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Soldier's Eyes (Personal histories of war must be told)
Writen By: A Reddel
If you've ever seen the Vietnam War Memorial, then you have seen a list of some of the soldiers lost in that war. But this artical isn't about them; it's about the survivors. Many have passed on, taken by the great equalizer, time, and many more soon will be. When they are gone all that will remain are the books and news clippings. No book can compare to hearing it from a person.
As the son of a Vietnam veteran, I have asked my dad what it was like. I have also read about it. Nothing could compare to listening to my dad's voice as he told me of the veiw from a Huey just before it landed, or what he saw when he awoke one morning, or the loss of a fellow soldier and friend. His eyes would go to a time long past and you could almost see what he saw in them that day.
All of this has changed the way I look at life. So instead of looking to a book for an opinion I ask me dad for his. Both my grandfathers were in wars also, and though I've never met my mom's dad I feel I know him through the stories my mom and grandma told me.
My mother, father and I went to a Memorial Day service at a national cemetery ~near where we live~. I remember a few things things still. One was that the speaker, in mid-speach, stopped and said "For just a moment Can all the World War One veterans please stand?" As I looked around I could only see two people standing. Next he asked for the World War Two veterans, three people stood; Korean vets, only 23; Vietnam, 25. All this had a great impact on me, but what he asked next had the most impact. "Lastly would all those who lost someone in a war or peace-keeping mission please stand?" What I saw is still shocking to me: Almost everyone was standing. ~there was about 4000 people there~
As I stood at the end of the service, listening to taps by a lone trumpeter, I thought of the stories that each person, here in body or in spirit, could tell or have told. It was then that I realized that other peices of history are lost or soon will be -- the sinking of the Titanic, the Mercury fire, the Kennedy assassination, the Appollo missions, Challenger.
Each person has a story, a peice of history to tell, and each day more is lost. I would like to ask anyone reading this who has a mother, father, or any other relitive who has served in a war or peacekeeping mission to ask them to tell you their story. If you, the reader, have a story to tell, then write it down, or tell it to someone.
I once heard "If more people knew the horrors of wars there would be fewer of them," and after listening to my dad and looking in his eyes, I believe it.
