Introduction
Vietnam. To many Americans it is a tag on an article of clothing. But to anyone who was sixteen or older in the Sixties, it is a name seared into their psyche. For ten years, the top story on the news almost every night was Vietnam. It dominated our politics and our culture. It could even be argued that the country was the most divided it had been since the Civil War. Like the Civil Rights Movement, also part of our daily discourse, Americans killed other Americans. Assassinations due to politics became a common occurrence. Five presidents blundered their way into and out of the war. Numbers don’t tell the story and yet they must be acknowledged. Two and a half million served in-country. More than 150,000 wounded physically. Almost 60,000 took their last breaths there.
It doesn’t seem like a big number until you see the Vietnam Memorial. PTSD killed many more. Those of us who lived through those years know that the war affected almost everyone in some way. Guilt over supporting the war, guilt over not going, and survivor’s guilt among those who did, echoed through several generations. Everyone involved with Vietnam has a story. Like snowflakes, the stories are both similar and unique. When, where, if you served there, and your MOS all established the your story arc. I started trying to tell my story in poetry, then short stories, and now this. Music was my lifeline and a connection to others back in the “world” as well as my comrades in-country. It is indispensable to my story.
