Honor

  It being Veterans day I thought to write a bit about that. I can write from a first person perspective having served in the Navy for twenty years. I did retire from active service in 1991. Hard to believe I have been retired longer than I served. Still, that perspective hasn't changed all that much. Being in the Navy was always just a job to me, that is the manner in which I viewed that. It was my occupation, a profession chosen for it's benefits and rewards. It had little to do with patriotism and a feeling of obligation. For me that stuff sounds good but isn't the reality of my life. I will make no pretense otherwise. I'm uncomfortable with being, thanked for my service, as it was in essence a self serving thing when taken as a whole. I signed a contract and honored that contract. It's as simple as that.

 That being said, I am often angered a bit by those that would disparage our service members. They are people doing a job, their motivations being their own, and shouldn't be questioned. I'm especially angered by those that have never served as it is my belief they have nothing to say. The, unless you have walked a mile in my shoes thing. I'm angered when they also try to offer excuses for their absence. Just say, I did not serve and leave it at that. Those that have served, Veterans, may speak of their service in any fashion they so desire, they earned that. It matters little the length of that service as long as they served honorably. For me, that is the measure of the man. You honor your commitments. Promises kept! 

 I was in Norfolk Virginia aboard the destroyer tender, USS Puget Sound AD-38, when the end of the Vietnam war was announced. Of course at the time it wasn't called a war, not officially, it was a conflict. Remember prior to that was Korea, a police action. But War was never officially declared by the Congress of the United States. Fact is, the last time that happened was in December of 1941. The day was uneventful onboard the ship, no big celebrations, no hoorays and all that. No, it was just a casual mention. Almost an, oh by the way type of thing. It was over. Since that day I have heard everything there is to say regarding that war. 

 Yes, it is a war whenever people are being killed in defense of an ideology. That is what wars are fought over, make no mistake about that. The official declaration of war is a formality in the political arena. A means to justify and condemn. It has little effect on the participants other than perhaps the amount of logistic support they may receive. Today we routinely say the Vietnam War and have erected memorials giving that war recognition. Still, officially it was not a war. Semantics and politics are bedfellows you know, a practice that continues till this very moment. 

 Over the years I have heard much about that war. How unjust, unfair, and wrong it was. How we had no business there. I've heard as those that served in that arena, indeed anyone that served during the entire time frame of that war, where called vile names, spit upon and degraded. I personally have been on the receiving end of that, although I never set foot on the ground in Vietnam, the closest I came was miles off the coast on a support ship, refueling other ships. Such is life I suppose and I accept that. It's part of the job, no matter how unpleasant or unjust. I ask for no sympathy. I take no credit, assume no blame, for the decisions of those in power. I was a sailor, following the commands of those appointed over me as stated in the oath I took voluntarily. That was, and is, my only explanation.

 That explanation is why the United States was involved in that conflict in the first place. We were honoring a pledge, our word as a nation. Here is an explanation of just that obligation:  

In the longer term, we must judge a decision to withdraw assistance from South Viet-Nam primarily in terms of its effect on the ability of the United States to maintain its role of world leadership. That role is not an easy one. France could withdraw from Indochina or Algeria without wide-ranging consequences since it was not a great power and other nations did not depend on France for their own security. The United States must, however, always act with the consciousness that if it fails to discharge its role of leadership there is no other free world power capable of taking its place. 

That is an excerpt from a memorandum given to then president Lyndon Johnson. The mans name is George Ball, a name unknown to me until I did some reading and researching about all of this. This memo is not the only document that offers the reasoning behind our involvement. I offer it only as context. All veterans, regardless of their current status, were obligated to obey the orders of their superiors. They are not required to agree with those decisions, that isn't part of the contract. Veterans are required to do their duty! That is the bottom line, and for that Veterans deserve to be respected. Those veterans displayed the honor, courage and commitment just as they pledged to do, just as our Nation pledged to do! That is where the honor lies! 

Here's a link to the article I referenced: 

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume III, Vietnam, June–December 1965 - Office of the Historian