Answering the Call of Our Fallen

Decades ago, we expected total victory against the Germans and the Japanese. We demanded it, for we knew what anything less would bring to our homeland--and yes, it was our homeland, regardless of our place of birth. We were united, together in the absolute, unshakeable belief that freedom was worth blood, even our own lives.

Many years later, the American Left called for the defeat and humiliation of our military, even going so far as to support the barbaric hordes of Islam in their quest to destroy America. The college-age hippies of 1969 were now parents and grandparents, with families who didn't have the faintest idea where Iwo Jima is and wouldn't dream of enlisting in the "imperialist army" of their nation. These past flower children, still apparently lost in the fog of free love and LSD, forgot their fathers' old "war injuries," received in places like Normandy, Bastogne, or Wake Island. Their children hated authority, hated America, and hated anything that stood in the way of the freedoms they abuses. To them, freedom of speech meant they should be able to wear their "F*** You" shirt to school.

During the War on Terror, it seemed as though these families were the only Americans left here at home, as our best and brightest went to Iraq and Afghanistan. The families of our heroes stayed quiet, their support showing in the form of tangible things like batteries and treats shipped in boxes with "We Love You" written on the side, in marker as permanent as their worry. For those who changed their blue star to gold, the pain of their loss often made them shy away from the pure, vitriolic hatred of the ever contradictory motto of the Left: "Support the troops…bring them home."

And in the day-to-day grind of American weekday life, millions of patriotic Americans simply went to work and came home. We couldn't afford to miss work to stand on a street corner. We put our yellow ribbons on our cars and our flags in the window, hoping that the troops knew we cared. We yelled at the TV and the radio when appropriate and muttered to our friends about how infuriated we were at these people who thought liberty was a commodity. Our anger burned deeply, but slowly.

The antiwar crowd kept marching and declared themselves the majority. They had the funding, the celebrity backing, the media fascination. They were everywhere. They spray-painted the Capitol steps, sent money to the terrorists, and staged media feeding frenzies outside the President's home. They even held up their anti-American signs outside military hospitals, where soldiers and Marines who gave pieces of themselves in exchange for freedom tried to get used to life without their best friends, their limbs, and in some cases, their sanity.

The Cindy Sheehans and Jane Fondas of the nation got bolder, spurred on by the silence of those who kept their medals and memories locked away. It seemed as though there was no stopping the force of those who sought to bring the mightiest nation on earth to her knees.

But then, the antiwar groups announced plans to begin their next march at the Vietnam Wall. Fifty-eight thousand names cried out in protest, and America heard the call of her fallen.

It began like a quiet rumble, the hint of an impending storm. A small group of veterans slowly rose to their feet, their combat disabilities unable to hinder them this time. A gas station attendant, a lawyer, a doctor, a housewife. One by one, Americans stood, setting down their lives to answer the reveille, minutemen once again in the cause of freedom.

They came from New York City and Nowhere, Indiana. They drove in from the mountains of Idaho and flew in from Hawaii. They rose up from all walks of life, all financial situations. The wave rolled across the United States like a tsunami, determined to reach Washington, D.C. for one purpose: to deliver a message to the flower children that was forty years overdue.

The message was simple, and as thousands of Americans stood in stoic rows around the memorial, it reverberated off the ebony beauty of the Wall. The silence of their stand deafened the obnoxious antics of the defeatists and sent a clarion call like a beacon across the globe.

Half a world away, soldiers and Marines lifted their heads a bit higher and stood taller.

And at the Wall, as thousands of American faces reflected in the polished surface, the ghosts of 58,000 men smiled back in silent, grateful pride as their lips mouthed the message their countrymen had come so far to deliver:

During WWII, in my family, four of six sons enlisted to fight in the war. The other two were too young. There were three daughters, one of which volunteered for the USO, the other two were too young also. My Aunt who volunteered met her future husband, who also enlisted and served in the war. Each gave 8 years of service except my father, who served twenty, not just the two, three or four year enlistments common during the Viet Nam era. The commitment was whole hearted, serious and met.

During the Viet Nam conflict, two groups of youth emerged; one which would serve, even if with reluctance and trepidation, and one which would not. Those that would not honor obligations to their country paraded their objections loudly, self serving and effectively during the period of time their siblings, former classmates and friends of their youth were away.

During the war in Viet Nam, we faced several problems that were eventually overcome. The Viet Cong were a guerrilla organization spread throughout SVN, disrupting normal commerce, raiding and intimidating villages for supplies and conscripts. Skirmishes and ambushes took a toll but the overall effectiveness of the group was problematic. The General Uprising during Tet in 1968 however combined the VC with the NVA, it's objective to seize provincial capitals and coerce the populace to rise against the American forces protecting the SVN gov't. The VC battalions led the way and were decimated, the NVA backing them got their asses kicked on the way back north. Contrary to news reports in the US, the American Embassy was never overrun, the ARVNs didn't retreat and the populace of the South didn't join into the uprising. In Hue and Quang Tri there were massacres committed by the NVA and the place was a hot spot, eventually extinguished. General Vo Nguyen Giap, Commanding General of the NVA was defeated.

The Air War. During the Air War, we took losses of A/C which resulted in a number of POWs held in the north. SAMs and the little MiG 21 wreaked havoc on larger US A/C. PRK pilots arrived to aid the NVNAF against the American and lost several MiG 19s in a single engagement. (Rumor was some pilots were Russians.......but that's moot.) The NVNAF had some very good aviators, some very bold but none old. By '71 the NVNAF was defeated and its remaining assets stashed in caves along the Red River valley in NVN. 'Rolling Thunder' and 'Arc Light' missions flew over the north and the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Kissinger was in Paris, wheeling and dealing. Le Duc Tho was hedging and Vo Nguyen Giap was holding out. One more time oughta do it.....

Easter 1972 (I left in Aug '71, the Marines in I Corps pulled out during this time too, so someone else should pick this up.), the NVA tried again to overrun the south and once again failed; Giap's campaign was toast. The North was done.........except for the political, social and media led campaign that raged in the streets, the towns and congress back home in the US. The Lao Dong party of North Viet Nam and General Vo Nguyen Giap seized the 'Hearts and Minds' of the fearful and reluctant, the safe and pampered in our homeland. They parlayed defeat for victory, conscripting fools and useful idiots to achieve the unachievable in battle and in political determination in their own area.

The Sunshine Patriots and Faint Hearted are attempting once again to inflict another generation with the undeserved scar of defeat. We served to defend, our duty never ends. Our duty is clearly to defend those who now defend us.

Never forget!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.