Troubled by prospects of further war

I served in the Navy during the Vietnam War as a Naval Aviator from 1973-75. I was fortunate to be able to take advantage of my college deferment which delayed my Selective Service call to duty till February of 1972. I stayed on active duty till November of ‘78 as a flight Instructor and then transferred to the Naval Reserves till 1993 when I retired. I was very proud to have served and still am, but the finish of the effort left all veterans that served with a hole in their soul as nothing was accomplished with a vast number of soldiers experiencing extreme sacrifice.

The mix and degree of sacrifice was dynamically spread across that whole war’s timeframe as in all wars. Unfortunately, Vietnam’s uniqueness was very similar to the conflicts in Korea and Afghanistan.

There were a lot of our tactical aircraft along with the crews that were shot down in that now commonly known as a misguided and failed effort. All that served during these timeframes I’m confident, felt like we were dabbling with an objective/life. The vague but reality of the conflict was a fear of it expanding and causing another larger war with the ongoing catalyst being avoiding conflict with Russia and China, which both were heavily involved in aiding North Vietnam.

I and all veterans, future and past, and pray that our leadership in this country does not get involved with another war, especially like the ones previously mentioned. I salute all that serve our country’s security when called but hate the probable hesitancy of that occurring because of our leadership’s track record.

Bruce Hendricks

Bartlett