Prior to watching the current series on the History Channel, "Vietnam in Color/HD", I was thinking about this while studying the writings of Col. Hal Moore (now Ret. General Hal Moore) and others. Of course, at the epicenter of reading is Hal Moore and Joe Galloway's book "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young". I own the movie and like the acting and intensity, even though the ending is pure Hollywood. The book is better, and of course there are deleted scenes that would have added intensity and emotion to the movie that also would have made it a very long movie too.
All this is to say that Vietnam was the war that I grew up with. Vietnam is an enigmatic, strange war because of the many facets of that conflict. In fact, no one can agree to call it a war and will fall on the politically correct use of "conflict". I could care less about the politics of the Vietnam War right now though, although I understand that even for a veteran of that war, there is need to understand why we were even over there and such. Understood indeed. What has been very much at the forefront of my thoughts reading and studying the Vietnam war is the men who fought over there. Before I go any further, I'd like to share one thing.
I did not go to fight in Vietnam. I knew of many who did, both family and friends. I read many of the names of those I knew on the Vietnam Memorial when I visited Washington D.C. last summer. By the time I was to graduate from High School, President Nixon had already pulled out our troops from Vietnam and then a few short years later, ended the draft. I remember walking into the school counselor's office several days after I turned 18 and asking her to give me the papers I needed to fill out to register for the draft. "Son, there is no more draft" she replied, with a look that I will never forget. The look said to me "Why?", as if I was some dumb kid who did not understand how horrible Vietnam was. Over the next several years, that became the norm for anyone who talked about 'Nam. Those who were veterans of the war though never said a thing, they kept to themselves.
Many years later I realized that the veterans of Vietnam were never treated with respect or the dignity we as Americans would give to anyone else who would fight for our freedom. In fact, I learned how unprepared we were as a society to welcome war (or scenes of war) into our very living rooms through the news reports. And we were driven, as a society, to blame the very men who fought. And they took it, perhaps not very well, but they did. And this lead to a whole bunch of guys not that much older than me to think about their own existence and purpose, as both Americans and humans. As I remember back to those days in the late 70s, I shudder how these veterans were treated. One of the proudest moments I've experienced was going to go listen to Dave Roever speak. I had heard of him before and I asked my wife if she would come with me as I was compelled to go hear him speak. I wanted to be there and listen to his story. Sure it was a good old fashion Christian revival and I liked it. But what I really wanted to hear is his talk about his experiences as a Vietnam vet. And the room was packed with many guys a little older than me and I knew many of them were veterans of Vietnam. After talking for a few minutes, Dave had us all living with him in the jungle with the stress and anxiety of being in the middle of war. At just the right moment, he stopped speaking and said "If you're a Vietnam Veteran, please stand up".
About half the room stood up. All around me were veterans of Vietnam. Dave said "Guys, you were never given the proper welcome home you deserved.... we're going to fix that right now... "Welcome Home brothers!" And at that, we all stood up and gave them all a standing ovation and I went and hugged several of them near me and thanked them. I had never hugged a man crying with such emotion as I did that night. The trembling as the emotions overwhelmed us both was inexplicable. I was feeling much relief and of course, this Veteran finally felt a little bit more.... human.
So today, I want to take time to say thank you and welcome home to all my brothers who fought in Vietnam. Welcome home indeed.
