Honoring Our Own

People who know me are familiar with my affinity and respect for Vietnam veterans. I have spoken and written many things detailing how, and why they are my personal Gold Standard for warriors. I do not need to articulate the broader reasons again. I will, however, take this opportunity to pay special attention to the Delaware Valley Vietnam Veterans, or DV3, as they are affectionately known. I have witnessed many things undertaken by ordinary people to honor others, but DV3 rises to a special level in that regard. This past weekend the members of DV3 erected their 22nd Annual Flag Memorial in Bucks County. It is truly an experience that causes me to look for the good in people.

Over 58,000 American flags are placed in the ground by volunteers. The flags are arranged so as to exactly mirror the Vietnam Wall in DC. Each flag represents one service member killed or missing in action in Vietnam. This year the flags were placed in the ground by a tireless group of volunteers on a day when the thermometer reached 92 degrees. With no shade to protect them, a dozen or so hardy souls braved the direct sunlight and placed the flags in exacting detail. The memorial has been set up for 22 years to mourn and honor those valiant men, and nine women lost to the Vietnam War.

This year the memorial was expanded to include all the conflicts of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Stations were set up along the edge of the Flag Memorial. At each station a description of a particular war was provided and the casualty numbers were totaled. Plastic-coated sheets of paper were placed in binders for ease of use. The grim statistics of each conflict were in stark contrast to the flags which bordered them, and the green grass which enveloped them. From World War I through Enduring and Iraqi Freedom the totals for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice were meticulously annotated. Surprise greeted many visitors when they saw how large the numbers were. More than a few people expressed shock at the number of non-combat deaths associated with each conflict.

For the most part, Vietnam veterans came home to scorn and derision, or, if they were lucky to apathy. The Delaware Valley Vietnam Veterans have channeled that treatment into something good and noble. They have developed a memorial that is at once honorable and apolitical. In a time where everything related to the military is politicized, DV3 has managed to remind us all that those who have given everything for the rest of us deserve not only remembrance, but respect. I was moved by the memorial. For those of us who have served there is no higher reward than the respect of our brethren. I started this post with a statement reiterating my love and respect for the noble warriors of Vietnam. DV3 and their Flag Memorial just reminded me why. Good job brothers and WELCOME HOME.

History Revisited

Lately I have noticed that the war in Iraq has decided parallels to the war in Vietnam. No, not the quagmire comment bandied about by the Left; nor the notion that all the warriors in Iraq are there because they had no other viable alternative. Well, maybe that is the correlation. The far-Left in America is always reminding the rest of us that they are smarter and more creative than the rest of us. It seems though that they have accepted the notion of "it ain't broke, don't fix it" when it comes to opposing American national security issues. I say that because while reading Whitewash/Blackwash: The Myths of the Viet Nam War something I have long believed was put forth in a more learned way than I have been able to muster. Simply put, the extreme-Left in America is helping our jihadist enemy kill United States soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen by extending the war in Iraq.

"The North Vietnamese government paid close attention to all of this, listening every day to world news on the radio, tracking the progress of the antiwar movement. They considered the antiwar movement essential to their strategy and rejoiced in visits to Hanoi by American public figures condemning the US involvement. They acknowledged privately that Tet had been a staggering defeat, but took heart from realizing that they had gained a political advantage, as shown so clearly by Johnson's decision to not run for office again. At that point they became supremely confident that all they had to do was maintain a level of conflict in South Vietnam long enough and the US would pull out, not because of lack of ability to wage the war, but because steady erosion of the will to fight would force an eventual withdrawal." pgs. 19-20

If that sounds eerily familiar it is because the jihadis have been doing the same thing the North Vietnamese did. If anything, it is easier for the jihadis to follow the news and plant their own stories. The 24 hour news cycle, ability to post anything, anytime on the internet and the complicity of a world-wide media that sees no good in anything the US undertakes outside our borders, and precious little inside, all make it easier for the bad guys to shape the war. The anti-American Left, most noticeably A.N.S.W.E.R. and Code Pink, have taken a page from the playbook of the 60s and 70s antiwar movement. In fact, some of them are one in the same. Code Pink sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Fallujah, while the US Marines were fighting in Fallujah. Ramsey Clark defended Saddam Hussein in his war crimes trial. The politicians who owe their job security to the most radical elements of the American left trumpet the notion that "The War in Iarq is lost," or "The Americans are the real terrorists." The newspaper of record, The New York Times does its part and places Abu Ghraib photos on the front page for 6 straight weeks, but relegates an uncovered plot to blow up fuel tanks at JFK International Airport to page 30.

People have been conditioned to think that the antiwar movement is considerate and compassionate and simply wants the suffering to end. The truth is that for the hard liners among them the opposite is the truth. I have stood on the street and been called a war criminal and baby killer. The far left does not like soldiers, much less support them. They feel we are somehow less evolved than they are. If it were not for the virulent antiwar movement here in the US we could have conceivably struck hard enough that the jihadis would have chosen to abandon this particular battlefield. At the very least the jihadis would have been denied as much positive recruitment and little, to no, public support among the rank and file Iraqis.

I am still a firm believer in the American spirit. I know the American fighting man cannot be defeated in battle. I am not the first to say that the only way we can lose is if we are defeated here at home, but it is more than factual. It is a historical precedent. It is time to stand up and refuse to accept a revisitng of bad behavior. It is time for those of us who care to simply say: enough.