...can make a huge difference.
Received this in an email today...
As soon as the scenes at the airport started rolling with the voice over, my throat closed right up and down came the tears.
Why would a 47-year old Canadian ex-pat cry while watching this?
Mostly, I cry because every night in the late 1960's-'74, along with dinner & the evening news came that day's body & casualty count. I felt it every time and it helped shape who I am.
I was ages 13-14 when the Vietnam war ended (the official withdrawal was done incrementally) and I remember how returning soldiers were treated then, and in the years that followed.
Flash forward in my life about to age 21--I meet and marry a Vietnam vet.
My now ex-spouse who was 14 years older than me, served during the Tet Offensive an especially bloody period of the American involvement in Vietnam.
Obviously, the invasion of Iraq and our presence in Afghanistan is not the same as the (never declared) war in Vietnam but what hasn't change is the need for the men & women returning to feel welcomed back. Vietnam was a war with a lot of shame attached to it and as it dragged on with no victory in sight many of us just wanted to forget. Maybe that's why we practically ignored the returning soldiers.
I cried when viewing this clip because I can see and feel the irony of Vietnam (and Korean War) vets reaching out to their brother and sisters in arms and in doing so maybe healing their own wounds inflicted so long ago by an unthinking, selfish American public.
May the vets returning today fare better than their counterparts from over 30 years ago.
There was a lot of good music that blossomed from this period as well as inspiration for some good movies.
Very true, Dan. Sounds like a future post for you to do, perhaps? ;)
--Cyn
Posted by: Cyn | February 15, 2007 at 01:03 PM
Well said. I too remember the emotions form the late '60s and early '70s. There was a lot of good music that blossomed from this period as well as inspiration for some good movies.
It comes down to this. Treat others and you would have them treat you.
Posted by: Dan | February 15, 2007 at 08:02 AM