A Vietnam-era veteran's reflection: Honor all who served
I would be proud to call myself a "Vietnam veteran," but I believe this distinction belongs only to those who served "in-country" during that period of war. I regret I did not.
Instead, I served as an Army Medic in stateside Army hospitals, primarily on psychiatric wards, from 1964 to 1970. In this period, American involvement in Vietnam rose from 23,000 in 1964 to a peak of 543,482 in 1969. Our war dead, wounded, and MIAs grew in a corresponding way.
A lasting memory I have of that time is the bitterness many returnees expressed because of the disgraceful reception they endured at home as they were ostracized by various segments of our society. I shared their bitterness, then and now.
They did not start that war. They were simply young draftees, many still in their teens, who stood up and answered the call just as the Greatest Generation had done in World War II and Korea. They saw their buddies killed in combat, and then returned home wounded both physically and mentally.
They thought they were doing the right thing but instead were victimized and demonized, and in fact were just pawns caught between an inept government leadership who sent them off to fight and many fellow citizens who betrayed them.
There were no welcome home parades for them. Many VFW Posts refused them membership saying Vietnam was "not a real war," when in fact a bullet a guy took in Vietnam was just as deadly and devastating as in World War II or any other conflict. Morale and discipline began eroding on the battlefield and also at the various Army posts where I served.
No doubt there were many protesters who were sincerely motivated and did not direct their ire at the veterans. But in respect to those who acted otherwise, I still feel great animosity toward their actions. They ranged from publicity-seeking "celebrities" espousing the supposed virtues of the enemy to spoiled misfits and anarchists creating chaos in our cities and acting like the worst of street thugs.
In my opinion, they were people who already resented everything good and decent about America, and I am sure that if they did not have Vietnam and the veterans to focus their malicious vitriol on, they would have found some other excuse.
To those who disgraced our veterans and our country in this manner, I suggest you visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. There you will see the names of 58,261 who were killed, including eight women. More than 25,000 of those killed were 20 years old or younger, including one 15-year-old. More than 300,000 were wounded.
Then drive through Arlington National Cemetery where you will see more than 400,000 white crosses overlooking the graves of true patriots.
I believe your unpatriotic actions betrayed every one of those names and crosses, while at the same time aided, abetted, and encouraged the enemy to fight on.
While brave men and women were continuing the fight, 50,000 draft dodgers and deserters fled to Canada. I believe they were traitors to our country, but instead, and sadly, Jimmy Carter granted the draft dodgers amnesty in 1977. There are 1,626 MIAs unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. They will never return home.
This Veterans Day take the time to thank any man or woman who wore the uniform at any time, whether in peace or in war. They are all true military veterans. Today, our military is an all-volunteer professional organization whose members have willingly accepted the sacrifice they may have to make, and in fact are making right now, to preserve our freedom.
May America never again disgrace our military as so many did in respect to the Vietnam War veterans.
Steve Thompson, of rural St. Charles, is retired president of a Chicago engineering and sales firm. A lifelong collector of military memorabilia, he displays his collection at events to raise money for military charities.