Veteran's Day
In the fall of 1972 I was drafted into the US Army. This was a turbulent time and Vietnam was still an issue. I remember sitting in the draft office in Denver Colorado taking some type of literacy test. There were young peiople all around me who wanted to do well on the test as they saw the military as a positive experience for their life. I on the other hand was still caught in the fear, guilt, anger and self deprecation that accompanied the decision to be a part of a military that was involved in a very negative war in Southeast Asia. In the end I spent two years stationed in Virginia and became part of a special unit developing the latest self paced education activities using slides and cassette tapes! Yes I am a veteran but can't escape the mix of feelings everytime veterans are recognized or asked to stand at a public event. Two years ago I spoke at a veteran's day event at the local high school - may have been the first time I actually acknowleded in a public way my military service. I wonder how many Vietnam era vets still have the same feelings that I do. Doug
posted by DSU President at 8:41 AM
1 Comments:
I once met a veteran who recently spent some time hunting down Bin Laden in Afghanistan. He admitted several things during our first meeting including the fact that his family is unaware that he had even served and the fact that he is riddled with guilt because his team that was hunting Bin Laden was unable to find him because his instincts told him they needed to search south and his superior officer took them in another direction. Turns out if they had gone south they may have caught up with him because they soon received intelligence that his position was to the south of where they had been.
I felt bad, and didn't know what to say because he wanted to serve and volunteered to do so after 9-11, but has been ashamed to admit where he was because he has felt his time there was a failure.
4:29 PM
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