Viet vet vs. post-9/11 vet: Some thoughts

By Edgar Rodriguez

Best Defense guest columnist

A Vietnam veteran once told me a story that I never forgot. He was drafted to fight and before he left home his mother said goodbye to him, begging him to came home alive. She held him close, saying, "Please come home OK, please." She promised to write to him every day. The mother kept her promise at first. The son received a letter from her each day. But after a while the letters started to come only once a week, then only here and there, and then not at all. Worried, the son called home, but no one answered. Then, against all odds, the war ended for the son, and he had managed to stay alive. He was sent home. The son went looking for his mother. He found her at her house, the sweet smell of her roses greeting him as he walked through the lawn. He knocked on the door and his mother opened it. They stood there for a while not speaking and then the mother slowly closed the door, saying, "Go away. Please don’t come back." He never saw her again.

That’s where the veteran’s story ends. I was not sure what to make of the story when I first heard it. I was very young when the veteran shared it with me. I did understand that there was something terrible in what he was describing to me, something unnatural. It was not until I had fought in my own war in Iraq though, that I felt I gained some sort of understanding in what the veteran had been through.

So while I personally have a high opinion of Vietnam veterans, it is disheartening to acknowledge that some post-9/11 veterans don’t feel the same. Nor do some Vietnam veterans feel a kinship towards veterans of my generation. Some of this division between the two generations is cultural; a division that is best seen in the groups that veterans join. Vietnam veterans are more likely to join and participate in traditional veteran service organizations like the American Legion or Veteran of Foreign Wars, while post-9/11 veterans are more inclined to join newer veteran organizations like Team Rubicon or Team Red, White, and Blue.

These two groups also focus on different policy issues. Vietnam veterans tend to care about issues like Agent Orange exposure, whereas post-9/11 veterans tend to focus on issues like veteran education and post-traumatic stress. These differences become even more contentious when the funding for these issues comes up. Funding to solve one of these problems is seen to take money away from other veteran incentives.

But more than that, in my encounters with Vietnam veterans I have frequently sensed resentment with the reality that post-9/11 veterans are treated better than they were. In college, I got into a heated discussion with a Vietnam veteran at the V.A. hospital. He had asked me if I was "in that cute little sandbox over there." I didn’t respond well to his comment. An argument between us ensued with him soon yelling, "All of you think you’re just as good as us. You’ll never know what it was like in the ‘Nam! Never!" While I did not see it at the time, I now understand why he felt resentment. The way Vietnam veterans were regarded after they returned home was inexcusable.

But I think that it is unfair to take that resentment out on post-9/11 veterans. After returning home, many Vietnam veterans vowed that future generations of veterans would be treated better than they were, and worked towards that goal. The fact that many post-9/11 veterans have it better than they did is proof that Vietnam veterans were successful in that endeavor. An honorable achievement that proves that their post-war struggles were not in vain.

Despite that negative experience, most of my interactions with Vietnam veterans have been positive. In meeting these Vietnam veterans I try to ask them about their experiences, let them know that the sacrifices they made are valued. Coming from a younger veteran they seem to really appreciate it. In bridging the gap between Vietnam and post-9/11 veterans, I believe what veterans of both generations want to be is understood by the other. In my view that’s what most veterans truly want.

Looking back I still wonder why that Vietnam veteran chose to tell me his story. Perhaps he just needed someone, everyone, to listen. I’m grateful that he chose to talk to me, and that is why I chose to share his story here. Surely this is what that veteran would have wanted?

His story, and the experiences of other Vietnam Veterans I knew, affected me greatly. In many regards those veterans influenced my decision to join the military. I admired them for their courage, for their endurance in the face of overwhelming adversity. As an immigrant kid growing up I wanted to be like them. To me they were the best examples of what it meant to be an American.

To them, and to all the veterans this Veterans Day, I say: Thank you.

Edgar Rodriguez is the director of legislation and government relations at the Association of the United States Navy. He served as a Navy corpsman from 2001-2006 and fought in the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004 while attached to the ground combat element of the 31st Expeditionary Unit. He lives in Washington, D.C.