During my walk through the 4th of July post in my reader I found something that touched the Old Sarge’s heart. My friend at Flopping Aces has the original post, stop by and share your love.
As you know, in Vietnam solders were sent to the war as an individual, not large unit deployments as they are doing today. When these units come home all of the families come together to welcome their loved ones home. In Vietnam we finished our one year tour and came home as an individual, no large welcoming party, but mom and dad, their family was there for them, This memorial shows a mother and father as their son comes home from the war. In addition to the PTSD that most soldiers suffer with, the absence of the country’s love contributed to our depression, we wondered why the hell did we go, why not Canada, no one cares about what we lived through.
This Memorial is the closest thing to reality I have ever seen, no parades, no welcoming parties, no recognition for the suffering the soldier had endured, just his/her family was happy to have them home, for the most part the parents were just as traumatized as the soldier because of the real-time TV coverage of the war. It was the first war with live pictures coming home to traumatize the parent/wife and agitate the war protester.
Most of us returned through Oakland Army terminal in California, the protesters were there in mass, not to say thank you, but to shame the soldier for what he did in the name of the United States of America. For that, this old soldier will go to his grave with resentment for the Jane Fonda’s and John Kerry’s of the world. I will not forget, I will never forgive…..
Do not get me wrong, this memorial, “The Wall” was exactly what Vietnam Veterans needed to start to heal from the effects of the war.
The person that designed this memorial knew what the returning soldier felt in his heart. If I ever get in the Fruita, Colorado, I will visit this memorial.
9 comments:
Sarge,
I still remember being a young girl and my mom waking me up one night to watch the Vietnam Vets getting off the plane to come home. It was in my early twenties I realized how unfair you all had been treated. Thanks for you did in service for our country and for us. Looking forward to saying thanks in person and giving you a hug on BC4.
Hugs,
Bobbi
When my Dad came home from Vietnam my Mom didn't even know ahead of time when he'd be home, she just had a rough idea and then one night in the middle of a snowstorm she got a phone call from Bradley Field from my Dad saying he'd returned.
My Mom, who hated driving in the snow, piled all four of us kids in the car and we made the hour+ drive to Hartford (made even longer by the poor visibility and lousy road conditions) where Dad was sitting on a bench just inside the terminal waiting for his ride with his duffel bag by his feet.
There were no parades, there were no people waving flags, there was no shaking his hand - there was just my Mom running across the snowy parking lot to give him what was probably the biggest hug of his life.
This monument reminds me of all that and whereas I think it's great that our men and women are welcomed home now like the heroes that they are, I still sometimes think it's like people are trying to make up for the welcome that men like my Dad and yourself never got when you arrived home traumatized, 50 pounds lighter, and with the lingering effects of a nasty, nasty war that might not rear their ugly heads again until years later.
You and my Dad deserved that hero's welcome and it's a damned shame you never got it but please know in your heart that there are those of us who appreciate you more than words or parades or handshakes could ever say and we remember - just like you do.
Thank you for your Service to our Country Sarge.
z
This post brings tears to my eyes, Sarge. Thank you sooo much for your service to our country. I so appreciate you.
Big hugs, honey...
It shocks me that even though people didn't agree with the Vietnam war that they didn't applaud those soldiers when they arrived back in the states. I know how you must have resentment. Even though I'm a Canadian and really didn't have much to say at that time all that I can say to you Charlie is THANK YOU for giving your life for both Canada and the United States. It's to bad at the time people didn't give you the respect you justly deserved. I feel so happy that I can call you my friend. I was very proud to have had the time twice meeting you and I hope that I'll have another chance to sit with you again my friend.
Paul
Though I was born in December 1968 and have no recollection of the Viet Nam War when it was actually a current event, I have been both haunted and grieved by the horrendous mistreatment of our Viet Nam vets.
My dad was a WWII vet and, while he is haunted to this day by memories of the trauma he witnessed first-hand, at least he and his buddies received a hero's welcome when they all came home. The Viet Nam vets deserved the same welcome. It was not our soldiers' fault that the Viet Nam War was unpopular. Like the WWII vets and all the vets who came both before and after, our Viet Nam vets also placed their lives on the line at the behest of our country and the blood they spilled was just as red.
I think the U.S., as a mass majority, feels the same and wishes that we could roll back the clock to give you and your fellow soldiers the welcome home that you all so richly deserved.
Thank you for your service to our country. You truly are appreciated more than any of you can ever know. Happy Independence Day!
I too thank you for your service Sarge. Happy Independence Day. :)
Thanks for your war service, Sarge. I'd like to think that little girl's statue hug is symbolic of the hug you and all vets deserve from all Americans.
"Welcome home..."
It is truly sad the reception that Viet Nam Vets received when they returned from the war. Hanoi Jane and her followers had no conception whatsoever of the sacrifice of these individuals who were doing nothing more than their duty.
JJ
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