Marine nam vet - First plane back to the states after the cease-fire (Jan '73). Landed at Travis AFB, Calif. After 12 hour flight to HI to re-fuel, 6 more hours to US, they kept us sitting on the plane for 2.5 hours until a TV station from San Francisco got crew there to film us getting off the plane. Some bitch reporter was at the foot of the stairs trying to interview guys as they came down, but everyone told them to get the fuck out of the way. We were getting pretty pissed off sitting on the plane, yelling at the cabin crew. They had some Major come on and threaten us, told us they had to wait for Customs and Immigration to arrive. That was BS, we saw the TV crew arrive, then when we got off there was no Customs or Immigration. Then they told us we weren't allowed to leave the base in uniform, because protestors were at the gate. None of us had civilian clothes. When I got out I worked overseas (mostly NZ and Australia) for almost 20 years before I moved back to US. Only ever mentioned I was a vet when applying for jobs. The "Thank you for you service" crap from strangers keeps me from wearing any shirts or hats that indicate I served.
Marine nam vet - First plane back to the states after the cease-fire (Jan '73). Landed at Travis AFB, Calif. After 12 hour flight to HI to re-fuel, 6 more hours to US, they kept us sitting on the plane for 2.5 hours until a TV station from San Francisco got crew there to film us getting off the plane. Some bitch reporter was at the foot of the stairs trying to interview guys as they came down, but everyone told them to get the fuck out of the way. We were getting pretty pissed off sitting on the plane, yelling at the cabin crew. They had some Major come on and threaten us, told us they had to wait for Customs and Immigration to arrive. That was BS, we saw the TV crew arrive, then when we got off there was no Customs or Immigration. Then they told us we weren't allowed to leave the base in uniform, because protestors were at the gate. None of us had civilian clothes. When I got out I worked overseas (mostly NZ and Australia) for almost 20 years before I moved back to US. Only ever mentioned I was a vet when applying for jobs. The "Thank you for you service" crap from strangers keeps me from wearing any shirts or hats that indicate I served.
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