I Ain't Marchin' Anymore

The BBQ Pit
1

America’s participation in the war in Vietnam ended over thirty-one years ago. Some of us have buried our dead. Others may never come home. Still others carry their wounds.

Not everyone who was wounded was in the military and not all wounds were physical.

It was largely my generation that was in country. And my generation that protested the war. And my generation that avoided the draft. And my generation, in part, that exposed the lies.

And I too have a name penciled from The Wall. Do not disturb the peace of the dead and those who loved them.

I pit those of you who have taken up the war at home again. If you believe that you did the right thing, then that is enough.

If your contempt against your fellow Americans who hold different views about the war in Vietnam are so strong after three decades, then exactly what was the freedom we were fighting for so long ago?

I remember the day the war was over. We drank champagne and danced on the table tops in cafes. That was a long time ago. That night was a great memory.

But I pit those of you who have psychologically embraced the enemy we fought but never tried to see the viewpoint of any fellow countryman with opposing ideas on peace and war.

2

I don’t know what prompted this pitting, but…

well said.

3

Some things it’s important to remember, so we don’t make the same mistakes ever again.

Our former soldiers are still dying from their involvement in the “VietNam Conflict.”

I thought when the was was over, it was the end of deaths. Now I know better.

I’m with Zoe, I ain’t marching no more, and I’ll fight again, for peace, this time.

US52723285 Central Highlands, Vietnam Jan 1968 to Jan 1969.

4

Phil Ochs, how we miss thee. :frowning:

5

Another amen to Zoe and to Snake Spirit, thank you and welcome home.

6

Thank you.

7

We don’t always agree, but thank you. That was a sucky time, place, and way to spend a year that should’ve been spent at home.

8

Thanks you, Snakespirit. I was one of those working for peace back home. But I never disrespected you and I never heard any of my friends say anything either. I can’t imagine the courage that it took to be there.

I post this in memory of Capt. William Black, West Point, Class of 1964.

9

Huh? Was “freedom” ever defined as “freedom to be protected from the contempt of fellow citizens?” I don’t think even the Founding Fathers had that in mind.

10

The Vietnam War was being fought while I was a little girl, but, if I’d been a teenager or an adult, I’ve no doubt I would have opposed it. I still, however, have great respect for those who served, even those who did so because they had no choice. Thank you, Zoe, for your eloquence.

CJ

11

I can’t speak for all Nam vets, but ‘welcome home’ means more to me than anything. Maybe cause it took 30 years before I heard it. Thank you.

The thanks are welcome, too, since when we went over there, we believed the government telling us that we were fighting for freedom.

If you want to make a difference, when you run into a Viet Vet, tell him or her, “Welcome home!”

Snake '68

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Yeah, and it’s important that we have the *freedom * to disagree.

We owe that freedom to guys that fought over 200 years ago.

Now we gotta make sure we always keep it, that and the others they granted us as inalienable rights.

I’d say “you’re welcome,” to your ‘thank you,’ but it feels hollow for me to do so. I do *appreciate * the thanks, but a ‘welcome home’ will do.

Maybe I should just say, “I appreciate that.” It’s not that I’ve gotten a lot of thanks for fighting, guess I’m out of practice.

13

And I fully agree with the Founding Fathers. That wasn’t what I asked about.

Pax

14

Understandable.

But “dude,” remember that I’m an aging hippie and believe there is no need to welcome you home because the whole planet is our home! :slight_smile:

15

Then I don’t understand how contempt has somehow compromised freedom. In any case, the contempt some Americans feel for other Americans won’t go away until every American who was born before 1960 dies off, i.e. once the Vietnam war passes from living memory. It was just as true for people born before 1860 and the Civil War.

16

dropzone, I’m an aging hippie, too, as well as a disabled, fucked-up VietNam vet.

When I got “home,” or at least what I considered more “home” than SouthEast Asia, (and there’s a BIG fucking difference, I assure you), People averted their eyes, made off-the-wall comments about me being lucky enough to be alive, and believe it or else, some said things like, “Dumb shit! Why didn’t you go to Canada?” or made comments about me not being able to stay in college, etc.

No one said welcome home. NO ONE!

My in laws said, “Glad to have you back.” My family told me they were glad I made it. The newspapers called me a “baby killer.” I never killed no one.

Maybe for you a “welcome home” is irrelevent because we were already ‘home in VietNam,’ but emotionally speaking, it would have meant a whole lot to me and my VNVet brothers who gave up a year of their lives* to fight in a war we didn’t want because our country told us we were fighting for fucking freedom of the SVN peasants who were about to be oppressed by the commies.

A “welcome home” would have been real, real nice. And fuck you, cause if the whole planet is your home why don’t you move your ass to Nigeria, Iraq, Iran or some of those other places you consider “your home.” Instead of taking up space here, where someone who not only cares, but is willing to do something about it can enjoy that “welcome home” you are so quick to deny.

  • In some cases, it wasn’t a year. For John Kerry it was four months. For the Marines it was 13 months. For POWs it varied, up to 10+ years!

I don’t call people names too often here, but you are one DIPSHIT!

Snake

17

Sorry, dropzone. you hit my trigger. best you know how I feel, though. Nothing personal.

Snake

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Snakespirit, in case you didn’t know, I lived in Hawaii for several years and nearly married a local boy my age. He wore a POW/MIA bracelet. One day, he told me the reason for it. You see, when he was a little boy, a friend of his had a big brother who was serving in Vietnam, and this guy was a hero to the local kids. Finally, word came back that he was due to be rotated out and sent home. A huge celebration was planned, and my friend and his buddies were looking forward to meeting this guy who’d really served and really been a soldier with all the hero worship little boys have. Unfortunately, before he could be rotated home, he was killed in action.

My friend never got the chance to welcome his hero home. In memory of him and all the others who never made it back, please accept a firm, solid, “Welcome home” and a hug from a not-so-aging would-be hippie.

CJ
Again, welcome home!

19

One of the most disturbing moments in my life happened when I was 19. It was the summer of 1979 and I was riding the Rapid Transit to downtown Cleveland. I sat all the way in the back and wound up with a demented older guy sitting next to me who had straggly unkempt blond hair, a scraggly beard, snaggle teeth, and horrible manic staring eyeballs.

He told me about his experiences in Vietnam. “My CO said, ‘You gonna kill this little girl?’ I said, ‘The fuck I am.’ He said, ‘You don’t kill this little girl, I’m gonna kill you and her both.’ So I killed her. Now look at me.”

I think I have never felt sicker in my soul than the time I had to sit there and listen to him babble like that. I try not to remember it, but all the Vietnam talk lately keeps bringing the memory back up. Now try to imagine living with the memory of actually having been there.

20

Out of interest, SnakeSpirit, have you ever gone back? I spent a few months riding a motorcycle around Vietnam in 1995, and I visited the Central Highlands - that’s some tough terrain. Anyway, I met quite a few American vets on my trip. They’d come to mourn their buddies, or exorcise their demons, or to reach out the hand of friendship to old enemies, or just to see what it was like now.

It was a very emotional time for a lot of them, but in the end most I spoke to found the experience cathartic. And I was amazed at how understanding most Vietnamese people were about these second-time-around visitors.