Vietnam

When he asked, I told my brother I was not going to watch.
Even though it was 50 years ago, it continues to hit close to home.

As a teenager, the first headlines I remember (other than the Pittsburgh Pirates defeating the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series!) was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and then the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Those two events were followed by my beginning to pay attention to the evening news. At some point Walter Cronkite began ending each day’s news broadcast by saying something like this.
Today xxx soldiers (almost always in the 100″s) were killed in Vietnam which brings the death total for the entire war to xxxxxx. The number was in the 10’s of thousands.

I watched as my parents went from supporting the President and supporting the war to being opposed to the war. So much so that my mother said to me that if my brother’s lottery number was reached I was to take him to Canada.

And, there was Kent State and protest marches.

After college I became good friends with someone who had served in Vietnam. Several times each week we walked our dogs together. Each time he heard a helicopter, he visibly flinched sometimes dropping to his knees.

When my children were in middle school and elementary school we spent several days in Washington DC visiting museums and memorials. I walked alone along the black marble wall of the Vietnam Memorial. And cried.

I didn’t need to watch Ken Burn’s documentary in order to remember.
But, I have watched.
Drawn into the history that is a part of the story of my own life.
Some of the information I knew.
Many of the details are new.
The images and pictures are what I remember.
I have watched.
With a deep sadness.
And a slow burn anger.