Afghanistan and Vietnam

I grew up in the Vietnam era.  It wasn't my father's war (WWII).   In that one, the whole country was behind our armed forces and those that came home were truly heroes in their communities.

Vietnam was different.  Fighting an enemy on their own soil who used tactics we never really understood but which they knew well from  years of fighting the French made it a hard war.  A war in which you never knew who the enemy was.

Leaders who were ambiguous in their support of our military.  Remember when our politicians were known as "hawks" or "doves?"  There were lots of protests and returning soldiers were too often ridiculed.

Any sane country that is in a war should have anti-war protesters but no country with a heart should heap scorn on our fighting men and women.

Unfortunately, that's what returning soldiers often faced when they got home from Vietnam.  True hero Senator John McCain, after spending years in the Hanoi Hilton prison camp, was spit on when he returned.

Lots of them didn't come home.  Every night on the news, there was an obscene thing called a "body count."  I had friends that didn't come home and others that came home but were seriously impaired by the experience.

Maryville College quarterback Butch Crabtree, the brother of one of my classmates, got drafted and never came home.

Drafted.  That's what many of us faced.  What drafted means is that the military doesn't have enough soldiers to fight so they tell you to report for duty.

Duty.  That can be a funny word.   Was it my duty to go to Vietnam and fight a war that our country wasn't fully committed to win?  I struggled with it then and I'm still struggling with it.

And now we're at war again.  The war in Iraq seems to be winding down while the war in Afghanistan just gets nastier.

One very real difference today from 1971 when I turned 18 and barely missed being drafted is that today our country is committed.   Our leaders, while they argue the merits of war--as they should--are still supportive of our military personnel.

And the people of this country would never allow scorn to be directed toward returning soldiers.  We welcome them home when they return.  We embrace them, knowing that they are heroes.

There are those that say that we should get out of the middle east,  that we have domestic issues that need fixing.  It isn't nearly that simple.  As places like Afghanistan destabilize, groups like Al-Quaeda gain ground.   We can't simply build a fence and keep everybody that might be a threat out of America.  Sometimes we have to go to a foreign land and help stabilize those areas of great turmoil.  I believe that's what we have done in Iraq and what we're attempting to do in Afghanistan.

As we mourn the terrorist attack that happened on September 11, 2001, never forget one thing--these countries export terrorism.