John F. Edwards of Franklin served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1967. (Photo provided)
I contacted several of my friends who are Vietnam veterans to document their experiences in war and battle. It didn’t turn out as I had hoped.
I wanted to describe the tribulations of living in the rough outback - steamy jungles, screeching animals of the forest and bugs and insects of the earth, their need to sleep on the ground overnight and the hot and sweaty environment, the wet and gooey rice patties of the Mekong and the steep highlands of the inner regions.
There was the distance from home, halfway around the world, and the foreign lands and language that youth just out of high school would find difficult to fathom. There was the separation from family and friends, the inability to enjoy ball games, fun gatherings and parties.
Then there were more poignant experiences. The fear of the enemy lurking behind trees or in the brush. Or behind some child asking for candy. Booby traps and pungi sticks, snares and grenades on a string that would take their leg off and leave them disabled for the rest of their lives. No more running in pickup sports games.
Deadly bullets whizzing past their helmets, the boom of the artillery support, screaming jets overhead and perhaps naval support from the battleship USS New Jersey with 16-inch high-explosive projectiles arriving like the sound of a freight train and blasting away whole hillsides in flashes of fire and with deafening roar.
There was the death and destruction that was ever on their minds. And indeed, shockingly experienced by many of them. And after that shock, the loss of a companion, a buddy who had just been beside him but who doesn’t exist anymore.
And after their sacrifice, on their return another shock: the unappreciative American youth, some of them who would be spitting on them at the airport.
What I found was that they didn’t want to discuss the topic for the general public. This was a personal experience that they find, even today some 50 years later, difficult to share with others outside of their small group.
Several of these veterans are heroes in every sense of the word. All of them put their life on the line, standing in harm’s way, dutifully following orders and meeting the challenge of protecting our nation and our way of life.
And for those who have lived, they are still bearing a great burden on their shoulders; little known by others since they mainly keep it to themselves.
So this weekend, take an extra moment when you see a member of our military or a family member you know has served to “thank a vet.”
Contact Bill Truran, Sussex County historian, at wrt1@columbia.edu