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War, Politics and the Veteran

By Steve Crandall

We are proud to be veterans of the Vietnam war. We are also just as proud to be members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. We have heard and read comments from Vietnam veterans that believed the media and the left-wing peace activists created a stigma that sullied Vietnam veterans, and therefore brings shame to all of those who served in Vietnam. When we came home some of us joined the peace groups marching in the streets. Many more just wanted to fit back in and continued where we left off. For those our shame was not what we did in Vietnam, but what we didn't do when we returned. We didn't speak out!

So who were the people marching in the Veteran's Day parades throughout the country? They were the groups that believe that they, and they alone, hold patriotism at the highest level. They do not question the atrocities of war and they do not insist on oversight of veterans' rights. They march to the beat of the Commander-in-Chief because to do anything else would be unpatriotic. This Veteran's Day they donned their uniforms, hats, badges, pins and head for the Veteran's Day parades, for they make the decisions as to who march in their parades and what they will wear. Groups like VVAW and Veterans For Peace were asked to provide military or veteran identification should they want to join in the parade. But there will be no "politics," no symbols, banners or other clothing identifying these groups. Non-military members of these groups will not be allowed to participate in the parade. Many of these members are the wives of veterans who watched their friends and loved ones die, be maimed, or come back suffering from the effects of being exposed to Agent Orange or Depleted Uranium. All while non-veterans groups--like the Boy Scouts, Sea Cadets and what other groups they determined would make their parade look "patriotic"--were encouraged to join in and march along side the "patriarchs."

The California Central Coast Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War will be "Honoring the Warrior, Not the War".