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The Monument and the Myth
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, fellow veterans, and especially fellow veterans of the war in Vietnam. It is indeed a tremendous honor for me to stand before you this morning as we come together to remember fallen comrades, MIAs/POWs and a very important time in our lives. A time of war, a time of conflict not only in Southeast Asia, but throughout our nation. Indeed a time that has shaped our national consciousness, and for we veterans, a time which forged a sense of self that in many ways defines us still today.
Lest we forget, how then do we remember? How do we honor those who did not come home, or came home broken and bent in both body and spirit? I remember when the architectural design of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall was first proposed. Many of us recoiled at the thought of a ditch on the Mall, listing nothing more than the names of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Surely, this was yet one more insult hurled at those who had answered the call to serve their nation rather than serve themselves. But that wall has transcended all things political and overcome controversy, as it reaches out to us who served, and even those who did not serve, while deeply touching all of us who lost comrades, friends, neighbors and loved ones during that troubled time.
The mystery of the wall is found in its majestic simplicity. Panels of black stone that hold not only the names of those killed, but in its mirror-like finish, the faces of all of us who come to witness its
solemn statement. In that reflection, we are made one with the monument, we join its essence, and are consumed by images behind the names. Images of young men, their lives cut short, their personal sacrifices often unrecorded, their selfless service, unflinching courage, and the unique love and caring that is shared by comrades in arms.
It is the wound on our National Mall that never heals, but it does serve to soothe the deep scars on those of us who carry heavy memories, and for some perhaps a little guilt for having been the ones fortunate enough to return to "the world." As this Memorial travels around the country it invariably brings with it a lot of discussion and perhaps even rekindled old arguments about the Vietnam War.
The arrival of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Huntsville provides an opportunity for us to reflect on this important period in our individual lives and our nation's history. Of course, there are those who might say we veterans are still too close to the heat of battle, too burdened by personal experiences to make objective judgments about the Vietnam War. To that, I say Bull!
I've grown weary of those in the media, academia and the entertainment industry, who would purport to speak for us, or to try to define us a bunch of hair-trigger psychopaths on the verge
of insanity or some unspeakable violence. We who were actually there know what we saw, and we know what we did. Each of us is just one of the millions who proudly served, having done our
duty with honor.
I see little of what I experienced reflected in Oliver Stone's movies. I personally think Oliver donated a few too many of his brain cells to his drug use. In my view, movies like "Apocalypse Now" are nothing more than a collection of psychotic experiences made up in Hollywood bearing scant resemblance to the reality we experienced. You and I can certainly recognize the difference between artistic license and a lie, can't we!
America's involvement in Vietnam lasted for thirteen years, from 1960 to 1973. Of course the result was not victory at all. Not even a cease-fire or a demilitarized strip of land between North and South as happened in Korea. Just negotiated terms allowing the United States of America to "withdraw with honor." Whatever that meant.
So we didn't return home to victory parades and kisses in Times Square. Most of us were just another passenger aboard a chartered airliner (mine was a Braniff Airlines Boeing 707) painted
a heinous green color. What a beautiful sight!). Others came home in Air Force cargo planes to be dumped at some military base usually in the middle of the night.
Remember, we came home to antipathy and in many cases to antagonism. We were told to quickly get out of our uniforms in order to avoid confrontations on city streets. No wonder it has taken so long for many of us to even want to talk about the war. But talk we must for we are living witnesses, and if we are silent others will continue to spin a version of the truth that best suits their personal agenda.
We must dispel the myths that have grown up around the War, and there are so many. Those of us who served must debunk these myths at every opportunity, and today is one of those.
The first myth is that the armed forces of the United States suffered a major military defeat in Vietnam. Our forces were never defeated in combat, but we were defeated on the political battlefield. There were terrible battles where our soldiers and Marines suffered awful casualties, like Dak To and Hamburger Hill, and our airmen suffered too, many killed and captured in the air campaign, but the war was not lost as a result of these battles. In fact, where we found the enemy we defeated him. After the Tet Offensive in 1968, the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese operating
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