Morning Thoughts: March 16, 2018

More on the March 29 ceremony by the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) and why I won’t be there. It will feature the formal pinning of the Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pin on several hundred veterans. My initial reaction was, “they can stick mine where the sun doesn’t shine.”

I’ve explained in full why I feel this way. Click here ifyou missed it.

After I posted that, a very nice man, whom I respect greatly, gave a short talk promoting the ceremony. For the length of time that it takes a rifle round to whistle by, I thought maybe I was being hard-headed.

Then, next evening, I sat with nothing to do while my wife set up a new computer. I flipped on the TV and clicked the remote. As if by fate, I saw the beginning of the film about then Lt. Colonel Hal Moore and his men at the battle of Ia Drang Valley.

You remember the story. A crack unit of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry, comprising a total of 450 men, choppered into a spot in the central highlands of Vietnam on November 14, 1965.

Army intelligence, true to form, had little advance information other than they expected the Americans might encounter 2,500 “enemy.” Instead, they had landed almost atop three regiments of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN)—the regular army of North Vietnam. And they were looking for trouble.

After three days and nights of fighting, the Vietnamese withdrew with 2,000 casualties, including 6oo dead on the battlefield as counted by the Americans. American losses were 79 killed in action and 121 men wounded, many severely.

Losses included those of helicopter crewmen who miraculously brought in the troops under fire, supplied the troops on the ground, and removed the wounded and dead. One pilot received the Medal of Honor for his work.

The problem with going in on March 29, 2018 and receiving a pin labeled “Vietnam War Veteran,” is the fact that the pin goes to anyone who served in the U.S. Military while America was engaged in Vietnam. Those who didn’t serve in-country deserve thanks and honor, to be sure, but a pin that says “Vietnam War Veteran?”

I’ll leave to you. Does the man or woman who spent their tour drinking beer in Germany deserve the same pin as the brave troops and pilots who survived the Ia Drang Valley?

Yes. These men deserve medals.