In Loving Memory of my Brother
Ray Hust Baity III
26March1946 - 31October1995

I would just like to note...
That I did not lose my brother to Vietnam
He was however STILL a casualty of that war

Sometimes I feel as though the lucky ones,
were those that did not come back,
the dead

The dead received the Heroes Welcome Home
that so many living did not

The dead were treated as human beings,
so many living, were treated as monsters

I have talked with many that made it home....
And many of them voice the same sentiment,
and for that I am truely sorry

I was in my teens when my Brother came home,
And did not realize half of what he went through

Not only what he went through in-country,
but what he went through when he came home

For all those casualties, dead and living.....
My heartfelt thanks for what you did....
and an extremely long and overdue

Welcome Home

and

Thank you!

My brother, was one that I looked up to most of my life. Not only as a kid, but also in my adult life. He was strong willed, honest, and very opinionated.

He could weave a story, and you would never know, exactly, which parts of that story really happened, and which parts were bull. He could tell a story, better than most Storytellers.

He was moral, and a straight thinker. Believed in his convictions. My Brother was all of these things and more. My Brother was also an alcoholic. A demon which he struggled with ever since his return from Vietnam. This being one of the reasons I say he was a victim of the Vietnam War.

No one can go off to war, and return the same as when they left. No one can see up close, all out war, and not be changed. I believe that.....and will always believe that.

My Brother struggled with the demon, Alcohol. And finally won the battle waged. However, by the time he won his battle, it was to late.

He had lost his body. As long as he is remembered as he was when he passed....Strong, moral, happy, and Sober, he has not lost his Victory. I will never let that victory be lost to him.

I was Proud of my brother then.....and am Proud of him now. My brother passed, a recovering Alcoholic. He passed Sober. And no one can take that away from him. Any more than they can take away the fact, that he served his country, because of his beliefs.

It was because of my Brother that I started this homepage. In order to tell his story, and print his writings, for ALL to see. I hope that he would approve of what I have done.

We lived in Elkton, Maryland. My Brother just graduated from Bohemia Manor High School. He was so happy to have graduated. His Senior year had been filled with controversy. When he got his diploma, you could almost hear a collective sigh from all his teachers.

He was so proud of the fact, that he held his diploma in his hand. He was happy, because Dad was proud of him too. All the family was there for the big event.

Soon after that, we were all saying "Good-bye". It seemed that Ray and all his buddies had enlisted. Alvin, to the Navy...Bud, to the Navy...Ray to the Army. We remained in Elkton through Ray's Basic Training at Fort Story, Virginia.

His farewell party was something else. Seems the gang went down to the river, in the house one of the kids had right along the Chesapeake Bay, and imbibed a little to much. One of the kids, threw his knees out. And at two in the morning, the air was filled with ten guys singing their heads off, pushing him to the house, in a wheelbarrow.

Needless to say, they were scolded for drinking so heavily, and the ambulance and the boys parents were called.

Ray would make it home on leave when he could. He was able to make it home a few times, after basics, before he shipped out. They had put him into a Transportation Company right out of basics. He had wanted to get into the Paratroopers, but because of his feet, they had told him "No way".

He was soon off to Nam, to drive LARC's. Little did he know, how much he would enjoy and hate his job, until he got there.

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My Adopted POW/MIA

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