Memorial Day 2023. Families gathered for barbecues. I was in California to watch my three granddaughters take the leads in a musical play about the making of the original Peter Pan in London, a story about a young boy who could fly.
On the short drive to the improvised theater’s location, we passed a sign for the large Veterans Hospital in Palo Alto. My mind immediately focused on my high school classmate, Glenn, who I used to shoot hoops with.
He had been just a little older than my oldest granddaughter when his life ended over the skies of Laos, shot down during a bombing raid.
Poof, life was over.
I’ve spent many years wondering why. It was 1963. There was no draft then. What was Vietnam to America?
The French left Indochina in 1954. They had learned a lesson. A colonial power cannot win a war against a committed foe who would fight a hundred years to be rid of them.
The United States would sacrifice 58,000 men, including my friend in Vietnam. Did we learn anything? I don’t think so. We’ve lost young soldiers in Beirut, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. We saw vivid images of those left behind in Saigon hanging on to helicopters, only to be duplicated in Kabul 57 years later.
When will we ever learn?
I avoided being sent to Vietnam. My father called his cousin Joe Pinkert, who had political connections with a powerful congressman from Chicago.
The congressman made a call, and I got my ticket into the Illinois National Guard in late 1967, which made it unlikely I would be activated for Nam.
I went to Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, on New Year’s Day 1968. I figured I was in good physical condition and I could handle anything for five months as long as it wasn’t war in the jungle.
It wasn’t that easy. In the third week of basic, the guy in the bunk beneath me went to the infirmary. He died of meningitis, I think. They never told us.
There were 300 guys in the unit, only two were reservists. Most of the sergeants treated us decently, but one guy, a 5’3″ African-American Sergeant, despised me. Anything he could do to mock me he tried. But still, I was willing to endure almost anything for five months.
The college educated guys in my bunk constantly discussed sneaking into Canada or failing basic so they would be forced to repeat it. Most ended up in Nam except for a few who were assigned to Korea.
It was a crazy time in America. Martin Luther King was assassinated while I was at Fort Jackson. The Democratic Convention of 1968 took place in Chicago a few months after I returned home.
The Tet Offensive in Vietnam sealed our fate in the war, but the “brilliant” guys in Washington kept feeding kids to the futile struggle.
Fifteen years ago, I visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. I saw my friend’s name etched in the granite on the simple but beautiful monument. I think about him surprisingly often and the many thousands of other guys who suffered PTSD after coming home.
“When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn. “
Question: What does Vietnam mean to you?
7 Comments
My older brother went. I missed the draft by 1 year. I now have 2 sons living and flourishing there. I believed for many years that it would be the last war. Guess us humans have a lot more evolving to do, if we don’t destroy ourselves first.
Thank you for sharing, Lloyd.
The answer is probably never.
As for more stories on the subject, my father missed being sent as an “advisor” in 1961 by two weeks. He also missed out on chopper school, which according to him meant his remaining lifespan was measured in decades instead of minutes.
News clippings of fathers returning home from the war (alive) was a common Show-and Tell topic in school.
A friend who immigrated from Vietnam lived in the central part of the country and told me about AK47 classes when she was a little girl. She also mentioned those who escaped by boat had to pay upfront in gold, with no refunds or guarantees.
A business owner in my complex – now deceased – was on several tours of duty including time spent as a ‘tunnel rat’. He died from multiple cancers; I can only wonder about how many Agent Orange showers he received. He also talked about his reception at the San Francisco airport.
One cannot imagine the anger and rage he must felt for years about returning to the banality and pettiness of civilian life.
Both he and my Grandfather (D-day +4) were very heavy drinkers.
Michael
Michael, powerful stories. Thank you so much. Lloyd
I lost three friends in Vietnam, kids just out of high school. Sadly we learned nothing from Vietnam. Had we learned anything there wouldn’t have been troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our involvement should be like it is in Ukraine we supply the weapons they do the fighting, if they care about their country they will fight. if they don’t believe in the cause they will not.
Hello T. What are your sons doing in Vietnam?
“When will we ever learn,when will we ever learn” is from the song WhereHave allTheFlowersGone, made famous by the Kingston Trio in their 1962 album.
Also sung famously by Pete Seeger and Peter, Paul andMary.
In 1969 I was drafted into the army. I had finished college, and wasn’t a senator’s son. I was very lucky to be ordered stateside for my “permanent duty station”. I was able to get out after 18 months with an “early out” to attend grad school. Although I did not sustain physical wounds, the military cut a permanent scar in my life.
According to the Selective Service System (sss.gov) we had an active draft during 35 years of the 1900s. The draft was continuous from 1948 thru 1973, a run of 26 successive years. During the Vietnam War a lottery was begun in 1969. This conscription was finally stopped in January of 1973. However, now, still, registration for the draft is a government requirement for all male citizens of the United States, and male immigrants, when they turn 18.
Lloyd, I’m sorry for your friend, and all others who have died and suffered through wars.
We hope our elected officials and military brass become ever smarter in avoiding conflicts around the world while still defending our country. But we are tribal societies and continue to war with each other without end.
We don’t have the answer to your question, “When will we ever learn?”