I received an email a few hours ago that I wish I could forward on to every Viet Nam veteran on the face of the planet. The best I can do is post it here, forward it on to some people I think will appreciate it,  and hope it spreads across the net as far and wide as possible.

The subject line on the email was "Just thank-you~"

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Dear Mr. Faith,

I awoke this morning with a need to compose the letter I've attached below.  I don't have a clue as to why, or why now.

Upon completion, I had no idea what to do with it, if anything.

A "Google" search provided your website, my first and only stop.  I read "Will You Welcome Us Home Now?".  [Click here -- BF]

I don't know any Vietnam Veterans, so I decided to send my letter to you.  At least, I'll have thanked one Vietnam Veteran today.

I hope you don't mind my sending you the letter below, since you don't know me at all.

Thank you.

Becky

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No, Becky, I don't "mind" that you chose me to send your letter to. I'm old and "tough" and I only got choked up for about 5 minutes when I read it. I hope you don't mind that I can't just keep it to myself.

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Dear Vietnam Veteran,

    As Iraq smolders on, I think of you more often than usual.

    Though I don’t know your name, sometimes I’ve seen your face.

    Now and then, your eyes are haunted, and can look right through me.  Other times, your eyes seem to hold secrets I could never know, that you would be far too kind to tell me, even if you could.  Frequently, your eyes seem wizened, with a fountain of compassion for the inexplicable.   From time to time, I feel you’re in a far away place, long ago, and your eyes don’t focus at all.

    Sometimes you are missing limbs, wearing an old military jacket, with a cart containing all of your belongings.

    Occasionally, you’re in a 3-piece suit, and casual acquaintances may not even know you served.

    Every so often, I hear financially successful vets held up as examples of what all vets could accomplish, as though people were all the same, and everyone’s experiences in war were the identical.

    I try to imagine what you experienced, though I know I cannot.  I wonder how you can still love the country who betrayed you, by refusing to welcome you home?

    I do know that whether you performed heroic actions,
    or whether you did things you’d like to forget,
    whether you saved the lives of many Americans by risking your own,
    or whether you found the nearest foxhole and stayed there,
                to me, you are a hero.
        You bravely took your young life over there.

    No matter what you thought of the war, no matter whether leaders exhibited wisdom or not, no matter what politics were involved, you faced the reality that you were called to fight.  You went.

    I lost no one close to me.  I sacrificed nothing.  I demonstrated nowhere.  I simply put my youthful self to sleep at night feeling very safe because I lived in America.  I took my freedom for granted because I’d known no other way.  Communism was nothing more than a history lesson.

    Perhaps because of Vietnam, soldiers in Iraq will continue to receive better treatment upon returning home, whether the war remains “popular” or not.  That doesn’t help you though, except to illustrate graphically how you were wronged .

    I’m just a middle-aged mom who is daily grateful I’ve not yet had to send a son to combat.  Yet surely, if I think of you so often, others do as well.

    I don’t know if that matters, now.  I was too young to welcome you home appropriately at the time.  I can only hope I would have, but life is so easy to see in retrospect.

    Yet, if there’s even a chance that my appreciation could mean anything to you now, then it’s worth whatever I can do to let you know. 

    I also understand if it would be ‘too little, too late’, even if the whole nation knelt before you begging your forgiveness.

    So, for whatever it’s worth, I humbly thank you.  I think of you.  I appreciate you.

Becky

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Becky, thank you, more than I can say. I've heard "Thank you" and "Welcome home" more in the last 6 months or so than any time in the last 35 years, and each time does still matter. I'll do my best to see that your letter reaches as many other vets as possible. I know it still matters to them, too, and maybe your letter will serve as a reminder to some other people to never, ever, treat another generation of warriors the way ours was treated. Thank you, Becky. Just thank you.

Update 2005.02.05: Don't go away without reading this while you're here.

» MILBLOG'S HOME from Mudville Gazette
THE POST EXCHANGE: I've asked my fellow MilBloggers to submit "notable posts" they've written in the recent past for inclusion here, with a quick summary in their own words. I've taken the liberty of linking to some of their... [Read More]

Tracked on Jan 29, 2005 3:30:26 PM

» MILBLOG'S HOME from Mudville Gazette
THE POST EXCHANGE: I've asked my fellow MilBloggers to submit "notable posts" they've written in the recent past for inclusion here, with a quick summary in their own words. I've taken the liberty of linking to some of their... [Read More]

Tracked on Feb 3, 2005 5:56:49 AM

» MILBLOG'S HOME from Mudville Gazette
THE POST EXCHANGE: I've asked my fellow MilBloggers to submit "notable posts" they've written in the recent past for inclusion here, with a quick summary in their own words. I've taken the liberty of linking to some of their... [Read More]

Tracked on Feb 3, 2005 5:59:44 AM

Comments

Note: I hate to have to do it but I'm turning on comment and trackback moderation. If you post a legitimate trackback or comment I'll do my best not to be too slow about approving it. If the only reason you're here is to advertise your porn, music, or penis enhancement site you can kiss my sweet ass.

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Posted by: Janie | Jan 27, 2005 4:48:38 PM

Posted by: Jack | Jan 27, 2005 7:58:19 PM

Posted by: Eric | Jan 27, 2005 11:48:20 PM

Posted by: Dave | Jan 28, 2005 1:11:38 AM

Posted by: Steve Waterman | Jan 30, 2005 3:41:46 PM

Posted by: Dave | Jan 30, 2005 8:10:40 PM

Posted by: Dave | Jan 31, 2005 4:34:33 PM

Posted by: John M. Rea | Feb 9, 2005 7:40:59 AM

Posted by: bob hunter rm1 usn retired vietnam vet | Jul 3, 2005 10:16:56 PM

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