The ugly stepchild war
This week marked the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam War's end. The government of Communist Vietnam celebrated with a parade in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon for the young and non-veterans) that included colorful floats, medal-bedecked veterans, and dancers.
Ironically, the parade focused on the country's drive for economic prosperity rather than the usual military kerfuffle, and the former South Vietnam capital was festooned with a melange of American business logos, billboards, and corporate sponsorships. All in all, it was a festive occasion, a celebratory event that will never happen in the United States of America.
In the United States, the anniversary was marked by discreet, local memorial services, the placement of flowers and memorabilia at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., and in the hearts of American Vietnam-era veterans. There were no blaring headlines, glaring photographs, or glitzy parades; rather, there were solemn remembrances for the more than 58,000 absent brothers and sisters and an estimated three million fallen foes.
Vietnam remains an ugly scar
Unlike other wars at other times, the Vietnam War was and remains an ugly scar upon the bosom of American pride and right-mindedness. This was a complicated ten-year affair, affecting millions of people across the globe. The war involved a decade's worth of misinformation and distortion by the disingenuous media, gross political malfeasance, and nationwide civil unrest.
Never in the history of the United States were the youthful men and women who served their country, suddenly aged beyond their years and thoroughly confused upon their homecoming, treated so shabbily and with outright contempt. Never in the history of the United States was there a war in which America's military never lost a major engagement and yet was portrayed daily by an agenda-driven, unethical media as mired in a hopeless struggle.
We still remember
That constant barrage, the non-stop assault on our military and its mission, did indeed cause acute adverse effects at the time. It also gave birth to chronic, far-reaching consequences, so much so that the war's reality has been blurred almost beyond recognition. I have viewed every major film made on the subject and all but one, We Were Soldiers, were gross exaggerations of the truth and what really occurred. Today, there is still no black and white, no clear right and wrong, no good versus evil associated with the Vietnam War. This war was and is too complicated to define, much less celebrate.
Too complicated, that is, for all but those who were part of the experience, their families, and their survivors. We all still vividly remember, and each day that passes does so with some casual reminder, some innocuous trigger that will suddenly bring into focus some unlooked-for glimpse of that time, either good or bad.
I commend our efforts to bridge past differences and form a working relationship with the government of Vietnam, but I do so with mixed emotions. I remember America's ugly war when so many others choose to forget.