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Thity Years Further Down the Pike

By Horace Coleman

It's thirty years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. "Hanoi Jane" Fonda has published her memoirs. Colin Powell, in an interview in Germany's Stern magazine, said he was wrong. The intel was bad; there were no WMDs.

Then it was Agent Orange and PTSD. Now it's Gulf War syndrome, depleted uranium and PTSD. Then it was the Hanoi Hilton; now it's Gitmo and Abu Ghraib. Then it was Buddhist monks burning themselves alive; now it's suicide bombers.

The WWE and Arnold Schwarzenegger went to Iraq. I remember talking with actor James Garner in IV Corps. Once it was M16s and ammo that didn't match; now it's ammo shortages and not enough armor for troops or Humvees. We still can't get our politics, priorities and logistics together. It used to be communism; now it's terrorism.

Back then, it was RMK-BRJ getting "funny with the money." In Iraq it's Bechtel, Halliburton's KBR subsidiary (which operated as BRJ in Vietnam), Custer Battles (ironic name there), etc. New government policy: outsource the money to civilians; keep the pain and suffering with troops.

Then it was me and a broad slice of my generation. Now it's my son and a much smaller proportion of his. Once it was trying to flunk your physical, going to (and staying in) college or Canada. You could get multiple deferments or father a child (like Dick Cheney). Maybe you had some strings pulled (like President Bush) to get into the National Guard—practically a guarantee that you wouldn't go to 'Nam. You could get a job that gave you an exemption. Maybe you claimed, as did Congressman Tom DeLay (apt name), that "the minorities have all the good jobs" in the military.

There's no draft now. If you're in the military and can avoid a stop-loss order, being redeployed or having your Guard or Reserve unit activated, ya got it made. Unless you really get your ticket punched and have to deal with shrinking VA aftercare.

What have we learned since Vietnam? Overall, not much. Well, no pictures of mass coffins are allowed. (Digital photos and videos of prisoner abuse are okay.) Nomenclature and place names changed. Fallujah replaced Khe Sanh (with a better outcome, so far). Harriers, not F4Cs. Sandstorms instead of monsoons.

People "support our troops" now—with flags and magnetic stickers on cars—but the Army, Army Reserve and Marines are missing recruitment goals. So green cards are offered and robots are being built, since "patriotic" citizens mostly support our troops by not becoming one.

I recently met Tim Goodrich, cofounder of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He's sincere, concerned about his generation's veterans, articulate, well-informed and practical. He, and the members and founders of similar groups, figure things out for themselves and do what they think appropriate.

Some causes and efforts require patience and perseverance. Sometimes things don't change much—they're just different. Although some people still persuade others to do unnecessary things, more people realize what's actually necessary. You don't need everyone, just a critical mass.

"Here's where the unwilling are made to do the unnecessary for the ungrateful." That's one of the most important lessons learned from Vietnam. It took the Vietnamese more than a thousand years to win their flawed freedom. Children there are still being born with birth defects related to Agent Orange.

Thirty years since 'Nam. Are we safer or better off for having fought that war? How long will it take us to win our freedom from our greatest enemy—ourselves?