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The Vietnam War changed America in so many ways. The realization Americans didn't always wear the white hats -- good guys that we imagine ourselves to be -- as we ride in like the calvary is still many people cannot understand and accept.
The war aalso brought in hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees who have found homes in the United States, raised families and tried their best to integrate themseves into a country so strange to them. We're a better country for their presence, something that too many people still don't understand.
The lies and propaganda that led to US involvement and to wage a war we should not have fought has led us to distrust our government officials, military leaders and so-called "experts." We've learn to question the men and women who we once believed acted in the best interest of the people.
It was wrong for some ant-war protestors to spit on the returning soldiers or call them "baby-killers." I wish that never happened
The anti-government sentiment --vnurtured by then-Presidents Nixon, Johnson and Kennedy --still lingers and divides us.
The 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War doesn't call for celebration. It passed by almost unnoticed in the day's newscasts and front pages. To the young people of today, it might seem like ancient history. Most of the men and womenwho fought in the war in Vietnam and fought against the war in America's streets are senior citizens today, the younger generations' fathers and grandfathers.
We're still struggling to bring our country back together again, fractured fy those who don't like the dark events in the war itself and surrounding the war, or the lessons that we all can learn from that chapter of US history that is still being written.
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| The Vietnam Memorial rises from the depths as one of it's legs points towards the Washington Monument. |
The Vietnam War Memorial is one of the most emotionally moving monuments in Washington D.C. Designed by Maya Lin, a 21-year old Chinese American student, the memorial design was initially criticized because critics thought it was making a negative political statement. Critics wanted something more heroic and patriotic.
The simplicity of the design belies the emotion welling up inside you as you descend one of the legs of the V-shaped memorial. You read the engraved names as you descend down the path -- one name, two, four, until you get to center of the V. There are so many names the columns of names of the dead are over your head. Then it hits you in the gut. The sheer number of names of those American servicemen who died in that war is overwhelming. Over 58,000 of them. I went to high school with some of them. Some are relatives.
You look up and amidst the engraved names, the polished black granite reflects an image of the visitor. Then you get a second jolt with the realization: All these soldiers, they died for you. A few were my high school classmates. I was related to two others.
No matter what your political beliefs are, you can't help but be moved. It took an effort to hold back the emotions welling up inside me.
Then visitors walk up the slope of the other leg of the V. Thousands of names, hundreds and finally a single name. You have come out of the wedge that divided our country; away from the black granite with all those names; away from the depths. In the distance you can see the Washington Monument. You can see the horizon again.
Located discreetly amongst the trees near the memorial was another monument. It was a more traditional statue dedicated to the women who served in that war. In that era, women were not allowed in combat units so most women served in support units, like the combat nurses depicted in the statue. At the base of the statue was a note that took my breath away.
"I can't remember your name but I just wanted to say thanks for saving my life." It was signed, "One of many."
The tears came forth.
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