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Why I Joined VVAW

By Lily Lee Adams

I came back from Vietnam in the fall of 1969 and found myself dazed and confused. It seems the Vietnam War was not a popular subject, but it certainly took a lot of space in my own awareness. I couldn't hold a job, I had trouble paying my rent, and I couldn't understand why I was sleeping 12 to 14 hours a day. But on the corners of the streets of San Francisco were these young women collecting money for Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Every time I passed them, I'd put money in their cans and I'd ask about the organization. It was so good to talk to people who reminded passersby that the war was still raging. I had been rejected and treated so negatively by people upon my return (including the VA) that I feared being rejected by my own peers, so I never went to a VVAW meeting. But I never forgot them and was lifted up many times when I read stories about activities like throwing their medals over a barrier and onto the steps of the Capitol.

So here we are 30 years later, still fighting against a war that should not have been, but now we are the older veterans and the war is in Iraq. I took various steps to heal myself, worked for the VA to make it better for our veterans and finally joined VVAW! I have met and worked with many VVAW members here in the San Francisco Bay Area and decided it was about time that I supported an organization that has done so much to honor veterans by fighting for their rights and waging peace.

Lily Lee Adams was in 'Nam with the12th Evac Hospital '69-'70.