Thread of War

2022-07-07T12:17:17-04:00

Whether it be the Civil War dead at Antietam, a shell-shocked soldier in European trenches or Marines raising the flag atop Iwo Jima, the iconic images of every major American conflict have revealed both the horrors of combat and valor on the battlefield. For better or worse, war photography has always wielded an undeniable influence in the court of public opinion.

That power grew exponentially during Vietnam, when the proliferation of television allowed such images to reach into homes on nightly newscasts nationwide. Photos of the My Lai massacre and that of a young Vietnamese girl running naked through the street as napalm melted away her skin began to sway public opinion against the war.

I came home to people spitting on men I served with and civilians calling us baby killers. Until recently, it seemed civilians thought Afghanistan veterans fought the good war, and we fought the bad one, because everyone was on board after 9/11. When talking to my friend Chris, a Marine Corps veteran of Afghanistan, he agreed and attributed the disconnect to growing up hearing family members tell him, “We lost Vietnam.”

That changed last summer when the image of a Chinook helicopter hovering above the U.S. Embassy in Kabul made its rounds on social media. Chris said, “I saw that and thought to myself, ‘Afghanistan is my Vietnam now.’ It made me feel far more connected to Vietnam vets than I had ever felt before.”

Frankly, I felt dismayed when I saw what unfolded in Afghanistan. I couldn’t believe it was happening to our troops again,50 years later.

Something that ties Vietnam and Afghanistan veterans together is all the negative and conflicting feelings one can have after their country pulls out from a war.

While each generation has its own unique traits, the military experience—especially that of a war zone—is a unifying thread. Veterans share a distinctive connection, something DAV (Disabled American Veterans) has seen passed down from its members, beginning with those who fought during World War I.

When service members are deployed to battle zones, they are sent there to do their job. And many of them just hope their family and the American public appreciate it. In fact, some of the most heartwarming thanks I have ever received for my service came from the post-9/11 generation.

For myself, Chris and many other veterans I have the pleasure of knowing, one strong connection we all share is that we don’t look back at our time in uniform with regret. I know I was there for a reason and if I had not gone into the military, my life would be so unbelievably different. It changed it for the far better.

What continues for many veterans is our internal battle, but that’s a war we can all win. What helps me is focusing on my mental health and that of my fellow veterans, however I can, and on the good that came for many people of Afghanistan.

As a national service officer with DAV, I saw many of my fellow Vietnam veterans struggle to cope with the emotional wounds of war for four decades. Like Chris, they wrestled with the meaning of the sacrifices they and others made on the battlefield.

I know all too well the range of emotions that veterans of Afghanistan experienced when we pulled out of the country. My biggest concern, though, is that their emotions and attitudes toward how things ended over there could negatively affect their mental health. More than anything, I want all veterans to know that their service and sacrifice matters, and no picture can ever change that.

DAV: Fulfilling out promises to the men and women who served

Response by 1st Lt Padre Dave Poedel made Jul 7 at 2022 12:31 PM

2022-07-07T12:31:12-04:00

Without those pictures we would all be so ignorant of our own service’s impact on the world.

Response by CPL Larry Frias Jr made Jul 10 at 2022 11:56 PM

2022-07-10T23:56:44-04:00

Amen to that Brother

Response by SP5 Dennis Loberger made Jul 12 at 2022 10:06 AM

2022-07-12T10:06:50-04:00

I still vividly remember a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl running down the road naked in horror and pain. It turned out her back was burned from napalm. That picture was released in June of 1972 and I was drafted in September of 1972

Response by SPC John Tacetta made Jul 13 at 2022 1:10 PM

2022-07-13T13:10:47-04:00

I don't regret my service and I don't regret that I served in a peace time Army. Every single one of my NCOs sported a CIB and none ever expressed a longing to return to the jungles of Vietnam. Quite the contrary, my first platoon sergeant always said a bad day in garrison is better than any day in the bush.

The cold war ended without a shot being fired. Ah, to be in Berlin as the wall fell!

Desert Storm was a sucess because we had the support of the world, kicked ass, restored the world order and left.

Afghanistan was a failure because, after kicking their ass, we refused to make peace with the Taliban and then set up and supported a corrupt puppet government that was clearly too weak to stand on its own. The civilian population was bombed and shot into the Taliban's arms. Vietnam repeated, from beginning to end.

Operation "Iraqi Freedom" (talk about military intelligence) was a flat-out war of aggression undertaken after Sadaam Hussein capitulated to the inspection demands. Even our allies stepped aside.

Response by Sgt Ivan Boatwright made Jul 14 at 2022 10:26 AM

2022-07-14T10:26:07-04:00

Well written, well stated. It goes to the heart of who and what we are.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 2 at 2022 5:45 AM

2022-09-02T05:45:08-04:00

True there were terrilbe criminal artocities we were guilty of in vietnam. but why did the MSM then only focus on our crimes and not much worse and more frequent crimes by the cong and NVA?

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 17 at 2022 3:48 PM

2022-09-17T15:48:21-04:00

Why are you using a picture of a Russian tank crew?

Response by MSgt Mason Manner made Oct 17 at 2022 6:18 PM

2022-10-17T18:18:45-04:00

You can thank dick Cheney by falsifying CIA (as per PBS FRONTLINE)we started a unnecessary war in Iraq and split our resources also we never raised taxes to pay for either Operation as I watched the aircraft generate out of the Deid I foresaw Diaster

Response by 1SG Frank Peck made Nov 1 at 2022 12:23 PM

2022-11-01T12:23:50-04:00

What you said is right. I did a tour in Iraq, and Afghanistan. One of my experiences I will never forget was in Iraq. My unit were truck drivers who gun trucked and moved cargo all over Iraq. I will never forget crossing the border from Kuwait to Iraq, we were escorting food trucks to a big FOB in Iraq, as soon as we were crossing, I saw this little girl, had to have been maybe 2 or 3 yrs. old, she had like a burlap bag, as clothes, she was making the feed me sign with her hands. That really pulled my heart strings. Naturally we threw some MRES to her. Like you said it made you feel like your mission means something. We all remember the good times in a tough environment, but we still don't forget the bad ones either. The good times will always prevail. God bless our service men and women going though the hardships we all did at one time.