Just as Great a Generation

For any one of a number of reasons I have not been watching the Ken Burns/PBS series on Vietnam. I may very well catch it later in bits and pieces, but its very presence on TV has got me to thinking (again!) about that divisive and nation-changing time. So much of what appears to divide us today has its roots in that era.

I am not a veteran of that, or any, war. I did not serve in the Armed Forces. I was a conscientious objector and did my alternative service from 1970 1972. I was, and still am, a pacifist. I am the son of a WW II veteran who served as a non-combatant- medic- with the 10th Armored Division at, among other battles, the Battle of the Bulge. I still get chills when I play- or hear- the Star Spangled Banner. I remove my hat when the flag passes. I am patriotic and proud to be an American.

And, no, this is NOT another post about the NFL and such protests. This is about Vietnam and Vietnam-era vets who have never received the care and support they deserve for what they did. They didn't get it in Vietnam from the "powers-that-be", from any of the Presidents they served for, and many have consistently mis-understood them and the war they fought in.

A number of years ago Tom Brokaw gave the World War 2 military members the title of "The Greatest Generation." They were remarkable in what they did. I have done considerable study on my Dad's service and see what  those incredible men and women did in, I believe, literally saving western civilization, democracy, and life as we know it.

But it is time to see that the Vietnam Era Veterans are just as great a generation.

The ones I knew then and have come to know since were caught in the middle of some of the greatest difficulties an armed forces can endure- split leadership, poor leadership, poor assumptions, poor political understanding, corrupt governments they were sent to give support to, then undermined, again, by their own military and political leaders lack of willingness to admit an error. Robert McNamara finally admitted in the documentary Fog of War in 2003 that the war was an error. Sorry, sir, that was 40 years too late for the men and women whose names are on that wall in Washington, D.C.

Many of them knew it at that time. They were the ones on the ground seeing the insanity and facing an enemy that was often invisible and had far greater numbers than the Pentagon was willing to accept as reality. Too many leaders were still living in the warm glow of World War 2 while ignoring important lessons from the Korean War. We destroyed North Korea at that time, what some wanted us to do with North Vietnam, and still were unable to bring the war to a peaceful conclusion. We never saw it coming in Vietnam.

But, again, the troops on the ground knew it. They fought, and fought hard, even with that knowledge. Many knew it to be a losing battle with atrocities and the "fog of war" keeping things even worse than we saw on TV. They fought as hard as the World War 2 vets in a completely different type of war. They were brave and scared to death at the same time. As any soldier in any war would be. Many came home wounded in soul and took many years to heal. Some never have.

I hope they are being recognized today. They never received the "Welcome home!" they deserved. We should have embraced them and listened to their stories without judging or calling them names. Many of them joined the protests against the war; many did not. All were heroes.

Maybe the current Ken Burns series will cast some new light on that war and those who served. Maybe we can set aside our preconceptions and leftover animosities to come together and say "Thank you!" to them for what they did. Maybe we can have a dialogue about service and patriotism and leadership that we have long ignored having.

Maybe we can turn a corner in the political divisiveness and insanity that we have been experiencing and finally move on before the Vietnam-era generation is gone, and with them lessons we have yet to learn.