| WddNews.com Blog Randy Novotny takes you on a Freedom Journey |
In the spring of 1971, while I was a junior in high school my American History teacher brought a record into the classroom and played it for us. The song was “War” by Edwin Starr. The song on the heels of Kent State reached #1 in the country for three weeks in the summer of 1970. That fact surprised me since I didn’t recall hearing the song that much. For some reason, I always remember that day in the classroom and the lyrics of the song which were rather simple “War, what is it good for…..Absolutely nothing, sing it again” and it repeated it over and over and over again just adding a few lyrics. It was a protest song; protesting the War in Viet Nam. I thought at the time and still do today that an American History class was a strange setting for the song to be played. The teacher appeared uncomfortable as he placed the song on the record player and even stranger to me was we never discussed the song or its lyrics. The teacher had spent the entire year going over the benefits of war and how it assured our freedom. We studied the benefits of them all from the Revolutionary War to the Korean War. Why was Viet Nam by this teacher and so many others perceived as being so different in our fight to maintain our freedom? We were told over and over again by President Johnson and then President Nixon that it was important for us to be there because of something they called the “Domino Theory”. If we let countries keep falling to communism our world would eventually be all communism. The two dominating communist countries of the time were the Soviet Union and Red China. Sometime in the late 60s our country had turned against our fight in Viet Nam. We thought we were losing the war and a growing number of Americans questioned our reason for being there. We left in 1973 thinking at best it ended in a draw. We treated our brave young men and women when they returned home from hell in a horribly embarrassing manner. One night back in the mid 80s, when we had just the right amount of beer in us, a friend of mine, a brave fighting soldier of the Green Beret, shared with me some of his experiences and insights into the fight for freedom in Viet Nam He told me about returning home as the only survivor of his unit. He came through the airport in San Francisco and was jeered and spit at as he came through the gate. He said it was most difficult not for himself but for the people he left behind, especially his best buddy that survived the combat, but was killed just moments before he was to go home. He was not killed by a soldier. He was killed by a young boy they had befriended and they often gave cokes to. The boy would shine their boots and do other chores for them. They trusted him. They had no reason to suspect anything when he came with a coke for the soldier as a going away gift of appreciation. The coke was laced with bamboo shavings which if you consume with liquid will grow in your intestines until it destroys them and kills you. It is a painful way to go. It was painful beyond comprehension for my friend to go through as well. He told me if “War is Hell” this was far worse and way beyond hell. While we were listening to protest songs over here, this young Viet Namese boy and others were being taught how to befriend and eventually kill an American. When my friend shared his experiences with me he had the benefit of over 10 years to come to a conclusion of what it all meant. He said, “It was okay for those people at the gate in San Francisco to jeer and spit at me. That is the reason we go to war and fight for freedom. I and the people I left behind helped give those people that right. That was their way of showing their freedom and that was okay and I have forgiven them”. He went on and explained, “what one person might despise another may see as an appropriate action of freedom. No matter how it made me feel at the time, we fought for everyone’s freedom and not just for those we agree with”. Through the years, I have known many from that era that have carried with them not only the usual horrors of war, but also the burden of thinking it was not a just fight or a fight we benefited from. There were no kisses of a nurse in Times Square by a sailor. Sometimes it is very difficult to determine at the time the true benefits of a war in the fight for freedom. To me that really is the case with Viet Nam. If you examine the world now over 35 years later you have to come to the conclusion that we succeeded in what we were trying to accomplish in Viet Nam. The Soviet Union has crumbled. Many of its occupied countries of the time are no longer under the tyranny of communism. Red China has been transformed into a capitalistic society or at least it seems like everything is made there today. Viet Nam, Cambodia, and the other countries in that region, as far as I know, are giving us very little problems of concern. So, We Won in Viet Nam. It helped stop the domino affect. Johnson and Nixon were right and Walter Cronkite was wrong. Who realized it? Even Rambo didn’t! So, please brave fighting men and women of Viet Nam, ease some of your pain. Your fight and the fight of your buddies, we lost, was not in vain. You helped keep the world free. You may never be called the “Greatest Generation”, but you were pretty damn great, as well. So, tonight have as many beers as you want and can handle at your age, grab a nurse or two and celebrate the victory for freedom you won for many in Viet Nam. It’s about time!
Randy Novotny Randy@WddNews.com |
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| Eddie & Eydie See with Evelyn See Eddie and Eydie See with Evelyn...They are proud that Evelyn arrived healthy at 8 pounds 7 ounces. It cost them several 1000 dollars to have her. In 1954, it cost less than $50 for Evelyn's grandfather to be delivered in the same hospital and it included 3 days of room and board for both the mother and the baby Unfortunetly, they are concerned about their ability to afford the needed health care. If something should happen to Evelyn or one of them...they might have to quit their jobs or get divorced so they could get the needed assistance from the government. This is not opinion....This is Fact! |
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