Fifty years ago, the United States became openly involved in a conflict that became widely controversial. We were not attacked. We were not provoked. We let the fear of Communism become a rallying cry to spur us into the Vietnam "War." Thousands of our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen were lost in countless battles with an enemy that fought as vigorously as the Japanese did in World War II. In the end, we just couldn't keep up.
I write this, 50 years after a war I wasn't alive to see, because on behalf of a grateful nation I have something to say to every Vietnam veteran: Thank you for serving your country faithfully, but also that I am sorry. Because it is in war that one side faces the other, but this was not the case with Vietnam. The servicemen and servicewomen who fought in Vietnam faced four different enemies, all who were aggressively fighting their own fight.
The first enemy was the obvious, the North Vietnamese. The NVA soldiers fought for the idea that they could run their country through the concept of Communism and not democracy. They faced what they felt were invaders from a distant shore who wished to enforce their political model onto them and they fought to eradicate what they considered a threat to their sovereignty.
The second enemy were the people of South Vietnam. We fought alongside their soldiers, but we also fought among the people of South Vietnam. A lot of people don't realize this, but we never placed ground forces in North Vietnam throughout the entire conflict. Vietnam shares a border with China, and we learned our lesson from the Korean War. We launched fire missions in North Vietnam, but we also did it South Vietnam. The enemy, like ISIS and al Qaeda today, hid themselves among the locals, making it impossible to tell who was friend and who was foe. This led to unfortunate tragedies like the Mi Lai Massacre of 1968.
The third enemy our service members faced was one they never should have had to: the American people. After the Tet Offensive showed us we were not winning the Vietnam War, the American people became angry. The government, to this day, has never received the full trust of the American people. Since the average citizen couldn't take out their frustrations on the government officials running the war, they took out their frustrations on "the next best thing" -- the Veterans returning home for a little R&R before they had to return to that hell hole. When veterans of World War II and Korea came home, they were greeted by parades and cheering crowds. Many who returned from Vietnam were greeted with jeers, insults, bricks, eggs, and even death.
The fourth enemy is one many veterans, from all wars in fact, are still battling. Many of those coming back from Vietnam suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The difference between then and now is that we treat our returning veterans for it, instead of kicking them to the curb like we did with many of our Vietnam Veterans. The results were harrowing. Many became homeless, turned to drugs and died on a street corner begging for change. Others took their own lives and thousands have ended their own lives since the U.S. involvement ended in 1973. Many of these never received treatment for their PTSD.
I am happy to say that Americans have gotten better in their attitudes towards Vietnam. We have constructed monuments to honor the dead, pay tribute to those who died on Memorial Day and honor those veterans who are still living on Veterans Day. I am sorry for all that you went through and I pray that what happened in Vietnam in 1965 (and Iraq in 2003) is never repeated. Thank you for your service. Thank you for surviving. Thank you for coming home.
