Letter to the Editor

Your view: Support the troops

Thursday, May 6, 2004

When I see the news on TV, I think of 1967 and 1968 when I was in Vietnam, the war everyone wants to forget.

We sat in our day room and watched the news and saw all the protests and flag burning that was going on. Then you would see the people say they supported the troops.

Most of us were drafted into the service. We didn't have a choice. Today the Army is all volunteer. When they joined, they knew they might have to fight somewhere, but there wasn't a war when they joined. Most joined to have a paycheck or an education. Now they don't want to be in the Army. I'm sorry to hear about those getting killed, but sometimes in Vietnam there were more killed in one day than in this whole war. I wasn't happy to be in the Army or Vietnam and extended in Vietnam for 2 1/2 months to get out of the Army when I got home. I didn't cry about this to everyone. I just did it. We knew that if we didn't get killed or wounded, we would be there for a year, at least. If the people here want to support the troops, then do it.

Stop the protests and complaining because the troops are just doing what they are told.

When I came home, I was treated like a monster. I was called "baby killer" and other names. I never shot a weapon. I didn't kill anyone, but I saw more than I wanted to see. There's a of people who died in Vietnam. A lot of soldiers came home without legs, arms and a lot of other wounds. Some of their minds were messed up because of what they had to do and see.

They needed the support of everyone when they came home that they did not get.

Supporting the troops means to be here for them when they get home. Don't treat them as monsters because they did what they had to do. We didn't get a big send-off or welcome home when we left or came home. We were told we would have medical care the rest of our lives, but we didn't unless it was service connected. After 35 years, I'm now getting the attention because of agent orange.

I told my wife when all the flag waving started after 9/11 and when the war started that soon it would be like Vietnam, that the flag waving and everything would stop when the war wasn't over in a month or two. I don't see too many flags at this time.

Everyone complains about not finding any weapons of mass destruction and about how many have been killed. They need to be thanking God they didn't use any of these weapons, because there would be a lot more dead. Some talk about the people of Iraq not wanting us there in their country. The people of Vietnam didn't want us there, either. The war changed their lives. They would say, "G.I., go home."

My opinion is if we don't finish this, the USA should just forget doing anything. When I was in Vietnam, they wouldn't or couldn't tell us why we were there. We didn't finish anything in Korea or Vietnam. In Korea we drew a line in the dirt and left soldiers there to guard it. In Vietnam, we just moved out - a lot of suffering and death for nothing. Don't let the ones in this war who have died and suffered do this for nothing. If we are going to give lives and money, let us finish what we started. Most of use were 18, 19 and 20 years old. We couldn't vote, drink and do a lot of other things in the states, but we could fight for God and our country.

We have some soldiers from this area going to war. If we want to support them, everyone who knows them should write to them and let them know they care. It's a sad day at mail call when you are away from home and you are the only one who doesn't get mail.

Husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, stay true to those who have left. One of the saddest things I saw was when someone received an "I'm sorry" letter. I believe this was harder on them than being in war. Being there was not their doing. It's bad when this happens when you are home to face it, but really hard when you are away from home.

When they get home, don't act like they are monsters. That's when they will need a lot of support because they will have seen and had to do a lot of things they really didn't want to do.

Roger Pendergrass