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Vets' Day - For A Decent Life Without War

By Pete Zastrow

November 11th, 1984. It's Veterans Day again. And again VVAW chapters will break out the fatigues, unroll the banners, call out all the members we can find, and commemorate the day set aside to remember this country's vets. As in years past we will be saying, "Honor the Dead; Fight for the Living!"

Different chapters in different cities will remember the day in different ways, though in some cities, VVAW Veterans' Day ceremonies have become almost as traditional as the activities of older veterans groups. In most places there is, by now, a history of VVAW attempts to be recognized either as a part of the official ceremony, or to have the right to hold our own observance at 11 o'clock on the 11th day of the 11th month.

Often there is a question why we are doing this, why we are remembering a war which holds so many events we would like to forget. Many of theses memories hold little but pain for the vets and, in many cases, it would be far easier to stash them far in the backmost reaches of memory as have so many Vietnam veterans. And, it should be added, as have many of the people of America, led by politicians who hope that forgetting Vietnam will make easier the waging of a similar war somewhere else.

Among the experiences that we have come to value—those of us who remember Veterans Day—is learning that there is a difference between the war and the warrior, that even though we may wish to forget most of our experience in Vietnam, we do not want to forget those with whom we served. And when we "Honor the Dead," we do indeed remember fondly the memories we hold of those who fought beside us. We remember, too, that the casualty list is far longer than the names which appear on the Wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. Thousands of veterans and friends have, since the war, been the casualties of drugs, of alcohol, of post-traumatic stress in its many forms, of Agent Orange, and should as surely be marked as the dead of the Vietnam War as are those whose names are inscribed on the Wall.

We learned how to hat the war but not the warriors. We learned, most of us, never to confuse the two. We did not fight the war because it was our idea; we did what our government (that we had been taught to respect and obey) told us to do, more or less willingly, depending on our situation, and in some cases even gladly (those of us who were convinced we were saving the U.S. from the threat of godless communism). Though the war was wrong, for any number of reasons, the people who fought the war were not wrong.

It took a number of years to learn there was a difference. Much of the American population still doesn't understand that the war they did not support was not the same as the men and women who were sent to fight that war. The fact that many us failed to see the difference for a long time led to some of the problems that so many vets still have.

Yes, there should be "blame" attached to the Vietnam War, and there should be guilt assigned. Neither of these belong to the veterans of that war, however. They should be directed where they belong—at a government (and the powers behind that government) which had an interest in fighting a war for control, power and economics in Southeast Asia.

It's never been easy to tell the parents of one of our friends who was killed in Vietnam that their son died "for nothing." "In vain," the phrase the jumps to the lips, is hardly comforting. Yet unlike some earlier wars, there was nothing "noble" about the causes and no noble purpose behind the support of a corrupt, thug-filled government which the U.S. set up in Saigon. Nevertheless, there was heroism by noble men and women fighting an ignoble war for all the wrong reasons.

Our activities on Veterans Day speak loudly about some Vietnam veterans; while we are remembering the dead, we're thinking about the living and about how we never want to has affected our bodies and those see them go through a war such as we went through. Never again should 18-year-olds be shipped off to fight a war in which neither they nor their families have any interest or stake. Some corporations made some dollars on the Vietnam War; some defense contractors did well. Some politicians made careers as did some military officers. But for those of us who ended up having to fight the war, there was no glory in Vietnam, and nothing much since Vietnam—except joblessness, psychological problems, Agent Orange poison, a public which would just as soon forget, and a Veterans Administration which does as little for the Vietnam vet as it can possibly get away with.

And what about the danger the Vietnam vets, parading around in our jungle fatigues present exactly the wrong model for the young, already enamored of uniforms and many of the trappings of the Vietnam War? Are we glorifying the war much like the VFW or the legion have done for wars of the past? Of course that's possible, but not if the young listen to what VVAW has to say. When, during Veterans' Day ceremonies, we talk about Agent Orange it won't be quite the same as what others will say. The traditional vets organizations will say, by now, that vets should be tested, treated and compensated for the problems that come from exposure to Agent Orange—it took awhile, but seeing that this was something that Vietnam vets knew was important, and seeing that their futures lay with the Vietnam veteran member, even those groups began to move on the issue. VVAW will say that and more. Other Vietnam vet groups will talk about the need for help for Agent Orange victims—and will speak against the settlement in the class action suit against the makers of Agent Orange. VVAW will say that and more.

For VVAW, Agent Orange is more than just a poison which for our children. Agent Orange is a significant symptom of the diseased system that sent us off to fight someone else's war and then, once we got home, forgot us, tried to shove us aside and now would like nothing more than to see Vietnam vets all die off quickly and be quiet. Our history and our presence on Veterans Day is one more reminder that we have no intention of fulfilling the dreams of the Reagan war planners and let people forget what happened in Vietnam.

Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day; November 11th was the day which marked the signing of the peace treaty to end World War I, the war which the politicians of that era declared "the war to end wars."

That is a fine thought. But it would be hard to count the number of wars which have taken place since November 11th, 1918. However, as we face another Veterans Day, we can and will do whatever we can to make sure that our children are not used as we were.

That is how the VVAW message on this Veterans' Day will differ from the message of other organizations. We are not less patriotic than they. No less than they do we honor the dead on this day, for they were our friends. But the real fight—the fight for the living—still lies ahead. Every move toward another war, every step down the path toward conflict in Central America or in the Middle East, or anywhere else, will have to be met with all experience and credibility we can muster. No more Vietnams! Honor the Dead—but Fight Like Hell for the Living!

If you live in an area near one of the VVAW Regional coordinators listed in THE VETERAN, get in touch with them to find out about activities that may be going on near you. Or contact the VVAW National Office and we will try to get you in touch with people in your area. But much of what is talked about in this article, and much of what VVAW does on Veterans Day can be done individually—a letter to an editor of the local paper, a letter to a political figure to support peace or the nuclear freeze or expanded vets' counseling programs, or sharing of this article with a friend. Veterans Day needs your participation.

—Pete Zastrow
VVAW National Office