TheBanyanTree: Veterans Day 2010

[Russ Doden]

Veterans Day 2010

Every year it seems I have mixed emotions about Veterans Day.  In
years past, it was a day that I viewed from my very distorted
perspective as being a bit hypocritical.  You see, I’m one of the Vets
of the Viet-Nam conflict era.  It was never a “War” just a “conflict”.
 That doesn’t mean that massive numbers of people, both military and
civilian (on both sides) weren’t killed, maimed or injured.  It just
means that it was politically expedient to not “officially” call it a
war.  Now we toss the word “war” about like confetti, with a war on
drugs, a war on poverty, a war on . . . but that is another rant
altogether.

The reason I viewed this day as being a bit hypocritical was that when
I was in the U.S. Navy during that conflict, being in the military was
often not popular.  I still retain memories of being spit on and
called “baby killer” when walking down the streets in uniform just
before or after deployment to the Tonkin Gulf.  That fed my already
confused mind as I really had no desire to be in the military in the
first place.  I had enlisted to avoid the draft (which I did avoid, by
one day).  I figured it was “safer” to be on a boat in some remote
place on the globe, than on the ground some place being cannon fodder.

For years I had this uneasy truce within myself.  I was a Vet, for
better or worse, and that couldn’t be changed.  I was proud to have
served, but was also ashamed of the way the government handed the
whole mess.  I had a very biased viewpoint – and a very confused one.
There were a lot of issues that I was trying to deal with in my own
internal way.  I didn’t have PTSD (they didn’t even acknowledge such a
beast back then), yet I did.  I lost friends, both officer and
enlisted to that insanity.  I got to know a lot of people who
physically “came home” but were mentally damaged, often seemingly
beyond repair, and other times the damage only became visible in
certain situations.  No one seemed to care.  My bias was due to the
time when I became a “Vet”.

I honored the WW1 and 2 Vets and looked up to them.  The same with the
Korean “police action” Vets.  Later on, I honored the Desert Storm and
all other vets since.  I honored them because society honored them.
Viet-Nam era Vets were in limbo.  Then things began to change.  First,
a “monument” was made to honor the Vets of that era.  A healing had
begun for many of us, myself included.

The biggest transformation came not from some government proclamation,
or from any monument or award.  The biggest transformation came from
the least expected direction.  It came from the people whom it could
be argued included the greatest warriors our nation has ever known.
These warriors, in my opinion, would rank up against any the world has
known.  The people that had these warriors in their history and
culture were the Native American people.  These people honored their
warriors, and still do to this day.  These people have a history of
needing warriors since 1492 and earlier.  A few were recognized, but
not many.  After all, they were on the “losing side” and they were
against the “government”.  Again, that is another rant for another
time.

I personally do not have any discernable Native American blood, which
in Oklahoma is still the minority.  Many people here can claim some
small percentage, 1/256th is still a percentage, no matter how small.
There are a great many blond haired, blue eyed, people that can claim
some degree of Native American heritage.  In spite of my lack of
Native American lineage, when I started going to Pow-Wow’s here, I saw
a culture that honored the warriors of the past and present.  The men
and women in the military are given great honor.  For some reason I
have been accepted into that community.  When I go to a Pow-Wow now, I
wear some small token showing I’m a Vet, I walk taller, stand
straighter, and hold my head a bit higher.   So, today, on this our
Veterans Day, I salute and honor ALL Veterans, including those on the
“losing side” for they fought just as hard and suffered just as much
as those on the winning side.


-- 
Take things one day at a time
If that is too much, go 1 hour at a time
If that is too much, go 1 minute at a time
Miracles come one minute at a time.