Who am I? From age 17 to 21, if drafted, I would have gone, from age 22 to 24, I would have fled to Canada or elsewhere, from age 25 to 27 I would have gone to prison, from age 28 to 34 I would have opposed the war but volunteered to serve, as I actually did. Who am I? I am an American. A thinking, reasoning, nerve-packed being that cherishes life, all life. The same as you. The same as our Presidential Candidates.
So why do we beat each other up over our choices in response to the Vietnam War or question the valor of those who played any role in it? Is it universally understood when war is justified? God humble those that find it easy and God help us when it is so. Yes, there is a time to kill or be killed but fear is difficult to bridle with half-truths, half measures and shifting convictions. And death should not be unleashed in ill-defined endeavors.
For this reason, I say anyone that fought in it, whether for a day or a decade, whether their tale has grown as long as the Vietnam Memorial is heart wrenching, should be saluted for their sacrifice. Anyone who protested it or went to prison resisting it, should be praised for their passion. And anyone who escaped it whether to Canada, to Cambridge, or to a safe spot in the National Guard, should be pardoned for their choice. And all who lost loved ones to it should be born upon our shoulders.
That is the real lesson of the Vietnam War. And here we are again facing war--this sifter of men, this phantom for our fear. Who will be cowards and who heroes? Who will bear our red badges of courage? Only those that would choose as you would choose? Or will our maturity embrace all, like all those that should have been embraced in questionable wars long past?
Loren M. Lambert, © September 22, 2004
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