As someone born in 1951, I was in my teenage years when the Vietnam war began its escalation in 1965.  My brother & I delivered an evening newspaper and you could see what was happening on the front page every day, along with watching national television news.

I was fortunate that I barely missed being drafted into the military during the Vietnam era.  But I had many friends in the broadcasting business that spent time in the war zone doing their duty with Armed Forces Radio.  When entering college in 1973, many of my classmates were at the university on the GI Bill and most were Vietnam Vets.

America, in general, was not kind to the men and women in uniform returning from Vietnam.  There was a movement against the war and some in that movement targeted returning servicemen as part of the problem.  Having studied Vietnam extensively and based on my conversations with with Vets, there were plenty of problems with the Vietnam War and you could, at the time, make a compelling cast to oppose America’s involvement in Southeast Asia.  However, few of those problems related to the performance of the rank-and-file soldiers.

For that reason, every time there is a chance to honor and thank those that served in Vietnam, we should be part of it.  Sadly, I have a medical appointment that will prevent me from attending this year’s Fishers National Vietnam War Veterans Day Ceremony.

But I would hope many of you can be there.  It is at the Fishers YMCA, 10am, Tuesday, March 29th.  This celebration is sponsored by a new local group, The Fishers Armed Services Commission.

Learn more about the Fishers ceremony at this link.