Veterans Day, Through New Eyes

The middle-age aches in my back are relieved by being blessed with a 5-year old son (and, have no pity for my back, a 10-month old son) through whose eyes I am blessed to renew my acquaintance with the world.

Yesterday, when I picked him up from Kindergarten, there was a poster in his school room that all the beautiful kids had written on and signed their names, to welcome home one of their fathers returning from a year with his Reserves unit in Iraq. I asked my son what this meant, as usual just listening without leading him.

My son answered that he’d miss me if I were gone. And, he went off to play.

That’s, as simply put as one can get to the meaning of Veterans Day: the sons, daughters, born or not to be, the rest of the families, who missed their loved ones while away at service to their country, some to return with wounds, some never to return. And, the rest of us who will carry on, but reminded by Veterans Day not to forget them, to honor their service, for them and for us.

Before I went to sleep last night, a fellow Vietnam era veteran, my friend – who blogs anonymously – sent me his post for this morning. In it he says that in the opprobrium heaped upon his service by the media and by those convinced by its lurid stories, “all I wanted to do was ‘disappear’ into private life. I did that for thirty years.” He never before celebrated Veterans Day. He narrates that the unmasking of Kerry by Vietnam veterans in 2004 opened his eyes, and “Now the same lies are being told about the men and women who are serving in Iraq.” He goes on, “This time there’s a difference though. The veterans of Vietnam who wanted nothing more than to slip into the shadows and forget that awful time, have risen up to defend the honor of those who served then and the honor of those who serve today….we’ll take a stand against the filthy liars who defame our troops. They want a battle. They’ve got one. This year I’ll be celebrating Veterans Day.”

I picked up this morning’s local newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, to see on the front page, “Veterans Day 2005: Busting Vietnam Stereotypes.” As the headline continues, “Studies show myths about troubled veterans are no longer valid.” Indeed, they never were, as the extensive surveys by Gallup for the VA done in 1980 and by the Washington Post in 1985 demonstrated. Yet, the liberal popular media persisted with its theme that Vietnam veterans were terribly psychologically scarred by service in – what they persist in seeing as -- an unjust war.

San Diego Union-Tribune Staff Writer Peter Rowe says, “But the mist is lifting. Several recent studies contradict the popular notion that many of the 3.4 million Americans who served in the Southeast Asia war zone are damaged goods, overwhelmed by the physical and mental scars of war or the demands of civilian life.”

He then details:
· The rate of Vietnam era veterans committing anti-social crimes is the same as among non-veterans. Their unemployment rate is lower. Their rates of divorce are, overall, comparable, and those serving before 1969 have a lower rate.
· Actual rates of – an industry has risen to profit from an overly broad definition – PTSD are not pervasive. Other studies have shown the rate, about 15%, comparable to nonveterans who have difficulty with stress.
· The rate of suicide among Vietnam veterans is the same as for non-veterans.
· The use of educational benefits is higher among Vietnam veterans than those from prior wars. Other studies show the rate of career and earnings success is higher than among non-veterans.
· Although far too long in coming, the respect and honors given to Vietnam veterans is now comparable to those who came before. Even one researcher who has difficulty documenting earlier personal narratives of being “spat upon” is reported to feel, the “spat upon soldier is a metaphor.” He elaborates, “This is an alibi: We weren’t defeated by them, the Vietnamese, we were defeated by the disloyal element on the home front.” (I wasn’t spat upon when I returned from Vietnam, although I did see that happen to a friend. However, my first lover after I returned did ask me on New Year’s Eve whether I’d murdered any children. I didn’t date for a year after that.)

I will take a few minutes -- as traditional on Veterans Day -- at 11 A.M. today, the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, to recall and honor the service of veterans. Please join me, and them.