It has been a number of years since I’ve talked with a VietNam War veteran. Today I had a rare opportunity to do so. I noticed the man because his suspenders were bedecked with nearly two dozen pins of various types, some indicating his volunteer service to the Army hospital where this week’s book fair is staged. He was relaxed and smiled as he stepped up to the cash register, two books in his hands. I asked him if he’d ever been in military service, indicating his array of pins. Judging by his thinning hair and slight paunch, I understood it would have been a few years ago, if he had.
“I was in VietNam for 18 months—the first time. I enjoyed it,” he said.
Enjoyed it? How was that possible? I probed for more information. I had been part of that generation—the ‘60s, the anti-war protest years, hippy “flower” children. I remembered how many young men and women had died in a country far away in a war many did not support. How could this grandfatherly-looking man tell me he enjoyed VietNam?
“I’d been assigned duty as a guard in Germany, and I wanted out of that,” he explained. “So after pestering my commanding officer, it took just 10 days, and I was out of there, and on my way to the war. It wasn’t so bad. I worked with supplies, but when I got shot right here in the stomach (he touched his right side to show me where he’d been hit), they sent me home. I asked to go back, even though I was suffering from PTSD (note: post-traumatic stress syndrome). I was put on 100% disability, but I wanted to go back. I served a second tour of duty for six months before coming home.”
At that point, it didn’t matter to me what he had enjoyed about VietNam. I could do nothing but thank him more than once for his service, hearing he had voluntarily returned to fight that unpopular war. Today he stood before me an aged, but proud, man. He bore no anger and hatred against those who jeered and cursed him and other soldiers upon their return—he just said, “It wasn’t so bad. I was okay.”
I was face-to-face with a real-life hero. I thanked him again for what he had done almost four decades ago, grateful for people like him who gave years of their lives for our country at a time when it seemed the “wrong” thing to do. He turned and walked away with dignity—and with peace.
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Book Fair Notes: With Father’s Day this Sunday, many shoppers are looking for the perfect gift to buy dad. Sports books are selling well, as are CDs and DVDs from “Motorcity” (a 4-CD set of original Motown tunes), Celtic music sets, to the History Channel’s “American Revolution.” Other items selling are binoculars, “Country Wisdom: Everything You Need to Know to Live Off the Land,” gardening books, and the latest “Road Atlas.” Many shoppers are going out of town to visit their dads, and a few of them have their fathers flying here to spend time together as a family.
Consider a book as you shop for YOUR dad! Visit http://www.booksarefun.com/ via the link on this page on the right-hand side, using the discount customer code of COSEP2 for low prices.
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