Kind words can’t erase the pain of friends lost in Vietnam
I remember coming home from Vietnam, the plane full of eager and happy-to-be-home G.I’s. We were issued new “dress greens” with rank, unit patches, ribbons, new dress black shoes; we were looking good and all cleaned up. We got a steak dinner and a ride to the airport for our transportation home.
I soon realized that civilians weren’t making eye contact and seemed to avoid any conversations. The plane ride back to Oakland was very quiet and subdued. There was no “Welcome home, thank you for your service, you’re a hero, warrior”; no parades.
As soon as I got home, I couldn’t get out of that uniform fast enough. Some of us were spit on, called names with gestures. That was in 1968. I don’t talk about my combat experiences there; I actually don’t want to think about three of my best friends being killed and what I would have said to their families.
The treatment we received on our return was worse than the experience. Welcome home dinners or words will never erase the names on that wall. I, for one, don’t need to be a part of a country’s guilty conscience.
Michael White, Paso Robles
This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 8:50 PM with the headline "Kind words can’t erase the pain of friends lost in Vietnam."