Mike Parker: Honor our Vietnam Veterans today
In October 1968, I turned 18. I was about halfway through my first Fall Semester at Ohio State, plodding through Freshman Comp, Differential Calculus, and the first course in the freshman chemistry sequence.
What I most remember from that time were the daily reports that filled the TV screens with news of the “police action” in Vietnam. Vietnam may have been a “police action” in the minds of politicians, but to the men and women trekking through jungles, wading through rice paddies, fighting a nearly unseen enemy, treating the wounded, and returning the dead home in flag-draped coffins, Vietnam was a war.
Major developments in that war ramped up in deadly earnest in 1968. On Jan. 1, the North Vietnamese People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong attacked a U.S. military base, ending a truce the Pope had declared that all sides had theoretically accepted. On Jan. 31, the PAVN and Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and American forces killed close to 37,000 enemy troops. Losses on our side numbered 3,700 ARVN lives – and 7,600 American lives.
The number of U.S. troops peaked in 1968 as President Lyndon Johnson approved an increase in the maximum troop commitment to 549,500. For all intents and purposes, the United States was at war in Vietnam in varying capacities from 1955 through 1974. Vietnam was the second-longest war in U.S. history.
As the Vietnam War dragged on, support for the war effort waned among the American people. The majority who served in Vietnam returned home to silence. In fact, many men and women who answered the call and did their duty returned home to hostility and scorn. The attitude toward Vietnam vets marks one of the lowest points in our collective military history.
Not until 2012 was any recognition accorded the veterans of the Vietnam War. In 2012, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation that called on “all Americans to observe this day [March 29, 2012] with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.” The Vietnam War Veterans Day was observed as a one-time occasion.
Five years later, some members of Congress pushed to make March 29 an annual observance. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa, and U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., joined forces to introduce legislation to honor those who fought during Vietnam War-era on the special date that marked withdrawal of military units from South Vietnam – March 29.
These senators argued that even though the war was unpopular, the soldiers were not the ones who chose to go to war. The 2017 bill passed, and President Trump signed the act on March 28. He called for U.S. flags to be flown on each March 29 to honor all those who served from 1955 through 1975, whether they served in Vietnam or not.
The act proclaimed March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
In the roughly 20 years from 1955 until 1974, more than 2.7 million Americans served this nation in Vietnam. In 1973 all combat troops and their support units were finally withdrawn, but the war continued to impact those who served “in country” and their families. Nearly 60,000 of men and women gave their lives for this country. Countless others returned home with physical or psychological scars from what they endured during the war.
Today put out your flag in honor of their service. If you see a Vietnam vet, give a heart-felt thanks for their service to this nation. These men and women have been ignored far too long. That sad situation needs to end – today.
Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
