Effects of Vietnam War still felt today

The recent article from Uyless Black titled “The Bureaucrats of War” caught my attention and I felt compelled to write a follow-up response. First of all I would like to thank Uyless Black for his service to our nation, for his article, and for openly discussing something that is understandably difficult for our nation’s veterans to stomach. Perhaps that is why this subject is so rarely discussed.

However, I feel we owe it to those who served, to those who are currently serving (or recently served), to those yet to serve, and to their families to bring to light this unacceptable national betrayal. While many of us are aware of the Gulf of Tonkin “incident,” we do not take the logical next step and apply it to more recent events in order to identify an unacceptable practice of rushing headlong into war for all the wrong reasons. But most importantly, we do not take into account the true consequences suffered by our returning heroes, their families, or what these wars do to our nation as a whole.

I have made it a goal in life to serve our nation’s heroes but since an early age I have been uniquely and intimately aware of the cost the Vietnam War had (and still has) on our nation. I often think of America as two different nations: “before the war” and “after the war.” Perhaps it is a little too simplistic, but I see a proud, strong, and unified nation before the war and a broken, divided (and divisive) nation after the war.

Before the war was a time many see as a golden age in America. Not a perfect time certainly (especially for minorities), but a time when the middle class in America was prosperous and living the American dream by and large. Before the war, 95 percent of America never even heard of this tiny half-nation a world away. I remember as a child hearing my dad speak about being stationed in Germany in the mid 60’s when his Army unit got the notice that many would be transferring to Vietnam. He said they had to go look at a map and to find Vietnam: none of them had ever hear of it. But that naiveté wasn’t to last long. Now looking back after the war it feels to me like America (not just her veterans and families who directly suffered, but America herself) has been injured, divided, and broken due in part to a lie that sold the Vietnam War to the American people. My personal views, my family upbringing, and my time spent working with homeless veterans has solidified this view.

My father’s generation of soldiers went off to fight the Vietnam War in part to live up to the service of their fathers in WWII. But as is often the case, these ideals were distilled down to fighting to protect their brothers on their left and right (a noble ideal, for Christ himself said the greatest thing we can ever do is to lay down our life for our brother). Vietnam set a dangerous (even criminal) precedent for going to war under false pretenses: and it is still happening. It is my belief that far too often we do not fully acknowledge the true costs of the Vietnam War and we have not learned its lessons. Black’s article “The Bureaucrats of War” began to tell this story. However, I couldn’t help but take it to the next conclusion: the war in Iraq. Our politically charged bureaucratic system continues to use falsehoods and propaganda to take us to war under false pretenses. Politicians and bureaucrats use misdirection because they know we would never agree to send our most precious youth off to war to be injured or die for a falsehood. By the way, notice how the same politicians and bureaucrats who beat the drums of war never risk their own children on the front lines?

There are some unique similarities between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War; specifically the way we were led to war by falsehoods. There are also many similarities in the costs to those who fought, the cost to the families of those who fought (who suffer in silence), and the cost to our nation as a whole. I know this is an extremely difficult subject for veterans and their families, as discussed in Black’s article. I know it can bring up questions of “why” and “for what” did we fight. It is for this reason that I felt compelled to speak about the true costs of the Vietnam War. One walk through our nation’s VA hospitals and rehabilitation centers, as with the Vietnam War before in places like Bethesda, demonstrates the price our nation’s injured and broken veterans paid or are paying every day: part of the cost. Spending one day or even one hour with one of these individuals also reveals part of the true costs. Next are the countless families who suffer beyond what should ever be asked of them. I can only try to imagine the pain families must feel who pay the “ultimate sacrifice” for this nation or endure injured and broken loved ones in solemn silence: I hear your silence and I thank you for your supreme sacrifices.

I have grown up with a generation that was harmed as a direct result of what Vietnam did to this nation. Loving fathers went away whole men, only to return to their families as broken men. This caused divorce and future generations of drug and alcohol addiction, crime, broken families, loss, pain, and suffering: also part of the cost. This “cost” is paid not just by veterans, but by their loved ones and by their communities too. When you take time to think about the cost to this nation in homelessness, addiction, broken families and broken homes, crime and the criminal justice system, destroyed and suffering families (many of which suffer in silence every single day), riots and protesting (which was also aimed at our veterans, which sickens me), and all of the discord and civil unrest that was a result, the “true cost” of the Gulf of Tonkin lie comes into focus.

Vietnam mixed with the blood of this nation and coursed (and still courses) throughout our nation’s veins, spawning pain, suffering, and brokenness to this very day. I can’t even bring myself to address the parallels of the Iraq war and what current and future generations will go through as a result. That is why I must speak up: to have war and all the horrible aftereffects as a direct result of “political, bureaucratic, or economical” lie, or for any reason other than the last possible option in defense of our nation is strictly criminal. That is why I get so infuriated when I hear politicians speak so casually about going to war in places like the Middle East. They speak as if “war” is some political tool or campaign slogan to help win votes. This too is criminal. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a war protester and I believe in a strong defense. But war for a lie is wrong: always. If a politician or bureaucrat has to result to a lie to “sell a war” to the American people, or if they won’t send their own kids to fight in this war: beware America. I believe we owe it to those who have paid “the last full measure” and to their families to get this right. As a nation, we need to come to terms with identifying, exposing (no matter how painful), and stoping this from ever happening again. To swear a national oath “never again” is what I advocate. I thank Uyless Black for bringing this painful topic to light for our veterans and for their families. These brave men and women serve / served with distinction, bravery, and honor. They deserve the very best we have to offer. I pray to almighty God that our nation will affirm “never again.”

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Chris Green is a Coeur d’Alene resident who works at North Idaho College and is in the midst of graduate work at Boise State University. Chris was homeless at age 12 and came to NIC with an 8th grade education and GED.