Pat Conroy proves my father right

When I was a little girl, the nightly news was full of young men dying in Vietnam and other young men (usually bearded, long haired “counter-culturalists” wearing the latest trendy “counter-cultural” clothes and listening to the permitted “counter-cultural” music) who were burning their draft cards and chanting “hell no, we won’t go,” into the cameras for the 6 O’ Clock News.

I asked my birth-father, a WWII draftee who had served in Okinawa, what the long-haired students were all about, and this is what he said:

Prior to WWII war news was carried by letter and newspaper – it was gathered slowly, and reports were kept broad – the public got an overview, not minutia. The faces and names of the generals were known, but not the troops, and so the focus was kept on the purposes of war. People would either support or reject the mission, but the mission was the story.

In WWII we had newsreels showing us cannons, vigorous troops and so forth – the public would see a few minutes of war news, kept clean, and then spend a few hours with John Wayne in the trenches or Gary Cooper in the sky or Cary Grant in the cocktail lounge, and leave the business of war to the politicians and the generals. They kept victory gardens, gave up their rubber and steel for munitions, did their part and prayed.

Now, this Vietnam war, it’s being brought to us in living color, almost as things are happening. We don’t have a clear idea of the purpose of the war or the mission and all we can see are these young men dying. We’re mired in minutia. We know everyone’s name. War is now personal, and if John Wayne reminded us that it could be honorable, these vivid images are overpowering that sentiment. All people are seeing is death and carnage, youth and fear. It’s terrifying. People want it to stop. They don’t care what happens if it stops, they just want it to stop – to go away. And these young men are also terrified. They don’t want to be the young men dying on the 6 O’ Clock News, and they don’t have John Wayne explaining to them why they should. They’re out there screaming their hairy heads off and burning their draft cards and running to Canada because they’re scared. That’s the bottom line. They’re scared. And all the rhetoric and demonstrations and all the moralizing – these are just diversionary tactics they’re using so that they don’t have to admit the simple truth that they are scared, and they don’t want to be soldiers.

Author Pat Conroy, in a brave piece that may well set him at odds with his boomer pals, now admits as much in An Honest Confession by an American Coward, wherein he pays homage to one Vietnam Veteran in particular, and to all Vietnam Vets (and all the American soldiers who have come after) in this very moving article. He writes:

When I was demonstrating in America against Nixon and the Christmas bombings in Hanoi, Al and his fellow prisoners were holding hands under the full fury of those bombings, singing “God Bless America.” It was those bombs that convinced Hanoi they would do well to release the American POWs, including my college teammate. When he told me about the C-141 landing in Hanoi to pick up the prisoners, Al said he felt no emotion, none at all, until he saw the giant American flag painted on the plane’s tail. I stopped writing as Al wept over the memory of that flag on that plane, on that morning, during that time in the life of America.

It was that same long night, after listening to Al’s story, that I began to make judgments about how I had conducted myself during the Vietnam War.

I’ve always liked Conroy’s writing and this is a powerful piece that deserves the overused advice: “must-read.”

And when you’re done reading this man’s thoughtful and courageous words, take a moment to read about the sad, moving, ultimately inspiring homecomings of Second Lt. Scott Lundell (his mil eulogy is here, and Hospital Corpsman Christopher “Doc” Anderson. These made me weep, and also to thank God that our nation is not lacking in such men as these, and to remember their families and comrades in my prayers.

Lastly, read neo-neocon’s very insightful thoughts on Paradoxical Dangers of Fighting a Humane War. It will leave you thinking.