Cleveland War Veterans

By Patrick M. McLaughlin

Throughout the generations, our warriors have never been able to pick their wars. They serve when and where “we the people” tell them to go. The Vietnam War was no exception. When the World War II generation sent us off to fight in Vietnam, by war’s end, collectively we looked something like this:

• About 2.7 million men and women in the U.S. military served in the Vietnam “war zone.”

• Around 9 million Americans served during the official era of Vietnam, between Aug. 5, 1964, and May 7, 1975, so just about 30 percent of those actually served in Vietnam during those years.

• Vietnam veterans represented about 9.7 percent of their generation.

• There are 58,261 names on “The Wall, ” and 304,000 others were wounded.

• 11,465 of the Vietnam War dead were younger than the age of 20.

• Just less than 7,500 women served in Vietnam, of whom 83.5 percent were nurses.

• Two-thirds of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers, and many volunteered for the draft, so even some of the draftees were volunteers.

Upon return from Vietnam, the veterans were met frequently with disinterest, disrespect, vilification and blamed for the increasingly unpopular war. Notwithstanding, today, Vietnam vets share a unique brotherhood because of their service to the nation, commonly demonstrated when one vet greets another by stating, “Welcome home.” Most of us have always been and remain proud of our service in Vietnam. We answered the nation’s call, went where we were told to go and served as honorably as any generation of Americans in uniform.

Truth be told, Vietnam is the defining event for men of my generation — the so-called “baby boomers.” There were options for men of the Vietnam generation, but the draft impacted all one way or another. If you had the inclination and the money, you could go to college and obtain a 2S deferment from the draft. Until the lottery system came into play, this meant that you would not have to serve in uniform because you were a college student. There were other deferments for a while — married men with dependents, religious or conscientious objectors and those believed to be physically unfit for military service. Some fled the country rather than serve.

These thoughts enveloped me as I reflected upon Memorial Day and one other item in the national news — that of Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general who is a candidate for the U.S. Senate. From his resume, Blumenthal had every possible advantage, with degrees from Harvard and Yale universities and a clerkship on the U.S. Supreme Court. He also served six years in the Marine Corps Reserve, an honorable endeavor and one that entitles him to say that he was a Marine.

There are others who served in Reserve and Guard units during the Vietnam War and their service was honorable. Notably, this includes George W. Bush and Dan Quayle. Many other national leaders took advantage of deferment opportunities and chose not to serve in uniform, such as Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney. Unlike Blumenthal, however, these men have not lied about having served in Vietnam. When confronted by his own words, Blumenthal gave the gobbledygook response of having “misspoke.” One doesn’t misspeak about matters of duty, honor and country.

While I can’t speak for other Vietnam vets, my reaction to Blumenthal is that he is a wannabe. Now that he is a candidate for U.S. Senate, he may wish that he had served in Vietnam, but what is done is done. We all made our choices, most of us at 18, 19, 20 years of age, and have lived with those choices and the consequences ever since. More than 360,000 men were killed or wounded in Vietnam, and those figures don’t count others who survived but never really made it back from that war. There are consequences to choices made, paths traveled and those not, but once traveled, it is done. So, while I understand why Blumenthal wants to be a Vietnam vet, he is not, and never will be. You don’t get to call yourself a Vietnam vet unless you paid your dues in ‘Nam.

McLaughlin, a Cleveland attorney, served in Vietnam with the Dogface Battalion (1/18), First Infantry Division (the “Big Red One”). This column first appeared in The Plain Dealer.

At the rate we’re pursuing military and political objectives in Afghanistan, here are a few headlines from the future, specifically, 2025:

Dad and Two Sons in Same Outfit; Father Speaks Fluent Pashto, Sons Speak only Farsi”