Years ago I worked in a VA Hospital .  I had a very fine person that was in my care.  Now this was in the early 80's I am sorry CRS anymore for dates.  This gentleman was aprox. 6' slender, and SLY !  You could look at him and know that he had served he walked erect, didn't say much, very polite, people around him no matter who they were had respect .  With out saying a word a person could tell that this man had seen more than his fair share in the world, and in war. 

This man was a Green Beret , and had served 2 tours in Viet Nam , etc.. He had medals , that would not quit.  He had no family on his record and he and I got to chat at times.  Due to patient confidence etc..  I am trying not to say anymore than what my point is , and that being .  He had this shaved head , no facial hair, and he shaved each and every morning at 0500 Hours !  At that time he was a older man , but just looking at him you would not want to mess with.  Because you would be the loser.  I asked him how long he had been shaving his head and he said sense 1965 in Nam .  It was hot , muggy, and sucked, he said.  I shaved it and it felt good, been doing ever since.  He winked and said looks like you might think about it .  And he smiled and winked.  And I at that time was in denial but knew it was coming.  I have thought about this fine man many times over the years and for some reason we connected.  Not sure if this fine man is here today or not at least on this earth.  But to me he was like John Wayne , only he had been there and done that !

He left the hospital , and so did I .  But my meeting , such a man is better than many of us could ever think about ! 

Hope this makes sense , just wanted to share a very personal moment and man ! 

Thank you for the time.

God Bless him , and all that serve and have served ! 

My Uncle Ron was a career Military man and a Green Beret. He also served in VietNam. He lived in North Carolina and was stationed at Fort Bragg at the time. Then one day he just randomly showed up at our house for a vist without my Aunt and my cousins. He went to "work" everyday for a few weeks or so and then one morning we woke up and he was just gone.

I was a young kid and didn't understand why he would just leave without saying anything to anybody. My Dad explained to me that sometimes that was what soldiers like my Uncle Ron had to do.

It wasn't until I was a little older that I really understood. He was a Green Beret going to "work" everyday at Fort Meade. Obviously to prepare for his mission.

Even later, after my Uncle Ron was retired from the military I found out that he was extremely decorated for his actions in VietNam. You would have never known it. He never talked about it and never once displayed or showed a medal. He was invited to the White House to be decorated by the President but politely declined. The reason: He just did his job.

Not long before he passed I asked him about those medals and why he never talked about them or his days as a Green Beret. He paused for a long time before he spoke and then simply said, " I saw a lot of things that no man should ever have to see and I did a lot of things that no man should ever have to do. I'm not proud of the things I did but it was my job". End of conversation.

At one time my Dad, who was in the Army with Uncle Ron when they were young, told me that Uncle Ron was the toughest man he had ever met. Pretty strong words coming from my Dad.
Uncle Ron was a mountain of a man, not as tall as me but stout and big. I remember that his fists were as big as my head.
But he spoke softly, rarely above a whisper, and he was one of the kindest men I've ever known. He was a teddy bear of a man and when ever there were young children around you could find Uncle Ron sitting in a chair with every kid in the room literally crawling all over him as he gently wrestled them with those giant hands.

He always had a quiet diginity about him and when he entered any room people instinctively knew that there was something special about him.

Please pardon my rambling.....

Fort Meade is in Maryland. Uncle Ron passed about 12 or so years ago..... he was still sporting a full head of hair, slicked back.... just as he always wore it.