Vietnam vets, we salute you

Len Crosby will never forget his return home from the Vietnam War.

"The cab driver who gave me a ride from the airport told me when I got out, 'All you guys mean to me is more unemployment," said the Post Falls man who served in the Army and received two Purple Hearts. "That was my initial welcome home."

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the last U.S. troop departure from the Vietnam War. President Richard Nixon declared, "The day we have all worked and prayed for has finally come."

Decades later, the country is still finding ways to reconcile what, in some areas, was a hostile homecoming for the troops.

President Donald J. Trump last year signed into law the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, which officially recognizes March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day, an annual observance that honors all veterans of the war.

"The country has come a long way from when it didn't want to hear about veterans and veterans were treated like they were the cause of the war," Crosby said.

Bob Hunt, a Post Falls resident who served in the Navy and is a local leader of the Disabled American Veterans, added: "No one — and I mean no one — wanted to talk about Vietnam, so we never did."

Despite returning to a country divided over the war by politics and suffering from trauma, many local Vietnam veterans, including Hunt and Crosby, later admirably stepped into community leadership or volunteer roles to assist fellow veterans.

"It was difficult," said Crosby, who has been involved in the American Legion, Military Order of the Purple Heart, DAV and Vietnam Veterans of America. "Most Vietnam veterans did not join veteran service organizations until they were 50 or older and, even then, we took a lower profile for many of the same reasons we did not highlight our Vietnam veteran status in our daily or business lives."

Lew Allert, described as the "energizer bunny" of DAV's Fort Sherman Chapter, said he lived on a farm in Washington to get "straight" after the war. He said that while he appreciates the day of recognition, it doesn't have much meaning to him personally.

"I had 40 years to get over the trauma," he said. "I'm over it, behind it and don't need to keep looking back. I need a positive attitude and to look forward. This community has been phenomenal about its support for veterans and you won't find that in many places."

Harold Markiewicz, who served in the Air Force and is the honor guard coordinator for the American Legion posts in Post Falls and Rathdrum, said he appreciates the day of honor.

"It's nice to get the recognition for what we did," he said. "We were under orders to do a job and those who did should be honored or remembered. The ones who did not come home should be honored even more."

Veterans' emotional healing over time is difficult to measure and depends on each individual, he said.

"A lot of them I know who came back may look good on the outside, but it's hard to say what they're thinking," Markiewicz said.

Allert said there were many years when he was "very unhappy" and, when he'd see others in a good mood, he'd feel like an outcast.

"In 1982 I had a major breakdown because I'd held stuff in for so long, and thank goodness my wife of 40 years (Carla) stuck with me," he said. "Without her, I don't know if I would've made it."

Allert said he finally decided that, to be straightened out, he needed to be involved in the community.

"I thought the DAV would have people like me who understood what I went through, and they did," he said. "Joining the DAV turned my life around and renewed my faith, which had slipped away."

Allert said he's now able to assist other vets in need.

"All you have do is shut up and listen," he said. "Just being a good listener is really important."

Bryan Bledsoe, who served in the Army, said he first became involved in the American Legion nine years ago, through his wife.

"She was in a chorus, and they were looking for a place to practice," he said. "They talked to John Dunlap (the late Post Falls commander) and he said, 'You can practice here for free, but I'd like any veterans to join.' So my wife said, 'You're going to join.'"

Bledsoe said like most Vietnam veterans, he was done with the military when he returned and didn't talk about his experience. He said he later had a change of heart, mostly for those he served with and for other vets.

"I realized so many people gave so much more than I did," he said. "I started to feel guilty that I wasn't involved and helping people. I was self-absorbed."

Bledsoe said his assistance included pointing fellow vets to the VA after post-traumatic stress disorder and other illnesses finally became an official diagnosis several years after the war.

"I ran into a guy two years later in a coffee shop, and he was on 100 percent disability," Bledsoe said. "He had no idea it was available to him. That was also my awakening. It's amazing that I still find Vietnam veterans who don't have a clue that they could qualify for medical benefits. That could be big for their families."

Bledsoe said he initially stayed away from the VA and anything associated with the military, but time and hospital program improvements helped. Now he receives all his care at the VA.

"Sure things can still be improved, but overall they're doing a good job," he said.

Coeur d'Alene's Robert Martin said he also knows about the winds of change through the VFW, which he has led as commander of Post 889.

"Upon returning home from my first tour in 1966, I recall reading an article in the VFW magazine that actually asked the question if Vietnam returnees should be accepted in the VFW," the Army vet said. "That turned me off right then and there. It wasn't until I moved out here three years ago that I decided to join. Now most of the VFW's leadership is all Vietnam vets."

Martin, who received three Purple Hearts, said his best friends are those he served with in Vietnam.

"I honor those guys and those who never came back every day when I get up in the morning," he said. "I believe that because of the way we were treated upon returning home is the reason why many of us remain close to this very day. In the end, if our country didn't care, all we had was each other."

He said he meets a group of vets from other states he served with each year and a "strange metamorphosis" takes place.

"We become 19-year-old kids again and just take up where we left off with the non-stop jokes and laughter," he said.

Today, Martin said, he'd be hard-pressed to find anyone with negative feelings toward those who served in Vietnam.

"Better now than never," he said.