VIET NAM VETERAN

I would never hope to speak for all vetetans.  But I do think that many would agree that as a veteran it is nice to receive the discounts and thank you's  on November 11th. It is nice to be acknowledged as an important part of the American fabric.  So I say "Thank you"

Being a US veteran is hard⁰ sometimes. I sat on Friday with a group of veterans who probably saw and experienced the  horors of terrible  wars and spent their lives trying  to live a normal life.
It took me until I was in my fifties to even  accept the  fact that I was also deserving  to be called a "veteran:

Many of the men I sat with were wounded , maybe not physically but within their soul where
it really counts.

I avoided the draft in 1967 by joining the air force.   I  was pretty sure I was not very well suited for combat or for
carrying a rifle. But I also had been raised to believe serving in the military was a calling from God.
Nievely I took.my Christian belief  into a war zone  somewhat out of choice and somewhat out of necessity.

Little did I know my life and faith would  be made better by a war that  to this day is morally questioned and still determined to be a  black spot in American History.

I get alot of "thank you for your service" comments . I appreciate hearing that but it  sometimes seems  more like a scripted greeting when you meet a Viet Nam Vet. As Americans we are sorry that the welcome home parades after World War I and II were not lavished on the Viet Nam Vetetans.  In fact I vividly remember being told to not wear my uniform  or advertise that I was a returning Vietnam veteran. At the time I did not care.  I was just glad to be reunited with my family.

It took me a lot of years and soul searching before I could even tell people that I did not know, I was vet.
So glad I got to the place of being proud to be part of such a great and diverse group of people.

I will be the very first to admit now after forthyseven years that I was lucky to have served in the US Air Force.   I was assigned a job to assist the commander of a  fighter squadron.  I was responsible for a room full of M=16 rifles.   I did my job to support the war effort as I was told but never fired a rifle or  hurt a soul.  I never saw blood or anyone die.
I was lucky. But I was there. I was  in the midst of a war torn county that was just as afraid  as I was with one huge difference.   This was their home.  This was was where their babies  were born and where  they sought  to survive  the anguish of war.

Now I look back and  the time I spent "in country"  seems so brief. but as I remember counting off tne days away from Joyce and Michael,  it seemed like an etetnity. 

Now trying to  put this part of my life in perspective,  I know without the weekend trips to Kim Chou Orphansge, with my friends and with a young Irishman named Patrick,  my life could have been much diffetent.

I could never celebrate the Viet Nam War. I could never celebrate any war.
But I also have no regret  for the time I spent there.   Are the people of Viet nam better because of this war or because I was there. I doubt there life is better but I know I  am  better for having met Patrick and  the children of Viet nam.

We heard stories of so many children who died at the end of the war.  I was haunted  with that reality and by the fact I did not know what had happened to the orpahans I fell in love with at the orphanage. 

Patrick had maintained some contact with the orphanage. The small boy named Nam that I had so wanted to bring home with me, is in his fifties living  in Saigon, working as a barber.

Being a veteran has changed  me but it has also taught me that being an American  citizen  is also an awesome responsibility and should never be taken for granted.  We can all serve our country  by participating in  making it a better place to live not just for ourselves but for all citizens  of our great country.