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This is in response to an editorial regarding a 'who cares about Vietnam' LTTE in the Orlando Sentinel. I'm close to the word limit (which is somewhat flexible), though probably have a little room to play. Just need some comments... <writer's name>, in his New Voices editorial "Vietnam? Yawn", offered up an important insight - he didn't care about the events of Vietnam. Which would be fine, except that he should.
While the Vietnam War ended almost 30 years ago, its legacy lives with us still. The fact is, a majority of Americans alive today lived through that war, and its effects have been indelibly stamped on country's conscience.
Its significance to today's election is multifold. On one level is the government's relationship to its citizenry. Vietnam was a war based on a lie (Gulf of Tonkin), and perpetuated by government deceptions. Daniel Ellsberg, through the Pentagon Papers, revealed how far the government, and a corrupt administration, would go to keep the public misinformed.
On a second level, candidates John Kerry and George Bush represent the character not only of that time, but also of the current situation in Iraq. These two men, from very similar backgrounds, followed very divergent and telling paths.
George Bush, who despite his outspoken support for the Vietnam war, allowed family connections to keep him out of it, and then did not even complete the minimal service he had committed to. He even went so far as to specifically NOT volunteer for overseas duty when he did serve.
John Kerry, who could also have avoided service, instead volunteered and served with distinction by all confirmed accounts. While serving he recognized that the war was a failure, and returned to the states to protest against it. This was despite the efforts of the Nixon administration through one (eventually discredited) John O'Neill (yes, the very same man making the rounds today).
Today we have a war in Iraq that was based on lies, and a President who continually claims things are great, despite all evidence to the contrary. He is willing to send young men and women to fight and die, when he avoided that very same opportunity. And he refuses to alter his position when the war is clearly a failure, claiming he is showing "resolve." The correct word is "stubborn."
John Kerry went to Vietnam trusting his President was right, and then fought against it when he saw the truth. Today this country is faced with a similar situation, and he knows how to handle it because of his life's experience.
As George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Who cares about Vietnam? We all should.Below is the original:
Vietnam? Yawn
Bill Clinton had the right idea: John Kerry, stop talking about Vietnam.
For that matter: President Bush, stop talking about Vietnam
Bringing up the war hasn't done either side any good. Not a bit. Every feel-good reminiscence -- meant to stir voters' patriotism -- is attacked, challenged, beaten and generally stomped upon.
What's more, it's irrelevant for present-day America. And for me. The sad truth is that the Vietnam War means next to nothing to me.
I went to good schools and had good courses with good teachers. Still, almost every history class I took ended in the 1950s. What I know about the '60s and '70s is roughly the same as what the heavy drug users of the era remember: nothing. And what I know about the Vietnam War is just enough to fit into a Francis Ford Coppola epic. Platoons of disillusioned men, sheets of rain, the occasional crazy lieutenant, a bit of surfing and a young, thoughtful officer face-to-face with the horrors of war. You could always spot him because he wore glasses and kept a diary.
I know men who fought in Vietnam, who were wounded there -- who were imprisoned there -- but I know little about the war, or the state of America at the time.
Yes, I clearly should learn more -- and I will -- but not from political stump speeches. I heard somewhere that political speeches were supposed to be about policies -- about new hopes and new ideas. Not old wounds.
I'm tired of the endless Vietnam talk. I'm tired of arguing about whether the president ever showed up to National Guard duty or whether Kerry treated his time in the jungle as campaign recon. I'm tired of it, and I want it to go away.
And soon it will.
At some point in the near future, America will come face to face with a candidate who was too young to have served in Vietnam, and no one will have any idea what to do.
What will the candidates talk about? What will they use to slander each other? What will the 24-hour news stations use for nightly filler? What about when both candidates are too young to have served? We could answer some of these questions right now if one of the major parties nominated a woman, but I think it's more likely Bush and Kerry will hold hands and skip through a lily field together.
I don't know the answers, but I look forward to the day when I can learn.
So, please, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, talk about something else. Anything else. I don't care, just pick something. Maybe health care or the economy? At this point I'm convinced you're both lying about Vietnam, and I don't see any more debate about the subject changing my mind. I know a lot of people my age who agree.
The least you could do for us -- the very least -- is change the topic. |
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