Letters to the Editor 04-27-2005
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Liberal Disillusionment - Some Gave All
Liberal Disillusionment
Editor, Times-Union:I want to thank you for printing the letter from M. Tapp in the Monday paper. It amazes me that there are people who are so eager and willing to believe any shred of information that happens to pop up in front of them on a computer screen. It simply shows that left-wing disillusionment, absolute ignorance and lack of common sense are still alive and well.
H. Harshman
Warsaw
via e-mail
Some Gave All
Editor, Times-Union:More than 58,000 Americans died in Southeast Asia from 1959-1975. Toward the end of the war some were treated disgracefully by being spat on or called "baby killers." One friend was dumped on the side of the road by a Des Moines cab driver when he had just gotten back from Vietnam.
His mistake was to tell him why he was "home." He loves America today more than ever. I still see the glimpse of sadness in his eyes remembering standing alone in a country he had fought for.
Many who served in Vietnam have that hint of sorrow. Most of them came back to work hard, raise families and enjoy freedom taken for granted by many. Others carry the emotional and physical scars that will never go away. Some came home to be buried by their loved ones or are still missing in action.
My friend, fellow Eagle Scout, L/CPL Darwin Judge, was killed on April 29 while on guard duty at Ton Sun Nhut Airbase alongside CPL Charles McMahon, the last two men killed in Vietnam. I think of them often and wonder what they would be doing today.
A few years ago I was on staff at The Salvation Army's Camp Mo-Kan in Kansas. We were checking in campers when a van pulled up and a bunch of Vietnamese kids jumped out ready for a week of fun. I was overcome with anger and resentment toward them. Their families had been brought to America after the evacuation, but all I could think of was the unfairness of Darwin and Charles' deaths and my friend who had been deserted. I tried to avoid them. I argued with God.
One afternoon after leading singing this young Vietnamese girl came up and hugged me. My heart broke as I found a quiet place, crying tears of repentance. Americans served and died for her along with 1.2 million Vietnamese who were relocated after the war. She was living in emancipation away from Communism that imprisons her homeland to this day.
The week ended hugging those kids as they got back on the van. I found comfort in their freedom but I still have questions about Vietnam. The only answer that rings true is remembering those who responded when our nation called and honor their service.
To our Vietnam vets, thank you and welcome home. You should have heard those words years ago. I pray you hear it in the laughter of children, smell it as families gather in parks to cookout and see it when the "Stars and Stripes" waves high in the breeze. We enjoy our quality of life because of your service and the ultimate sacrifice of comrades who lost their lives or never came home. As we mark 30 years after the fall of Saigon again, thanks and welcome home.
"All Gave Some. Some Gave All"
Ken Locke
Warsaw
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- Liberal Disillusionment - Some Gave All
Liberal Disillusionment
Editor, Times-Union:I want to thank you for printing the letter from M. Tapp in the Monday paper. It amazes me that there are people who are so eager and willing to believe any shred of information that happens to pop up in front of them on a computer screen. It simply shows that left-wing disillusionment, absolute ignorance and lack of common sense are still alive and well.
H. Harshman
Warsaw
via e-mail
Some Gave All
Editor, Times-Union:More than 58,000 Americans died in Southeast Asia from 1959-1975. Toward the end of the war some were treated disgracefully by being spat on or called "baby killers." One friend was dumped on the side of the road by a Des Moines cab driver when he had just gotten back from Vietnam.
His mistake was to tell him why he was "home." He loves America today more than ever. I still see the glimpse of sadness in his eyes remembering standing alone in a country he had fought for.
Many who served in Vietnam have that hint of sorrow. Most of them came back to work hard, raise families and enjoy freedom taken for granted by many. Others carry the emotional and physical scars that will never go away. Some came home to be buried by their loved ones or are still missing in action.
My friend, fellow Eagle Scout, L/CPL Darwin Judge, was killed on April 29 while on guard duty at Ton Sun Nhut Airbase alongside CPL Charles McMahon, the last two men killed in Vietnam. I think of them often and wonder what they would be doing today.
A few years ago I was on staff at The Salvation Army's Camp Mo-Kan in Kansas. We were checking in campers when a van pulled up and a bunch of Vietnamese kids jumped out ready for a week of fun. I was overcome with anger and resentment toward them. Their families had been brought to America after the evacuation, but all I could think of was the unfairness of Darwin and Charles' deaths and my friend who had been deserted. I tried to avoid them. I argued with God.
One afternoon after leading singing this young Vietnamese girl came up and hugged me. My heart broke as I found a quiet place, crying tears of repentance. Americans served and died for her along with 1.2 million Vietnamese who were relocated after the war. She was living in emancipation away from Communism that imprisons her homeland to this day.
The week ended hugging those kids as they got back on the van. I found comfort in their freedom but I still have questions about Vietnam. The only answer that rings true is remembering those who responded when our nation called and honor their service.
To our Vietnam vets, thank you and welcome home. You should have heard those words years ago. I pray you hear it in the laughter of children, smell it as families gather in parks to cookout and see it when the "Stars and Stripes" waves high in the breeze. We enjoy our quality of life because of your service and the ultimate sacrifice of comrades who lost their lives or never came home. As we mark 30 years after the fall of Saigon again, thanks and welcome home.
"All Gave Some. Some Gave All"
Ken Locke
Warsaw
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