” He whispered.

“Still want to move to LA. Stevie?” Eddie asked like he does every night.

“Yeah, see you at Christmas?” Steve asked hopefully.

“See you at Christmas.” Eddie promised.

As he laid in Eddie’s bed, he closed his eyes, imagined himself in LA. A band husband, a small business owner, with an amazing house, a kid or two they adopted, some pets. He saw the two of them with a rock solid foundation that wouldn’t have been possible if Steve moved in at the beginning of their relationship. The ability to be individuals was freeing.

He hated he’d have to admit Robin was right.

tags

@katyawriteswhump

buy me a coffee

[lesbianshepard]

removing the username bc I think they might just be a kid, but it's kind of funny that this person points out a very common phrase used in media that deals with trauma and then goes "how have I never seen this outside of minecraft youtubers" Like, bestie, I think it's because you only consume minecraft youtuber videos.

[finalgirlsamwinchester]

was meaning to write a serious and thoughtful meta on this shot as the show's first use of metatextual framing (a story within a story) linking its premise to the war movie as a genre (the show as a fascist gothic work) but yknow what. scratch all of that lmao. the only thought that matters is: the moment you really start thinking about the show as a reactionary post 9/11 power fantasy, you can't stop.

[trashbag-baby666]

Vietnam war vets au

me and @skyyguy have been cooking...

mota masterlist!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

•John enlists into the airfare as soon as he's old enough in 1963. Thing's had been stirring in Vietnam and John wanted the honor as to his late father who served in WWII.

•Gale enlists to get away from his dad. He ends up moving to Washington D.C. before he's deployed in 1965.

•Both see a great deal of just how disgusting and cruel the world can be. John's C-130 goes down over enemy territory and John's taken as a POW for two years.

•Gale ends up losing his leg from an enemy grenade in 1968 and he's shipped back to D.C.

•Luckily he has his grandfathers house he inherited waiting for him and his best friend Marge. Oh and his dog Nebula.

•John ends up in D.C. after a long time of drinking and not going back to Wisconsin after he's discharged. He feels disconnected from all reality. Half the time he can't tell whether he's back stateside or in a camp in some unheard part of the jungle.

•Unfortunately, for John he just becomes a statistic of displaced and homeless vet's returning.

•Gale finds a new purpose in the local homeless vet shelter. He volunteers there nearly everyday, he helps a lot in the kitchen. But he also takes delight in talking to the vet's there, though he doesn't do much talking.

•Consequently, that's how he meets John, quickly figuring him out to be one of their more challenging cases. John preferred the streets and Gale didn't like him on the streets. From the few times he had met and spoke with John he knew just how unpredictable this man's psyche is.

•It's after John causes a bit of a scene in the shelter that Gale takes him in like some lost puppy.

•John's pacing the communal area during lunch time, he's asking for some guy's to go play ball with him. The guys brush John off, he's known around already for his insistent pleas of people to come play ball with him. He shoves this guy, Gale sees and gets in the middle of the two.

•Much to John's surprise, Gale's up out of his chair and has John on the ground and pinned in moments.

•So, Gale offers John a place to stay when he feels himself really over coming in sympathy for the man. He has more than enough bedrooms and having some help around the house would be nice. He had Marge but she was busy with her own things too.

•Much to John's surprise, he likes it a lot at Gales. The house sits on top a hill at the end of a coldisack, they're the only ones in that specific spot too. The house is a nice two story white with black trimmed property. There was also a picket fence John could pace too.

•He felt a little off getting excited about that part.

~ taglist: @austeenbootler @coastiewife465 @executethyself35 @slowsweetlove

[yourmomlikesstarwars]

this edible AINT shi-

[slashthrashandcrash]

I'm having Thoughts about Daddy Johnson Sr. and I need to know concretely if he was a literal serial killer in the forest teaching his kid to follow in his footsteps or if he was a war vet who liked guerilla warfare a little too much and couldn't cope when he got back home

[hotvampireadjacent]

i don't know if hes reallyy expecting something from me but he should know better.I called my dad and he asked me to tell him happy memorial day and I said "ill be 6 feet under dead in the ground before I thank anyone for killing all the Vietnamese." I said I could come over and see him monday if he wanted but i'll be dead in the ground before i thank an american soldier for their service. My father included

[champagnemoon]

The way conservatives are pro-life is the same way they’re pro-veteran lmao a lot of mouth service on why baby’s should be here and why young men should serve but after they’re born or come back from wars with issues it’s radio silence on help and care

[phantom-of-the-keurig]

“are you saying you don’t care if people ship-”

Lemme stop you right there, I’m almost 27 years old. I’m almost $200K in student debt with at least another $100K to go. I have greying hair. I cannot sleep through the night without having to take a piss at least once. I have a mortgage and life insurance and retirement account. I’m married and face the horrors of adulthood on the daily.

So no, my dude, I don’t give a fuck who wants to fuck who or when or why or where if it’s legal and the FBI doesn’t give a fuck neither do I let me suffer under a capitalist society and rot away in peace smh I don’t have the capacity or time to give a single spare shit

“What about-”

NAH-AHH. Stop it. Don’t make me get the spray bottle.

Is someone being murdered? Is a crime being committed? Would a jury of your peers find the situation worthy of a guilty verdict? No? Fuck off.

[kaijuno]

Look at what Pops at my old job gave me 🥺

[100gayicons]

In September 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to assasination President Gerald Ford while he made a public appearance in in San Francisco. Oliver Sipple (Bill to his friends) was a member of the crowd and he saw Moore pull out a gun. Instinctively he grabbed her arm as she pulled the trigger on her gun. The bullet hit the pavement instead of the president.

Originally from Detroit, Sipple was an ex-marine who served 2 tours in Vietnam. After he was discharged, he returned to home. Sipple was Gay and felt he needed to hid his orientation in Detroit, so he moved to New York City. There he met Harvey Milk who would later become a symbol for Gay Rights.

By 1975, Sipple had migrated to San Francisco where he became active in the Gay Community, including campaigning for Harvey Milk. Although Sipple was Out in San Francisco, back home his family did not know he was Gay.

When Harvey Milk realized Sipple had saved the President, he thought this was an opportunity to champion Gay Rights. He felt Sipple’s orientation should be publicized. According to Wikipedia, Milk wanted to portray Sipple as a "gay hero" to help "break the stereotype of homosexuals [as] timid, weak and unheroic figures.”

Without consulting Sipple, Milk leaked the information to The Chronicle, a local newspaper. Soon, a columnist outed Sipple and his connection to Milk. It became national news.

Soon Sipple was inundated by reporters wanting to interviews him. His parents in Detroit were also besieged and locals hounded and teased them about their gay son.

Oliver became convinced he was outed due to anti-gay sentiment by the newspaper. He sued for invasion of privacy. The case dragging on for 5 years. He ultimately lost but the stress of his experience resulted in him drinking more heavily. He developed mental health issues, gained weight and needed a pacemaker. Sadly, Sipple died alone in his apartment at the age of 48, fifteen years after the incident.