Editor’s Note: This just in from Marlow.

– Vic

One Last Item

One last item before this Memorial Day week passes . . .

All of us Vietnam era vets could do our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, godchildren, their friends, and class members a great service if we’d talk to them about our service with serious intent — straightforwardly, honestly, sincerely. This goes double for those of us who saw offshore or in country service during that war.

We ARE American history, from a generation torn apart by that war and what it unleashed here in the States. Our generation. They need to hear it from us as they deserve straight, sober speech. They’re listening, trust me. But, they’re wary and kind of adrift at sea, savvy enough to sense bullshit, but nervous about being snookered by con men and women. They don’t really know how to strain the firehose of information to get what’s reliable. Treat ’em like adults.

I get the impression that, yes, they are hopeful as they seem to be, but I think they are also skeptical and a bit apprehensive — the questions, few but serious ones I’ve gotten from one of my grands and his friend hinted at this. This shouldn’t have been but seems initially a surprise in light of what they’ve experienced in recent years.

I’d stress the importance of engaging the full measure of their energy, intellect, and patriotism in service to their fellow citizens and their country. They deserve better than what today’s pop, youth and mainstream cultures deliver, and all of us should commit to help them make up for what they lost — intellectually, spiritually, and physically — during the last dozen plus years.

I’ll stand down now.

-Marlow

PS: If you should talk in this way to a gathering of them, they’ll surely get it, ask serious probing questions, and perhaps even applaud. If that happens, prepare for eyes welling up.

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