In the mid- and late-1960s, the United States began drafting its young people into military service in a faraway place called Vietnam. It’s safe to say many of them had never heard of the southeast Asian country nor understood why they were being called to serve.
And yet, they went. They suffered casualties, were maimed, and died for their country and the pursuit of its political and commercial interests in the region. They died in the fight to stop the spread of communism in the region. The effort began with financial and military aid to the French, and later evolved into deploying combat troops to back the anticommunist government in South Vietnam.
Depending how you look at the service and where it occurred, as many as 68,000 Minnesotans served in country and 103,000 Minnesotans served in the military worldwide during the Vietnam War. Locally, dozens of New Prague and area veterans served their country during the war, some in Vietnam while others served elsewhere supporting the effort. Paul Busch remembers the day he and two New Prague High School classmates received their draft notices. He served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 in a weather observation unit supporting artillery units.
What matters is they served.
By 1968, the war was becoming widely unpopular. TV news coverage had chronicled the horrors of the battlefield. The public started to question the intent of the war and claims of imminent victory. The draft had become unpopular as it disproportionately impacted working-class baby boomers. Over 58,200 American soldiers were killed during the war with over 1,200 soldiers listed as captured or missing in action (MIA) and later declared deceased.
American combat troops left South Vietnam in 1973. The war ended in 1975 when Saigon fell.
In 1974, March 29 was designated as Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day, a day set aside to honor the service of the millions of Americans, the hundreds of Minnesotans and the dozens of young men and women from New Prague and the surrounding area who lost the innocence of their youth serving in the military during Vietnam. Sadly, too few people know the special recognition exists.
Each Memorial Day, this community and its veterans remember and honor the sacrifices of its young women and men as well as those who served during the Vietnam era, came home, raised their families, contributed to their communities and eventually passed on. “All gave some, some gave all” must never be a cliché relegated to being just words.
Returning soldiers coming home from service in Iraq and Iran years later found our leaders are more comfortable asking for their service yet are slow to care for their wounds after the fact. Back in the 1960s and ‘70s, our government was shamefully slow to care for their wounds, those suffered physically and mentally. It took legal action for the government to accept responsibility for the harm inflicted by its chemicals and the impact service members endured from PTSD. Fiftyplus years after the war’s end, too many veterans still report poor mental health, said Dr. Victoria Davey, an analysis of data from the Vietnam Era Health Retrospective Observational Study (VE-HEROeS) and development officer for the VA.
Those who disrespected the Vietnam veterans’ service have grown up and realize what the soldiers went through. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan post-Sept. 11, 2011, reminded people what those Vietnam-era soldiers went through.
“We started to hear a lot more, ‘Thank you for your service,” Busch said.
Decades after his service, thanks to the efforts of the county’s veterans service officer, Busch received hearing aids to help him hear his wife, children, grandchildren and fellow veterans more clearly than before. Yet he holds no grudges.
Today, fortunately, we have learned and seemingly appreciate the sacrifice they made when their country asked for their service. Our Vietnam veterans are aging, passing away. Veterans of the Vietnam era are now the largest group of United States veterans, and are at or approaching Social Security and Medicare eligibility, according to the U.S. Veterans Administration. As a result, it is likely home care clinicians will be caring for many patients who are Vietnam veterans. They are aging. Unlike the veterans from World War II and Korean War, we still have time to thank them for their service.
It’s not too late. It is, after all, the least we can do.