Column: Vietnam Veterans are loved

I was honored to attend and cover Saturday's Vietnam War Remembrance and Welcome Home ceremony near the Nevada Vietnam War Memorial at Mills Park.

While there, a television image suddenly came to mind of a Vietnam War veteran sitting alone at the counter of a cafe while a young boy and his mother paid attention to a uniformed service man who had just come in.

The scene was from a television spot paid for by moments.org, a production of the INSP network, entitled "Thank You For Your Service (A Moment of Truth)."

A young service man enters a cafe and approaches the counter where another man sits alone sipping a cup of joe. While waiting for his own cup of coffee, the soldier glances at the man to his right, noticing a service tattoo on his forearm.

But without saying a word, the soldier takes his coffee and sits down at a booth near the back of the restaurant. The man at the counter, a Vietnam War veteran, looks over his shoulder as the service man is greeted by a boy and his mother. The young family refers to the uniformed soldier as a hero, and mom eagerly takes a picture of her son with him.

The Vietnam vet at the counter turns away, regards his service tattoo, and is taking in the scene behind him with obvious longing and regret. He doesn't see that the soldier has pointed the boy in his direction.

A moment later, the boy and his mother appear at the vet's side. The boy asks the vet if he is a hero, and the vet asks "who told you that?"

The boy points to the soldier, still seated in his booth but with his back now turned.

Mom then takes a photograph of her son with the vet, they thank him and leave.

The veteran, half-smiling from surprise, turns back to his coffee for a moment before he notices the soldier standing at his side with his right hand extended. The two shake hands as the soldier thanks the veteran for his service, and finishes with a brief salute on his way out the door.

The Vietnam veteran then turns back to his coffee, a more satisfied smile across his face.

It is a simpe message, and one that many people don't think about.

Not all military heroes are uniformed. Many are plain-clothed like you and me, having completed their service and are now just trying to live normal civilian lives.

But they are still heroes, because of what they did for their country.

The veterans who served during the Vietnam War aren't any less deserving of being regarded heroes as current active duty service men and women.

I submit that they are perhaps even more deserving if only because their recognition is long overdue.

Fifty years ago, the United States was fully engaged in the Vietnam War, America's involvement in which spanned more than 10 years.

In that time, more than 58,000 Americans gave the ultimate sacrifice, the last full measure of devotion in defense of their country and its ideals.

But, for some reason, the Vietnam War -- like the "Forgotten War" in Korea a decade earlier -- has never been given its proper respect in popular culture.
Either have the warriors who fought and sacrificed in those wars.

For the longest time, the very names "Korea" and "Vietnam" seemed synonymous with negative connotations of loss and defeat, conjuring up equally negative imagery of defeated soldiers retreating from the war zone.

We preferred to forget about Korea because we didn't win. There was no decisive victory. Only a cease-fire, which seemed more like a hollow end to bitter and brutal fighting.

When a cease-fire was declared in Vietnam in 1973, after more than a decade of U.S. military engagements, that hollow feeling amongst Americans returned.

There was no decisive victory, even though U.S. forces won every major battle or engagement against the North Vietnamese Army. Because victory was never declared, we didn't win, and the decade or more of bitter fighting felt as though it was all done in vain.

And so, we forgot about Vietnam, too, just as we did Korea.

But just because our Korean and Vietnam veterans weren't greeted at home by ticker-tape parades, brass bands, and ceremonies with excessive pomp and circumstance doesn't mean they were any less heroes.

And it certainly should never have meant that they were less deserving of recognition or respect.

Korean War veterans came home mostly to silence and indifference. That woud have been much preferred by Vietnam vets to the welcome many received upon returning home.

Instead of ticker-tape, Vietnam vets were spat upon.

Instead of brass bands and parades, they were greeted by protesters giving them the finger, shouting obscenities at them and calling them terribly derogatory names like "baby killer."

There were no special ceremonies or pomp and circumstance for Vietnam veterans. Just a lot of hateful vitriole directed at them.

And we wonder why the vet in the television commercial looked so regretfully at the service tattoo on his arm.

He knew that he served honorably, and with valor. But nobody else seemed to know that. No one else seemed to care.

For more than 40 years, Vietnam veterans endured these feelings of longing for the same appreciation afforded other veterans, and regret over having missed out on receiving the recognition that their service was due.

I sensed that at Saturday's ceremony, too.

While the Vietnam War vets in attendance were clearly touched by the show of support around them, I also detected their feelings were more bittersweet relief. I could just about feel the collective exhales and sighs coming from these men and women, who have waited so long to be honored instead of condemned for their service.

It's about time, they thought. I could see it written plainly on their faces.

Yes, indeed, it is.

And it's a shame that our country collectively has waited nearly half a century to give Vietnam War veterans the same due we have given to other veterans.

Regardless of how one may feel about the Vietnam War, let's please remember that our troops over there performed their duty.

All gave some, and some gave all.

Whether they were drafted or they had enlisted, all took an oath to protect and defend the United States, and they each did so with valor; some having given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of that pledge, giving the last full measure of devotion to it.

I categorically disagree with people who say they support the troops but not the mission.

How can anybody do that? How does one separate the two?

It's like a mother saying she supports her son but not the job he does. Or, a wife saying she supports her husband but not his job.

Can we support peace officers, but not the job they do?

A soldier's job is to go to war and fight. His is not to question what he does, or even how, when, or where he does it. He is given orders, and he does his duty.

Our Vietnam War heroes deserve to be recognized as the war heroes that they are.

They deserve to be appreciated for the sacrifices they made in defense of their country.

They deserve the respect that comes with being a soldier, a sailor, or a marine, no matter who they defended their country against or the outcome.

And, most important of all, they deserve to be loved as we all do.

To close, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell Tom Spencer and Frank Reynolds of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 388, how much I love and respect them, as men and as military veterans.

You have accepted me as a friend, a gesture I never take lightly.

Please know that I feel the same way.

Your unconditional friendship is particularly special to me, because I am not a veteran. I used to feel like an outsider around veterans, but you guys helped me to feel accepted in spite of the fact that I do not share your service experience.

My father served in the Air Force. An uncle served in the Army National Guard. A grandfather was a World War I Army vet. And several great-great-grandfathers were veterans of the American Civil War. I even have one verified ancestor confirmed to have served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Military service is in my blood, even if it isn't on my resume.

Had it not been for a really stupid mistake I made when I was in college, I may well have served in the days following 9/11. I was as angry as the next guy about those attacks, and I wanted to do something to make a difference.

But my bad arm never got any stronger, so I ended up just doing my part on the homefront; something I continue doing despite now using a three-point cane or a four-wheeled walker for mobility.

And it's all good.

My role is to be a solid supporter of our veterans, and do all I can to ensure their needs are met once they leave military life and reintegrate back into the civilian community.

Much of the time, this means a simple thank-you gesture.

But, at other times, like Saturday it means showing up, recognizing and appreciating what they have done in service to their country.

I am grateful for my association with our local veterans.

I am privileged to have the responsibility of writing about veterans' issues.

It is my honor to honor you, the American military veteran, and ensure that you are never forgotten.