50 Years
Should anyone care to remember?
Dear America,
50 years have now passed since the last soldier returned.
50 years and the streets are still quiet, void of welcoming crowds and marching bands.
50 years since six million service members returned from one hostile land to rejoin another hostile land.
50 years and the shouts of “Baby Killer” still echo in their minds.
50 years and our veterans are still dying in the streets. Not the streets of Hanoi, but the streets and homeless shelters of America.
50 years since war was fought, not because it was morally right, but because it was politically convenient and a stimulant to a flagging economy.
50 years and the six million are memorialized by a slash in the ground and a wall of names. Names that in 50 years from now will be anonymous.
50 years have passed and once again, a draft-dodging coward is attempting to lead the very country he refused to serve when he was called upon.
50 years is taking its toll. Fewer and fewer Vietnam veterans are now left to stand and represent.
50 years is what it has taken for America to remember how to honor its latest generation of veterans.
Sincerely,
Those Who Served.
About the Creator
Mark Gagnon
My life has been spent traveling here and abroad. Now it's time to write.
I have three published books: Mitigating Circumstances, Short Stories for Open Minds, and Short Stories from an Untethered Mind. Unmitigated Greed is do out soon.
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Comments (4)
This is a very moving tribute. I am forever grateful to Vietnam Veterans and all Veterans for everything they gave up so that I can still be free. To me they will never be baby killers, they will always be heroes whom I greatly respect and appreciate more than words can say. thank you to every Veteran for their great sacrifices. 🙏🏻🇺🇸🙏🏻🇺🇸🙏🏻🇺🇸🙏🏻🇺🇸 War is such a terrible tragedy that wreaks havoc on the hearts of mankind. War will forever break my heart.
Is it alright if I share this on my twitter feed? 50th anniversary of the destruction of a generation of men. The terror of the number.
Powerful, incisive, complete indictment of a system in failure, its lack of nobility of spirit, its absence of heart, and its one-sided loyalty, that pervades our government. Tragic that this must be written, but beautiful that you wrote it. - Pernoste
Wow, Mark… this one is powerful. This line especially hit me hard with the raw honesty it carries “…because it was politically convenient and a stimulant to a flagging economy.”