What drew me to the story in the first place is that my step-dad is a Vietnam War veteran, and while he's told me some of the amusing or funny stories that came out of the war, he's been reluctant to share many of the ones that haunted him when he came back home to the States after the war. There are memories of moments in his mind that only he will likely ever know, but those experiences are echoed in the memories and recollections of others who were there--in art, movies, books, and songs.
We think more often about the antiwar movement these days than the real challenges that surrounded what was going on back then, and there are still resentments buried deep in the hearts and minds of Vietnam vets about how they were treated--not just by the antiwar protesters when they came home, but by the very government that sent them over there to fight and die for our country.
I'm not here to debate the ethics of war, nor do I want to debate whether or not the Vietnam War was right or wrong. Because today isn't about rehashing those debates; it's about honoring the men and women who were willing to go and do a difficult thing--to fight a war. Some of those people didn't have a choice, which is what makes the Vietnam War so much more important in my eyes. We implemented the draft, and that meant that people who probably knew next to nothing about what was going on at the time were sent to fight and die.
I have never been to the Vietnam War Memorial, though I hope I get to see it one day. I know when a part of the wall came to Bellville where my parents live, it was a moving experience for both of them.
And as I'm learning as I grow older, things aren't always as black and white as we want them to be when we are passing judgment on them weeks, months, or years later. We pretend that the hype is the truth and fail to look beyond it to the people--men and women, and even some children. The reasons and the whys and the wherefores of peoples' decisions are discarded in the easy narrative of dismissal or hate for a cause. We forget that hate can bury itself into hearts and minds; we forget that there are people who had to make choices--not about a cause or an ideal, but about their own beliefs and their own hopes for the world. And we often forget that these things are never easy--often far more complex than stigmas and labels make them out to be.
Our government used chemicals during the Vietnam War that are still having lasting effects on the men and women of not only our own country, but in Vietnam, as well. The cover-up about Agent Orange finally came to light in the '80's but it wouldn't be until 1991 when Congress recognized its use and its harmful effects on ground troops. It wouldn't be until 2015 that air delivery personnel, airpersons, and ground crews that loaded the planes were considered eligible to be treated for Agent Orange disease due to their exposure to it, as well.
My step-dad was one of those ground troops who had developed complications due to Agent Orange, and the treatment that he's able to get now is due to the hard work and tireless efforts of investigative journalists and tireless politicians and the veterans themselves who helped give journalists information regarding what they'd seen and heard, as well as describing their own symptoms. And while there are many stories of perseverance, there are many more stories about those who suffered, died, or committed suicide.
Our views about the wars our country fights can often color our views about the men and women who serve in them. But we can't let the politics of war make us forget that there are people behind those wars having to make difficult decisions--to define for themselves what is the right thing and the wrong thing to do. And even if we disagree with those decisions, it is important to acknowledge and to respect that men and women choose to serve and die for the hope of making the world a better place.
I cannot fathom what the decision to kill another person takes; I do not know what seeing a world at war can do. But I can understand the desire to stop bad things from happening. I know the anger, and the pain, and the passion that injustices makes me feel. And I understand the impetus of wanting to fight those things.
We are quick to label others who do violence in the world without understanding their reasons. We want to believe that violence in any form is wrong. We want to condemn those who kill others as a wrong thing (and it is.) But that also fails to acknowledge a world in which other people and other nations don't care about others' lives and are happy to use violence and killing to attain their desires. It fails to acknowledge that there are scars buried deep in the hearts and minds of generations of those who are oppressed, killed, raped, beaten, and physically or mentally tortured--or both. Wars are wounds that we haven't learned to heal, and the men and women who fight in them bear the scars of those conflicts. If we fail to listen to their stories, if we forget the wounds they carry, and if we are not willing to forgive the ugliness we asked them to do for us, we will never be able to heal, and neither will they.
So while today is meant as a day to honor the men and women who fought in the Vietnam War, I feel it's also a day to remember that wars, even the ones we claim to have won, still resonate in the world--in the conflicts and the wars we are fighting even now. And even if you disagree with the reasons, it takes a certain insanity to be willing to go to war, and that is something that is worthy of respect--worthy of acknowledgement, and worthy of praise when the hope was, not for deaths, but life.
Today I hope you will find it in your hearts to reach out to any veterans you know, but especially to those Vietnam vets in your lives. Listen to their stories; hear their side, and help them heal the wounds that not only we, but the wars they fought for us, have inflicted upon them. We owe that to them and to every man and woman willing to put their lives on the line to save other lives. That is what I wish to convey to all Vietnam veterans, and all veterans--not just today, but every day.
Thank you for your service. Many of us will never see, never know, and never feel the pain of war and the torment that the decisions of war create. And more than anything, for that last, I am truly grateful. But I am also sorry that those things were asked of you, and when and if you ever want to talk about it, I hope you will share your pains, your hopes, and your joys with those of us who need to, and are willing, to hear it.
You will note that I did not label today as a cause worthy of celebration, but that is only because I don't believe that wars should be celebrated. They should, however, be commemorated so that we learn from them. And the people who fought in them deserve to be remembered by all of us--villains or heroes as you or I may see them, they are still humans who believed in something strongly enough to be willing to die for it. And that is something everyone can understand, even if few of us actually have the courage to do it.
To commemorate National Vietnam War Veterans Day, I want to offer up a reading recommendation: They Were Soldiers: The Sacrifices and Contributions of Our Vietnam Veterans. Published last year during the height of the pandemic, it didn't get a lot of press, but it is written by two men whom I believe seek to humanize the people who fought in this war (and all wars) and to remind us of the people, rather than the politics, that shape them.
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