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1000 Miles in Desert: Vets' Long March

By VVAW

Protesting unfair treatment by the Veterans Administration, a group of Vietnam veterans marched a 1000 miles through the desert, from Santa Fe, New Mexico receiving little attention from the public. Wearing fatigues and carrying packs and unloaded rifles, the vets dramatized 'Nam vets feelings about the way we have been treated.

The leader of the group, former Marine Mike Chavez, had been fired from his job; he flashed back to 'Nam when a helicopter landed at the hospital where he was working with trauma victims. "For a minute, when I heard those choppers, I was back in 'Nam," he said; "I just couldn't handle it." He broke down and was unable to work, so he was fired.

The vets' only real problem on their trek occurred when they walked by George Air Force Base. The Base went on full security alert because of the officers' fear that they "might be terrorists." When the vets approached the Base, guards greeted them with loaded M-16's. Kind of reminds you of the reception the V.A. gives us when we ask for some of our benefits.