The Echoes of Vietnam

        When Louis Armstrong sings It's a Wonderful World, I think about the movie Good Morning,Vietnam, starring Robin Williams. The montage during that part of the soundtrack was filmed from a helicopter as it surveyed the rice fields, the rivers, the workers. Also panned and zoomed were the soldiers. I cried. Even to this day, and as much as I love that song, my brain shifts to Vietnam.
         Dear friend Betty Dale experienced Vietnam through her husband Bill, a graduate of Texas A&M University. Immediately commissioned upon graduation, he spent at least two years in Vietnam. My former brother-in-law served as a helicopter gunner, pulling the wounded inside while shooting a machine gun.The ROTC graduates from Henderson were second lieutenants and on a troop plane to the rice patties before the ink was dry on their diplomas. For the years I was at Henderson, part of the newspaper reading routine in the Student Union was the list of those who died in service to their country. Too often, one or more of our Reddies' names and high school classmates' names appeared and solemnity blanketed the otherwise chatty room.
        This was the time when US Army Reserve units were full to capacity. Upon graduation, young men were subject to the draft unless they were already in an enlisted capacity. Being drafted often meant a death sentence, shipped to the front lines with little or no basic training. It was a horrible era all around. Like their fellow soldiers from previous wars, many did not talk about the full impact of the battles, of their time "in country."
        Refugees from S.Vietnam reached freedom by death-defying means. The children of these family heroes who escaped are grown with children of their own. They are remarkable young adults and I know they have feelings for their homeland that resound in sad though loving memory.
         And now, our president is in Vietnam, looking to the future and how their government and ours can cooperate. I'm sure it's a much needed strategic move. Their location, geographic position against N Korea and China can help the world. The arms embargo  has been lifted after 70 years.
      It's time to move on, look forward. But, I  agree with editorial writer Colbert King of the Washington Post: "Go to Ho Chi Minh City...exchange pleasantries... But dammit, don't forget what got us to this place. More than 47,000 Americans died in that horrible war, 61% were 21 or younger..."
       While I'm certain I will not forget, the morning newspaper did give me pause. I look at photographs and remember an era that is forever a part of our collective American experience.