Veteran's Day

My friend Neil is 92 years old. I was talking to him yesterday and he was speaking of his friends as if it were yesterday. Except these were guys he served with in WWII Pacific Theater. His eyes were glistening as he recalled those days. He used nicknames. He started getting a burst of energy as he continued. Spoke of later years at the American Legion in Fargo, North Dakota and how he misses getting together. Thanks, Neil.

Tuesday at the club, two guys were talking in the Jacuzzi. The subject was off-roading and how they hadn’t done it for years. That got them talking about being in the desert which led to the one guy being stationed for a time in the desert at one of our bases out here in California.

Then they both started talking about Vietnam. Both had served.

“What a complete waste.”

“Many of my buddies were killed.”

“Got spit on by a lady at the airport.”

As is the case when you are in the Jacuzzi, I had license to chime in.

“You both are from California, aren’t you?”

“Ya.”

“I’m from Wisconsin and in my hometown you wouldn’t have been spit on. You would have been respected. That’s what I remember as a teenager when you guys came back.”

Then I asked them if they had read from the recently declassified Soviet documents about the war. How it had thrown the Soviets for a loop in their move to dominate in Asia. Depleted their resources. How many are arguing today that the Vietnam War was a battle period of the wider Cold War and the “end” of the war was in 1989. I asked them to simply look into some of the research. Examine the evidence. It could have been a total waste. Then again, maybe not.

What happened next was interesting. One guy says, “I never thought of it that way before.” The other guy agrees. And their whole demeanor changes.

I finished by saying,

“I could be wrong, but I would take a look for myself. And thanks for what you did.”

Thank you, all of you veterans out there.

Those who are reading this, please thank a vet.