A War Seen Clearer Through Time.

This year, Americans will celebrate the 92nd anniversary of Veterans Day, which began with a Presidential proclamation as Armistice Day in November of 1919.

Armistice Day was initially set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but after the great mobilization of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen during World War II, and after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, Congress amended the official remembrance by striking the word "Armistice", and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

I am old enough to remember a generation when Veteran’s Day was barely acknowledged even by the retailers who might benefit from additional sales.  Our then President Jimmy Carter, in his own words described America as struggling through “a malaise” where heroes and patriotism were but a faded memory.

But morning in America dawned, and with it a new Presidency which restored hope and faith not only for every day Americans, but for the men and women who so proudly served this country.  In the years that followed, successive actions in Grenada, Lebanon, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan have served to elevate our fighting men and women back to the proud pedestal once held when their Fathers fought “The Good War”, but it wasn’t always that way…

From the end of the Korean Conflict till President Kennedy began his deployment of “Military Advisors” to the country of Vietnam in 1961, the United States was generally able to skirt the many local and regional squabbles taking place around the globe.  This country’s actual military involvement in Vietnam began as assistance to the French in the fall of 1932.  It would take more than three decades, but our small contingent of advisors would grow to a force that would virtually destroy one nation, and eternally fracture another.

The war in Vietnam, unlike virtually every conflict this Nation had seen before, was an action whose goals were essentially political.  At risk was not our independence, our southern or western boarders, our union, or even freedom itself; it was our government’s desire to restrain the growth and expansion of a rival form of government called Communism.  With war aims as insipid as those, it is in hindsight no wonder the conflict left us holding our first military defeat, and nursing a deeply divided country back from the brink of social anarchy. 

It is embarrassing to look back now and realize just how many in this nation vented their anger and disdain not just on those in power, but on the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines who in their loyalty and service to this country, were powerless to do anything but advance and enforce the goals of their commanders.

Five difficult years had passed from the last helicopter leaving Saigon in April of 1975 till the inauguration of Ronald Reagan as President.  It took nearly as long as the war itself, but America was again ready to restore its faith and confidence in those who fill the boots that protect us.  Perhaps no greater Mea Culpa  could be seen than when some half a million Americans of all ages, races, and backgrounds lined Broadway in lower Manhattan on May 7, 1985 as 25,000 of our Veterans of South East Asia proudly marched the parade path.

Earlier that year, President Reagan accepted on behalf of a grateful nation, the then completed Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.  An almost obelisk like scare in the landscape, the memorial was unlike anything this nation had seen before.

Carved in its stones is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency.  There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.  Something to think about is that most of the surviving parents of the dead, are now deceased themselves.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date, and within each date, the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe we have lived 36 years since the last casualties.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass., listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.  The last American Soldier killed in the War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine, killed in action on May 15, 1975.

There are three sets of Fathers and sons on the Wall. 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.  The largest age group, 8,283, were just 19 years old.  12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old, 5 were 16, and one soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years of age when lost in battle.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam, 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last.  31 sets of brothers are on the Wall, forever reminding us that thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

8 Women are on the Wall, killed while nursing the wounded.  244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation with 711 killed.  Beallsville, Ohio with a population of only 475 lost 6 of her sons.  The most deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 at 245.  The most deaths for a single month was May 1968 at 2,415.

For many Americans who read this, they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of my generation that survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. They were our friends, Fathers, Husbands, Wife's, sons and daughters.

There were deep divisions about the wisdom and rightness of the Vietnam War. Yet after more than a decade of desperate boat people, after the killing fields of Cambodia, after all that has happened in that unhappy part of the world, who can doubt that the cause for which our men fought was just?  Through the hindsight of historical analysis, it was after all the cause of freedom, just imperfectly pursued.

This Veterans Day, as we do every year, we take a moment to embrace the gentle heroes of Vietnam and of all our wars. We remember those who were called upon to give their last full measure of devotion for our country, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if demanded of them, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation. Our liberties, our values, all for which America stands is safe today because brave men and women have been ready to face the fire at freedom's front. And we thank G-d for them.