Take time to honor America’s veterans

“What was Vietnam?”

The question on the young student’s mind seemed to pique their sense of curiosity. It began during a flag etiquette class hosted several years ago by members of American Legion Post 26 in which those hosting this program all served during the Vietnam War.

For the students seated on the floor in gymnasium at Hacker Middle School that day, the war was something many of them never heard about. After all, that war wrapped up about 40 years before any of these children were born.

As I covered that yearly event at the middle school, however, the idea these students never heard of that war punched me in the gut. I found it hard to believe none of them had even heard of that war in which 58,220 U.S. service members lost their lives as they fought during that war in addition to the hundreds of thousands of others who were also killed until that war came to an end in 1975.

I still remember how Jim Metzer from the local Legion post took time to share with that student some of his perspectives regarding that war. He chose not to get into the details of the war that raged across southeast Asia but shared with the fifth grader a glimpse of what it was like for children living in that war-torn country.

It helped the student and the others listening in on Metzer’s conversation to understand and appreciate the freedoms they enjoy every day – the same freedoms others living in other parts of the world no longer enjoy due to the oppressive nations, terrorist groups and others trying to impose their cruel will on others.

Looking back on that war, I find it hard to believe that war ended 50 years ago in which Communist forces from North Vietnam captured Saigon – the capital of South Vietnam. With American military forces and civilians from South Vietnam scrambling to escape, that moment in history led to the collapse of the South Vietnamese government before the nation reunified under that oppressive communist regime.

But for the 3.4 million Americans that deployed to Southwest Asia during that nine-year war, it continues to maintain a deep, significant meaning. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 700,000 of these veterans still carry the psychological scars from that war after our nation withdrew the last of its combat troops from that part of the world.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the more than 50,000 Americans that died during that war. That includes 47,434 who died in battle with nearly 11,000 other deaths in this theater of operations.

Make no mistake about it; Vietnam was a war with both sides unable to agree which political regime would gain control of the country and reunify it following the French occupation.

On one side was Ho Chi Minh, who saw the country under communist leadership. The other was led by South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem, who desired the nation take a different direction before he was executed during a military coup in 1963.

The animosity between both sides then erupted into a full-scale conflict with the United States throwing its full military might to help those south of the 17th parallel. Officially, the Department of Veterans Affairs contends that the Vietnam War began in 1964 following the Gulf of Tonkin incident and didn’t officially end until the last U.S. forces withdrew in 1975.

However, many Vietnam veterans know all too well that our involvement in Southwest Asia began much earlier than 1964. For years, the United States was sending “advisors” to the region.

Translated, this meant that our service members were “advising” South Vietnamese forces to push to the north, engage the enemy and then “advise” their way back over the 17th Parallel. Among those we lost during this unofficial part of the war was Air Force Tech. Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr., who was killed in action on June 8, 1956, becoming the first American to die in the war.

Having served with a number of Vietnam veterans during my years on active duty, I’ve had many of them share stories of the pain they endured on the front lines and when they returned home. Often, they came back to the United States and were immediately greeted with scorn and hatred versus the open arms and needed compassion they deserved.

Many of these veterans were spat on when they walked through the airport or called “baby killers.” Of course, those making those accusations never served in the military nor did they understand what these soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines had to endure, both physically and mentally.

This is why it is so important that this country pause regularly to honor those who served in Southwest Asia. Very few, if any of these men and women, were honored with a welcome home parade or had someone know that their sacrifice was appreciated.

Perhaps this is why the wrongdoings associated with the Vietnam War were corrected by the time the men and women of the U.S. armed forces were called upon to serve during Operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait from the clutches of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi military. When these veterans came home, they received a much-deserved welcome home that included additional honors during Veterans Day and other national observances.

It’s these celebrations that continue today as our brave service members continue to stand in harm’s way in some of the most inhospitable regions of the world. While Desert Storm officially ended in 1991, today’s military has seen no end to the ravages of war.

Following the Gulf War, we continued to fight the forces of evil following the terrorist attacks against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Our nation’s military forces continue to fight this form of global terrorism, which shows no signs of waning nearly a quarter of a century later.

At the same time, we see renewed aggression being displayed by North Korea and other nations around the world. It remains to be seen if the United States once again puts more brave men and women in harm’s way to resolve these threats war once and for all.

But for now, let’s take time to honor the memory of those who served their country while defending the liberties of those living in Southwest Asia as well as those who continue deploying to other parts of the world in support of other peacekeeping operations. Let us never forget their sacrifices and do what we can to honor their memory.

Most important, let’s take a minute to ensure we tell them one very important thing -- welcome home.

— Brian S. Orban