My View from 1958

April marked the 50^th anniversary of the end of the Viet Nam War.  I was born in 1958 and graduated high school in 1976. United States involvement in Viet Nam began in 1955 and the war officially ended for the US in in 1973 when the last US combat troops left.  The war did not really end until April 30^th, 1975 when South Viet Nam fell to North Viet Nam. In other words, this war lasted my entire youth. Sounds ridiculous, but that thought hit me like a ton of bricks. Ok, you may think, “Mike are you just figuring that out”?  No, I am not, but a question I never asked myself was, how did the Viet Nam War influence me, shape my thinking and my beliefs.

Groomed to be a Patriot.

Growing up, I was a Cub Scout, Webelo and Boy Scout. A Scout is Loyal: “A Scout is true to their family, friends, leaders, school, and country”. We were taught love of country and love of God. In school the Pledge of Allegiance was cited every morning while facing the American flag. Church every week where of course there was love of God but also love of country preached. There were still many WWII and Koreon War veterans alive at that time and they provided a strong spirit of patriotism. One summer I had a construction job at Lake’s Nursery. I worked with a guy named Cecil Wax (RIP). He was in the infantry during WWII and fought under Patton. His stories were spell binding. He would talk about defeating the German horde.  He did not brag, but when I kept bugging him, he would be forthcoming. He actually spoke to Patton on two occasions. He said Patton was bigger than life and he highly respected him. In the 1960’s the communist threat was starting to formulate and many of us were worried about the USSR or China taking over the world. The US was the only power that could stop that. Remember hiding under desks at school to practice a drill in case of nuclear attack?  My section of the world was very patriotic. Our country, right or wrong. We were the savior of the free world.

Family Heritage

I come from a long line of descendants who served in the military. My 2^nd and 3^rd great-great grandfathers Uriah Vermillion (Sr/Jr) both served for the Union in Missouri during the Civil War. Thanks to my cousin Tim and his fantastic genealogy work for that information. My Grandfather Goodell (my mom’s dad) served in WWI and her brother served in Korea. On my dad’s side, I had two uncles who served in WWII and an uncle in Korea. My dad was in the Army (during peacetime). My nephew is currently in the Army (First Sergeant) and my son was in the Navy.

My Uncle Porter went to Germany during WWII first as an M.P., then was attached to intelligence as a prison guard and bailiff at the Nuremberg trials. Although guards were not allowed to speak with prisoners, one of the Axis Sally prisoners who was kept in an old castle/mansion set up as a minimum-security prison, asked dad for permission to cut a branch off a pine tree to decorate her room for Christmas and he let her. My cousin Tim (who provided me this information) has looked at all the films of the Nuremberg trials, but he can’t pick his dad out of all those white-helmeted MP bailiffs standing in the back of the courtroom. In the 1970’s when Uncle Porter did lots of work overseas, he ran into one of his old Army Intelligence bosses in a foreign restaurant. This guy had once interrogated German POWs while my dad would guard them during the interviews. Uncle Porter said those interrogators were real experts, very knowledgeable, and it was next to impossible for a POW to get away with any lies or deception. I guess you could kinda say the military was in our DNA. For sure our proud heritage.

The War Comes to the Living Room Every Night at 5:30

The Viet Nam War was the first war to come to our living room on TV. Every night I would watch the combat footage and listen to the body count statistics. Walte Cronkite, Eric Severide and Huntly/Brinkley gave the updates. You might remember the war was heavily managed via statistics. For example, on such and such a night the news reported 36 US soldiers killed, but wow we killed 353 of them. We also dropped 25 tons of bombs.  We must be winning!  Right? I realize that is a bit sick (and naive), but I paid attention to that stuff. I was a patriot. I loved my country. I loved to play Army with my friends. I had dozens of toy soldiers and spent hours playing war. I had multiple toy guns; an Army helmet and an Army cap my dad got me at the Army Surplus Store. Of course, when I played these games, the US always won. We were winning the VN War, just look at the stats!

Patriotism continued in my small part of the world until around 1968 when there were multiple events that challenged that stance. The Tet offensive, Khe Sanh, My Lai, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassination and the whole world turned upside side.  As a side note, Lt. William Calley died in April of 2024 at the age of 80. His death was pretty much unnoticed by the world. I just read an article today about his death.

On TV the hippies were protesting the war, and what seemed like everything else. For some reason I disliked these protesters. I am sure I was influenced by my dad and his friends. Hippies; look like girls with that long hair. Dope heads, Drop outs. Love it or leave it. Draft Dodgers.  I heard these words. I believed these words. How could dad and his buddies be wrong?  The Hayshakers (previous Blog Post) sang “Okie from Muscogee” every weekend. “Walking on the Fighting Side of Me” by Merl Haggard:

Yeah, walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me
Runnin’ down a way of life our fightin’ men have fought and died to keep
If you don’t love it, leave it
Let this song I’m singin’ be a warnin’
When you’re runnin’ down my country, man
You’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me

……. was one of dad’s favorite at that time. I heard this over and over again on the radio, the stereo in the basement or the Hayshakers.

 Riots broke out after the death of MLK. I remember my dad and his friend Ed Anderson (father of Rick Anderson) were taking a bus trip to the Grand Old Opry in Nashville in ‘68, a dream my dad had for years. The Continental Trailways Bus used to stop at the Waubonsee Hotel in Shenandoah. We dropped dad off for the bus and you could tell he was excited about this trip. Then as the riots spread, the Opry was cancelled and they had to turn around headed back home early, with I am sure no love lost for the rioters. I know there was not. When we picked dad up at the bus stop, he had some choice words.

School Project

When I was in the 7^th Grade, we had a school assignment to interview locals about their opinion of the Viet Nam War. This was a pretty risqué assignment for those days as the country was divided to say the least. My project partner (I forget who that was) and I had one of those old cassette recorders. Our plan was to walk around downtown Shenandoah and record people’s response to the question, “What do you think of the Viet Nam War?”  Most adults just ignored us. We had a few responses, but nothing I would say represented journalistic genius. Then as we were walking along the store front longing for somebody to answer our question, we ran into one of the migrant workers. An older Mexican, unshaven, poorly dressed. Shenandoah, being the Seed and Nursery Capital of the world at that time, had several migrants working in the fields. It was hard work and very thankless. They had Saturday afternoon off so many of them could be seen up town shopping.

I am sure we decided to ask this guy our question as a joke. We approached him and I remember sticking the microphone in his face and asking the question. He paused, probably surprised when we approached him. Then in broken English he responded, “Oh the boys, all those beautiful boys are now dead. All those beautiful boys are gone.”

I was stunned. All day long very few people would respond to our interview request. This man from a foreign country probably said the one of the most memorable things I have ever heard. We were lucky to have captured this on cassette tape. When we played it back to our teacher she was astonished by the response as well. Seems as though he was probably more astute and articulate than most locals on the street that day.

I joined the Air Force in 1976. This was only about 3 years after the draft ended. I volunteered. It wasn’t for the money. My salary was $4,488 a year or $374.40 a month.  At that point in my life, I thought college was a waste. I did very well in high school, and graduated in the top 10%. Yea I know its high school and a small class, but I had good study habits. I had an underlying belief that going to the military was my route. I was later to earn my Masters Degree, so I guess I am trying to say, I could have made it in college, but I felt I had to serve. I was drawn to the military.  I will write more about the service in a future post. I ended up serving 4 years active duty and 2 years in the Iowa Air Guard. No regrets and very proud of my service.

Pay it Forward

As all adults do, they help their kids with school projects. My son wanted to earn extra credit for his 3rd grade class. He needed to put together a report and make a presentation. Dad got involved. I had a great idea, let’s do a report on the battle of Điện Biên Phủ.  I am not going to get into a history lesson, but this was a decisive engagement in the War between the French forces and the Viet Minh. This battle marked the end of French colonial rule in Indochina and determined the subsequent division of Vietnam, setting the stage for the Vietnam War. The Viet Minh’s victory was a result of superior strategy, effective logistics, and overwhelming support from local populations. Basically, a rag tag army kicked the French Army’s ass.  I have no idea why I chose this topic (my son went along for the ride), and that was it.

We created the report, and also a 3-D model to of the battle field. I think we really did a nice job. I encourage my Blog followers to read about this battle. It was really amazing how the Viet Minh defeated a world super power.  My son got an “A” in the class and the extra credit he deserved. As part of this effort, we also interviewed a Viet Nam Veteran. After all, this battle was the prelude to American involvement in Viet Nam. My son’s teacher arranged a meeting with a Vet she knew.

This was a bit of a shocker. The Vet came into the classroom or should I say rolled into the classroom in a wheelchair. He was disabled. He had his legs blown off in Viet Nam by a booby trap. He was in country for only two weeks, and while out on patrol he stepped on a mine.  This was some heavy shit for me and I can only imagine what my son felt. My son handled the interview in a very mature manner. Probably better than I could have. But there it was right in front of me. The result of war. A man never to walk again. Disabled at age 18. All those beautiful boys……..

So, What Do I Think?

I have read a few books about the War and watched several documentaries. Its always easier to judge when one is looking in their review view mirror.  I asked myself over and over, what influence did the war have on me?  Honestly, I think my value system was engrained in me prior to the war escalation. Church, family, scouting, friends all contributed to how I was shaped. I was/am a patriot for sure.

The War and related events did instill in me a temperament to “think and then act”. Critical Thinking. That did not happen overnight for sure, but I believe those experiences taught me to think more about situations, and to evaluate the facts. I recognize that we must keep politics out of the military and refrain from making the military a social experiment. Let the military fight the war, not politicians. For heaven’s sake keep the politicians out. Perhaps based on my “shock” of meeting a Viet Nam Vet who gave his legs (and ultimately his life, as we learned later that he died from related complications), I have become an advocate for Veterans. I volunteer through the ACP program to help Vets assimilate into civilian life and find a job.  I saw first-hand the real impact of war. Not just stats on the TV.  Its different when you see it, feel it, experience it. The TV and iPhone provide a comfortable setting for many of us when difficult or controversial issues arise.  Its very easy to look at videos and judge from the comfort of our homes, and then walk away.

I consider my value or belief system a bit like clay. I was molded by multiple influencers, but as I learned more, I took new shape. I became much more skeptical of Government over the years, but I still love and respect the basic principles this country was founded on. I have read about and witnessed the devastation of terrible policy over the years, from Viet Nam to the Middle East, COVID to the Ukraine. I am very skeptical of media and the motive of government. One thing still rings true today as it did in the 60’s, it seems to be the little guy that always suffers, or to put it much more eloquently:

“And when you ask ’em, “How much should we give?”
Hoo, they only answer, “More, more, more, more”

“I ain’t no fortunate one.”