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Veterans Day

By Virg McFadden

Veterans Day ceremonies have, for years, carried the stigma of dry, flag-waving programs put on by the traditional vets groups like the Legion or VFW, mostly leaving the community bored or indifferent.

VVAW has, for years, emphasized the necessity of fighting for the benefits for living vets and opposing U.S. military involvement abroad. Often smaller than traditional ceremonies, in most cities, VVAW programs center around Vietnam vets and speak directly to the heart of issues.

The annual Vets Day program in Madison, WI, is a major departure from past trends. Held in the Wisconsin State Capitol building rotunda, the ceremonies consist of a solemn program emphasizing the futility and waste of wars.

Growing by leaps and bounds, the Madison VVAW chapter has brought together veterans of all eras, local and state political leaders, and the Madison community.

1984 Veterans Day began with statements by or on behalf of World War I, World War II and Korean vets, and haunting music by Jim Wachtendonk of the Madison chapter. A honor guard of Vietnam vets and their families replaced the symbolic coffin with a body bag—an image of Vietnam.

The crowd, some seated, many standing filled the first level above; the balcony circling overhead was jammed. Seated alongside fatigue-clad vets were city and county officials and the citizens of Madison; in front of them, the Governor of Wisconsin listened to the program. As members of VVAW read the history of U.S. military involvement by country and year, the entire assemble filed by the body bag to lay flowers provided by a local florist.

The simplicity of the ceremonies coupled with an emotionally involved community exemplified the depth of work and commitment the Wisconsin VVAW chapters have brought to Veterans Day activities in Madison.

For Veterans Day in Chicago, the Governor didn't make it; neither did a number of others, but Vietnam vets, their families, and the Chicago media were in attendance. Held in direct competition with the "official" ceremony which was taking place at Daley Plaza in the middle of the city, VVAW's ceremony was held at the Vietnam Veterans Monument, a fountain near downtown, in the midst of swirling cold winds, quite unlike anything we could recall from Vietnam.

The hearty group that joined together was treated to the thoughts of veteran, now Father Bob Bosse, a Maryknoll priest and Chicago peace activist, and the songs of Bright Morning whose stirring music made warm what could have been a cold occasion. Barry Romo of VVAW's National Office spoke of his experience of bringing home the body of his nephew from Vietnam as he placed the wreath in front of the Monument.

The ceremony looked to the past and to those who died, but also to the future and to those who should never be put in a position to have to sponsor a similar ceremony in years to come.

Chicago

Each year a Vietnam veteran is asked to lay the wreath, and does so with a special someone in mind. Barry room laid the wreath this yea to honor his nephew, whose body he escorted home from Vietnam. The vet who was originally asked to lay the wreath was told by his employer that, if he participated in this way, he would lose his job. As a government employee he was denied his right of free speech, free assembly, his right as a human being and Vietnam veteran to honor not only all Vietnam veterans but that special someone he wished to honor. This is America, the home of the "free," where a veteran, or anyone for that matter, can have his livelihood threatened, his feelings squashed like a bug, and his rights denied. " Makes me proud to be an American."

—Virg McFadden
VVAW Chicago