VIETNAM VETERANS FINDING A LASTING PEACE
Vietnam was, as author Bernard Fall once dubbed it, “Hell in a very small place.” We Vietnam veterans live out our lives still nursing our war memories and PTSD, witnessing the arrival of a new enemy to our peace and psychological freedom. With the vision of 20/20 hindsight we understand that we didn’t have to wage war against North Vietnam and the Vietcong to get our athletic equipment and shoes manufactured there; we didn’t have to attack Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein, creating a destabilization of the Near East that has spawned the nightmarish phenomenon of ISIS. Today, the world is confronted with an enemy, building in strength in a culture of people, as Senator John McCain has suggested, “that don’t like us very much,” and enemy against which, unlike Vietnam, negotiations for Peace are not an option. It is a bleak, uncertain future when the adversary is committed to Never give up dying trying to kill you. This is the world we pass on to our grandchildren, besides confessing to them that the Tooth Fairy, the Eastern Bunny and Santa Claus are dead, but life is for the living; those of us still waking up each day to a fresh sun must see the Blessing in that and share our love and compassion for others throughout our daily walk.
Coca Cola Corporation recently presented
its annual Salute to Veterans' Day program at the corporate headquarters in
Atlanta, Ga. and introduced the audience to the Wounded Warrior musical group
MusiCorps. I was moved to tears witnessing the incredible will and
determination of these inspired musicians who had been wounded, some double
amputees, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The beauty of their music stimulated
my reflection on how human beings can be subjected to the worst trauma of war,
dying and injury to emerge with a spirit for enduring catastrophic injury to
still make beautiful music. It is truly a testament to the Possibility living
within the Human Spirit for survival. But we must go on living our lives.
Coca Cola Corporation recently presented
its annual Salute to Veterans' Day program at the corporate headquarters in
Atlanta, Ga. and introduced the audience to the Wounded Warrior musical group,
MusiCorps. With tear filled eyes I witnessed the incredible will and
determination of these inspired musicians who had been wounded, some double
amputees, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The beauty of their music stimulated
my reflection on how human beings can be subjected to the worst trauma of war,
dying and injury to emerge with a spirit for enduring catastrophic injury to
still make beautiful music. It is truly a testament to the Possibility living
within the Human Spirit for survival.
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