A honorable duty performed by an honorable man, for an honorable man who also did his duty. Thank you.
22
This story is about the collateral damage of war. The combat death is but page one of a long and difficult book. Those left behind have to carry a burden, often for a lifetime. How many aunts, spouses, uncles, cousins, grandparents, children, friends, siblings, and, parents, have had to pay the price for this misadventure?
The author's spare narrative is emotionally powerful. It took me a few tries to get through it.
Semper Fi, 1/7, 1967-68
The author's spare narrative is emotionally powerful. It took me a few tries to get through it.
Semper Fi, 1/7, 1967-68
19
I wept after reading George Masters' eloquent "eulogy" honoring Lance Corporal John Jay Michaels. Mr. Masters also has honored all those whose names are chiseled into the stone of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in the nation's capitol, some of whom I knew as a U.S. Marine in South Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. Then my thoughts turned to this country's president. Will this president understand fully what Mr. Masters has written? I wonder. I pray the president reads what Mr. Masters has written.
16
Thank you.
8
I am a retied surgeon. I served two tours in VN. I will never forget the faces of the young men I could not save.
17
I was of the ones that you, or someone like you, was able to save and I appreciate it. I hope that the memory of those you did save will comfort you.
22
That is a heavy read.
9
Wow. What a writer you are. Thank you for sharing.
16
This was a wonderful piece of writing. I grew up in the turbulent 60's and have been enjoying the series of opinion pieces from the NY Times centered on Vietnam of 1967.
One thing from this piece that really stood out for me is the contrast between the respect accorded to the fallen soldiers with how we, all humanity, have devised ever worse ways to kill each other. Perhaps if we showed the same respect to each other that we do to the dead, then we would not be so quick to toss our young men (and women now) into wars and have to go through these wrenching rituals as the author did.
One thing from this piece that really stood out for me is the contrast between the respect accorded to the fallen soldiers with how we, all humanity, have devised ever worse ways to kill each other. Perhaps if we showed the same respect to each other that we do to the dead, then we would not be so quick to toss our young men (and women now) into wars and have to go through these wrenching rituals as the author did.
23
I chose to get blood work at the Flatwood VA clinic because I thought it would be easier getting in and out then the Clarksburg VA Health Center. I sat in a waiting room of Vietnam Vets who proudly wore their baseball caps touting the different services they saw action in. They were old, tired and proud. I felt honored to sit with these unsung hero's. I am what is called in the VA world as a post Vietnam vet.....
10
Tears, nothing but tears.
9
A worthy read told with reverence, humor and remembrance.
Rest in piece Lance Corporal John Michaels USMC.
If we stand tall today it is because we stand on the shoulders of you and your like who went downrange and forward before us. Semper Fi.
Rest in piece Lance Corporal John Michaels USMC.
If we stand tall today it is because we stand on the shoulders of you and your like who went downrange and forward before us. Semper Fi.
12
USMC artillery;June'66 to Mar'68. Thank you brother for that essay. Semper Fi.
12
Thanks for your service sir.
7
Some of the children and grand children of the 58000 men and women who got killed in Vietnam are probably about to have their health care taken away and their voting rights restricted . Semper fi ?
12
I share you concerns about health care. However, this is NOT the appropriate forum for such concerns. There are enough news stories on health care where you can make your point known.
9
In World War II, the U.S. lost on average 6,000 per month killed in combat. (Yes, per month.) That is as much in total as our "longest war," being mismanaged by the third president to preside over it.
In WWII our population was less than half of today's. We don't know what real national sacrifice is today. Nonetheless, each casualty of a pointless, politically mismanaged war remains a tragedy. Mourn for the dead. Fear for our country.
In WWII our population was less than half of today's. We don't know what real national sacrifice is today. Nonetheless, each casualty of a pointless, politically mismanaged war remains a tragedy. Mourn for the dead. Fear for our country.
5
When will we ever learn?
14
It's strange to me how my thinking about the deaths in VN have impacted me differently over the years.
I lost some very close friends killed in VN. And when that happened I felt sorry for them. For a minute. Then I promptly forgot them. I did not think for a moment about their final journey home. I did not think about how they died. Frankly it was just not all that important.
My whole world , the world that I actually cared about, were those still living guys in the company, the guys in the platoon, those on my team.
Nothing outside that world was all that important. Including the dead. A group, I had no doubt , I would be joining sooner rather than later.
Today 50+ years later those deaths haunt me. And they are with me every single day now.
I lost some very close friends killed in VN. And when that happened I felt sorry for them. For a minute. Then I promptly forgot them. I did not think for a moment about their final journey home. I did not think about how they died. Frankly it was just not all that important.
My whole world , the world that I actually cared about, were those still living guys in the company, the guys in the platoon, those on my team.
Nothing outside that world was all that important. Including the dead. A group, I had no doubt , I would be joining sooner rather than later.
Today 50+ years later those deaths haunt me. And they are with me every single day now.
16
Dark then. Dark still. It is never really over.
12
I would compare your writing to Hemingway's, but it has no need of comparisons. Thank you.
10
I am so sorry for what you went through. What John Michaels went through. What you still confront.
6
Will someone make sure that congress POTUS and SCOTUS read Mr. Masters' recounting of his assignment?
7
George, I will remember. I will feel that heavy heart for a very long time. God bless America, please.
8
Terribly sad story. I wept reading it. My best friend, Cary Rundle, died on November 1, 1968 in the disaster that blew up LST-1167 on the My Tho River, the worst loss of life the Navy suffered in the Vietnam War.
Two things have nagged me over the nearly 50 years since Cary was killed. One is his mysterious and, it seems, prescient obsession with the Johnny Cash song 'Ring of Fire' ("I fell into a burning ring of fire...") which has been stuck in my head since then.
The other is the scene when his body was returned to his folks in Aldan PA. I do not know if his body was recovered and identified; but if it was, I now have an inkling of the bereft scene that must have happened when his staunch and upright parents collected his remains. I am grateful for this account, which is very good writing. Thank you for this. It is a memorial worthy of the beautiful boy, who left a young widow, Cary Frank Rundle.
Two things have nagged me over the nearly 50 years since Cary was killed. One is his mysterious and, it seems, prescient obsession with the Johnny Cash song 'Ring of Fire' ("I fell into a burning ring of fire...") which has been stuck in my head since then.
The other is the scene when his body was returned to his folks in Aldan PA. I do not know if his body was recovered and identified; but if it was, I now have an inkling of the bereft scene that must have happened when his staunch and upright parents collected his remains. I am grateful for this account, which is very good writing. Thank you for this. It is a memorial worthy of the beautiful boy, who left a young widow, Cary Frank Rundle.
15
Very moving story. I was born in Wilkes-Barre about the same age as John Michaels but missed the Vietnam war. When I was called to the draft, my company got me out of it since I was working for a defense contractor. My son served in the Marines in Afghanistan, two tours and came back safely. Does all this incredible sadness teach us anything except we love our children so much, this is a truly horrible experience for John Michaels' parents and others who loved him and for the caring Marine escort who shared this story with us.
11
Peace be with you, Mr. Masters.
10
I can't even imagine...
4
My brother was a Viet Nam era USAF vet. A professional musician, he served after his college deferment as a double bass player in elite orchestral units, which kept him stateside out of harms way.
He died last year in a VA hospital in Portland, his 3 siblings in Maryland the only souls left in his intimate orbit. We found that he was eligible for burial with honors in the Baltimore National Cemetery.
Only the 3 of us attended at the funeral. The way it was handled you would have thought he was a decorated combat hero.
The funeral director was sincere and solemn and sensitive. On a bier under a giant spreading elm were my brother's remains, with the American Flag covering the container. Two Airmen as sharp as tacks folded that flag as if it was the most important task they would ever perform. One of them brought it to me and said wonderful words while looking me straight in the eye.
Then, from over our right shoulders about 100 feet away did a bugler play taps. We finagled a real player instead of a recording given Doug's career as a musician. I am not big on ceremony but I cannot describe how much the entire affair moved us. Tremendous respect and dignity just because he put on the uniform and served his country for a few years long ago. It matters.
He died last year in a VA hospital in Portland, his 3 siblings in Maryland the only souls left in his intimate orbit. We found that he was eligible for burial with honors in the Baltimore National Cemetery.
Only the 3 of us attended at the funeral. The way it was handled you would have thought he was a decorated combat hero.
The funeral director was sincere and solemn and sensitive. On a bier under a giant spreading elm were my brother's remains, with the American Flag covering the container. Two Airmen as sharp as tacks folded that flag as if it was the most important task they would ever perform. One of them brought it to me and said wonderful words while looking me straight in the eye.
Then, from over our right shoulders about 100 feet away did a bugler play taps. We finagled a real player instead of a recording given Doug's career as a musician. I am not big on ceremony but I cannot describe how much the entire affair moved us. Tremendous respect and dignity just because he put on the uniform and served his country for a few years long ago. It matters.
10
there may be a thousand reasons - but it was still a life - respected.
Thank you - a nice piece of writing.
Thank you - a nice piece of writing.
6
Your humanity is palpable, George Masters. Thank you for your dignity, courage, and extraordinary kindness to the family of a fallen soldier. John Michael was not alone on his final journey home.
You stayed with him, protected him, and brought him home to his those who loved him.
George Masters, you were a blessing to young John Michael. I wish you every blessing as well.
Thank you for your service to our country, and please grace us with more of your exceptional prose. You are a highly gifted writer.
You stayed with him, protected him, and brought him home to his those who loved him.
George Masters, you were a blessing to young John Michael. I wish you every blessing as well.
Thank you for your service to our country, and please grace us with more of your exceptional prose. You are a highly gifted writer.
14
First, I want to thank you and note how much your writing moved me. My brother served a tour recon marine in Vietnam. He never spoke much about his service, but his service had its voice in his life after. In the end, often there are no answers. The questions must be honored unanswered. My brother's slow death from drink and cancer offers its own questions. I find no answers. But knowing the caring in such brutal times gives me hope.
8
Beautifully written, and so very moving. Thank you, George Masters, for sharing.
12
Thank you for sharing this intimate and profound experience. It moved me. I was born in Vietnam; a product of the Vietnam war. My dad was a medic. Only on two occasions in my life has he shared details of his service in Vietnam. Your story sheds some light on the delicate and unique nuances of this experience.
10
So poignant. Thank you for your service and this reality check.
14
A valiant story, can't say much for Johnny's uncle though... I don't think I like him.
2
Try not to be hard on the uncle. He was grieving and said something he shouldn't have said. He could be a decent guy who didn't handle his loss very well.
5
This is the place where you get to cut Johnny's uncle some slack.
6
I carried more body bags than I care to try to recall during the first 7 months I was in Nam. But it wasn't until 40+ years later, near the end of my nursing career, when I attended the funeral of one my hospice patients who was a veteran (which war is immaterial), which was also my first funeral ever with a military honor guard present, that I first felt the numb helplessness that George Masters so eloquently describes here. The rifle salute. Taps, slowly, beautifully played. Tears, my tears. Shivering in the heat of a Texas summer.
23
Thank you....your comment is elegant, eloquent and powerful.
6
Reading this heart rending piece took me back to a class at Navy OCS about a month before commissioning in July 1968 wherein we first were exposed to the meaning of the term CACO, which in Navy parlance stood for Casualty Assistance Calls Officer. Our instructor made it quite clear that no other set of orders, no matter what they entailed, would be as difficult as that of a CACO. Escorting the deceased, informing the family, handling the details, and dealing with the emotional rigors which, likely, would alter your psyche for years, if not a lifetime to come. It was a necessary mission, but one which none of us looked forward to carrying out. As George Masters learned, it is the military version of drawing the short straw. My hat is off to Mr. Masters, and to all who have performed this service with such respect, skill and reverance.
19
I was born in 1983, and became an American in 2016. The writer of this piece has succeeded at bringing the war near enough for me to grasp, and I am thankful for that.
20
I was in charge of a Marine Corps casualty notification team in Michigan in 2006, and had to personally make death notifications to four mothers and one father of Marines KIA in Iraq. Once the death notification was made, my team was responsible for meeting the coffin at the airport, escorting it to the funeral home, supporting the deceased Marine's family throughout the process, getting their death benefits squared away and paid, helping to arrange the viewing, funeral, and internment, presenting the Purple Heart and the coffin flag to the mother, and providing the honor guard and rifle salute. Unlike the Vietnam-era funeral described by George Masters, entire towns turned out for our funerals. Children were let out of school to line the route from the funeral home or church to the cemetery, waving American flags. I always told my Marines, as we headed out to do a notification, "This is the worst way to meet the best people," and it was true in every case. It was the most important service I performed in 28 years in the Marine Corps.
50
Thank you Mr. Masters for your eloquent memorial to times past and present.
24
Beautifully written and amazingly evocative. Thank you for sharing this story as it seems it is one that we need to be reminded of again and again. War means the untimely death of impossibly young and vital men and women, nearly all of it taking place thousands of miles from home. That they can travel their final miles accompanied by service men and women such as yourself brings a somber honor to their ultimate sacrifice. Bless you and those who, like you, bring the fallen home to their families.
23
In 1969, while passing out fliers in downtown Pittsburgh announcing a march opposing the war in Vietnam, a girlfriend and I met four guys who despite their civilian clothing we both rightly assumed were in the military. Over a short period of time we became friendly and then such close friends that the four boys began to spend almost all of their "off" time at my apartment. It wasn't long before I learned their job in the Army was that of a four-man honor guard at funerals for dead soldiers returning from Vietnam. They traveled around western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Ohio attending as many as two funerals a day, four days every week. I haven't seen or heard from any of them since they got orders taking them away from Pittsburgh, but I have thought about them often.
25
It is becoming increasingly rare to come upon meaningful, insightful and raw human stories like Mr. Masters'. The image-provoking style made his written article into a high resolution video with sound.
Thank you for writing it.
Thank you for writing it.
33
W O W
Mr. Masters:
thank you so very much for this exquisite remembrance.
blessings to and for all
28
Thank you for sharing your experience.
24
Excellent piece! Thanks to George Masters and especially to L/Cpl. John Michaels, USMC.
21
Right there. Thank you for this gripping account, sharing this deep loss that makes no sense. A sorrow without a name until you described it and gave meaning to what happened.
32
Transporting and deeply moving. Thank you for publishing this.
23
Beautiful story.
19
Thank you, Mr. Masters, for your service. There is a wonderful movie ("Taking Chance") starring Kevin Bacon, that follows this process from the moment the remains arrive in Dover, to interment. It is a beautiful and emotional portrayal. I highly recommend it.
25
That's exactly what I was thinking as I read this piece, i.e., it brought back memories of the movie, "Taking Chance". It is a poignant, heartfelt movie. You will understand the meaning of the title when you watch it, and everyone should.
To all those who gave their lives, thank you for your ultimate sacrifice. To those who have served honorably, thank you for keeping my family safe.
To all those who gave their lives, thank you for your ultimate sacrifice. To those who have served honorably, thank you for keeping my family safe.
4
Beautifully written.
Thank you for this moving account of service, duty, respect.
Thank you for this moving account of service, duty, respect.
23
This article reminded me of my first assignment as a survivor assistance officer, in 1973. I had not expected the whole of his small hometown to turn out for his mid-week funeral. But he had been a star football player and was a war hero. This was the South. There was no way they wouldn't turn out for him. When Taps sounded, a thousand people wept. I've heard Taps many times before and since, but none so moving as that moment.
25
Thank you for sharing this story. A few years ago I traveled on a Delta flight and two Marines were on board. I sat near them, and they had an air of reverence and honor about them, but I didn't understand why at that point. They were polite but did not engage in conversation. Then shortly after we touched town we were stopped on the taxi-way. The passengers were getting themselves ready to jump up and gather baggage and carry on items when the pilot came on the speaker.
He told us that there are times when we are asked to step up. He told us that he was honored to fly that flight and that there are two Marines on the plane who are traveling with their fallen brothers bringing them safely home from Afghanistan. The pilot asked if we would please let the Honor Escort deplane first so that they could bring their Marine brothers home to their families.
We all sat down and applauded the Marines. The plane went silent. The Marines deplaned with deep reverence and military precision. Then they waited at the bottom of the cargo hold for the caskets to be taken off. They saluted their brothers and escorted them to the waiting cars from the funeral homes.
I will never forget that experience and how humbled I felt.
He told us that there are times when we are asked to step up. He told us that he was honored to fly that flight and that there are two Marines on the plane who are traveling with their fallen brothers bringing them safely home from Afghanistan. The pilot asked if we would please let the Honor Escort deplane first so that they could bring their Marine brothers home to their families.
We all sat down and applauded the Marines. The plane went silent. The Marines deplaned with deep reverence and military precision. Then they waited at the bottom of the cargo hold for the caskets to be taken off. They saluted their brothers and escorted them to the waiting cars from the funeral homes.
I will never forget that experience and how humbled I felt.
73
Thank you Mr. Masters for such beautiful writing.
Nothing in your life prepares you for the moment when the doorbell rings and you open the door to find two Marines in full dress uniforms standing there. When our son, LCpl Michael DiRoma was was brought home for the final time, the care, courtesy and support provided by the men and women assigned to his honor guard were solace to us.
This duty, certainly not a first choice of anyone serving in the Armed Forces, is sometimes the first and only time that relatives of the deceased have any opportunity to meet and see active duty personnel close up. To the author, and all service members past, present and future who are assigned this responsibility, you have my undying appreciation and respect.
Nothing in your life prepares you for the moment when the doorbell rings and you open the door to find two Marines in full dress uniforms standing there. When our son, LCpl Michael DiRoma was was brought home for the final time, the care, courtesy and support provided by the men and women assigned to his honor guard were solace to us.
This duty, certainly not a first choice of anyone serving in the Armed Forces, is sometimes the first and only time that relatives of the deceased have any opportunity to meet and see active duty personnel close up. To the author, and all service members past, present and future who are assigned this responsibility, you have my undying appreciation and respect.
65
I'd thank you for your service, but that seems to have lost its meaning these days. Thank you as a human being.
28
It is to honor military lives like these that I'll stop for a moment to remember I too was a soldier. Sometimes I'll simply wear my dog tags for a day. My tour was during a brief moment of peacetime in America but I'd swear was it was another lifetime.
In many of the group counseling sessions I attended at the VA most of the men were Vietnam vets. I was part of one group with another woman. Week after week, one painful experience after another, the guys shared a part of their life, both as boys and men. Often what was told was more than can be borne.
I asked once why they could share such private feelings with us (it was understood none of this was talked about to wives or family). One vet spoke up and said because you were a soldier too. The rest nodded. That is the honor I treasure above all else, in uniform or not.
In many of the group counseling sessions I attended at the VA most of the men were Vietnam vets. I was part of one group with another woman. Week after week, one painful experience after another, the guys shared a part of their life, both as boys and men. Often what was told was more than can be borne.
I asked once why they could share such private feelings with us (it was understood none of this was talked about to wives or family). One vet spoke up and said because you were a soldier too. The rest nodded. That is the honor I treasure above all else, in uniform or not.
21
Thank you for sharing your story. Anyone who plays a role in sending compatriots to war -- including voters -- needs to look at U.S. combat involvement from all perspectives. My brother went to Vietnam. He came home. We don't talk about the war. But I know we couldn't step fearing the worst when he was gone. Even his safe return was tinged with sadness because so many others did not make it home alive. Thank you for your service. And thank you for this important reminder of dignity and respect, pain and anguish, compassion and brotherhood.
20
Incredibly moving. My sincere thanks for sharing.
20
I don't think about this too much: The weekly body count--ours, not theirs--was staggering at times. Some weeks there would be hundreds of casualties. For what?
What a tragedy. Our nation's citizens must do everything in our power to keep us out of wars that really don't involve our national interest. It's harder to do now since so few Americans serve and so many Americans aren't paying attention.
We as a nation need to be reminded about the cost of war. I really appreciate these stories. I am a retired Lt Colonel who served 21 active duty years; not a RVN vet.
What a tragedy. Our nation's citizens must do everything in our power to keep us out of wars that really don't involve our national interest. It's harder to do now since so few Americans serve and so many Americans aren't paying attention.
We as a nation need to be reminded about the cost of war. I really appreciate these stories. I am a retired Lt Colonel who served 21 active duty years; not a RVN vet.
34
This is true. The only way we can truly honour the dead of war and show real understanding and appreciation of their sacrifice is to learn and not have wars again. (Needless to say, though we have kept them out of Western Europe for my lifetime, other pages of the NYT are and have been full of war elsewhere every year.)
10
Thank you, Don, for your comment. Until America resumes the draft, and the horror and the responsibility of and for war are shared across all economic and social spectrums will we as a nation ever have a chance of being "great again."
6
Both of my parents were Naval Officers who served through the entirety of WWII. So they knew what war meant and knew the cost in terms of young lives.
When Nixon ended the draft so the Generals could have a professional army my father said "this will take us down the road to endless war." He truly believed that Eisenhower was right about what would come if industry and the military became a force unto themselves.
He always said only "citizen soldiers" would preserve democracy. That nations with professional armies would be tempted to engage in wars not in their publics interest.
The draft should be reinstated. And there are excellent solutions to the problem of bone spurs so that condition shouldn't prevent service.
When Nixon ended the draft so the Generals could have a professional army my father said "this will take us down the road to endless war." He truly believed that Eisenhower was right about what would come if industry and the military became a force unto themselves.
He always said only "citizen soldiers" would preserve democracy. That nations with professional armies would be tempted to engage in wars not in their publics interest.
The draft should be reinstated. And there are excellent solutions to the problem of bone spurs so that condition shouldn't prevent service.
8
In 1966 I was stationed at the Marine Barracks 8th and Eye. Part of our duties were burial ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery. I estimate that I attended close to 60 funerals for fallen Marines returning from Viet Nam. To this day I cry every time I hear taps played. The memory of the fallen Marines associated with taps is engrained in my mind. I am a lot older now and hopefully wiser. I am afraid for the young Marines who may die in the future because of the incompetence of today's administration. I do not say this lightly. Does anyone know if this president ordered flags to half mast for the Marines killed in the c-130 crash a few days ago? Did anyone here a speech of condolence or even a tweet. It's sad that we can order marines to battle but then we forget about them so quickly. I can never forget.
65
I wonder if they even know that not all on that plane were Marines?
2
Beautifully written piece, George Masters. You took us with you. So important to remind Americans about the cost of war and the web of anger and sorrow every soldier's death can bring. A family member, Vietnam vet, also faced the same gut wrenching responsibility after his tour, notifying young housewives that they were now widows.
27
This brought tears to my eyes. First got me when you said you wanted to watch him being put aboard. Standing in the frigid air doing the right thing even though it was very difficult and very inconvenient was honorable and very very touching.
40
When this superb Vietnam 67 series is finished, I wonder if the Times might consider publishing all the essays as a book. It should become required reading both on Capitol Hill and in the White House.
84
To which I would also like to see added the bios and photos of the authors, then and now.
7
Pres. Trump doesn't read books or long papers.
3
In the mid-1980s years ago when I was working for a small newspaper in Northern California, the paper did a Memorial Day insert with the names, bios and photos of all 66 Vietnam GIs killed in our three-county circulation area. I was the reporter.
In those pre-internet days, after scouring countless newspaper clippings, listening to word-of-mouth insights and mailing in numerous FOIA requests, I compiled a list. Then I steeled myself and dialed the phone to make contact with a soldier's parents.
It was the same every time. Once I spilled my name and mission in a verbal torrent, there was always the long silence. Then the cautious acknowledgment that, yes, they were the parents. I resolved never to do a phone interview; I always made an appointment and showed up in person at the parents' homes. It was evident almost no one had ever talked to these people about their sons. Those interviews were awkward, sad, but sometimes unburdening. Many families had created little memorials on a side table, others had left their son's rooms untouched.
I could only bring myself to make three calls a day. Even today if I have a couple beers and start recounting the project I get weepy. I was no combat infantryman but I did my time in Vietnam. Why them and not me?
In those pre-internet days, after scouring countless newspaper clippings, listening to word-of-mouth insights and mailing in numerous FOIA requests, I compiled a list. Then I steeled myself and dialed the phone to make contact with a soldier's parents.
It was the same every time. Once I spilled my name and mission in a verbal torrent, there was always the long silence. Then the cautious acknowledgment that, yes, they were the parents. I resolved never to do a phone interview; I always made an appointment and showed up in person at the parents' homes. It was evident almost no one had ever talked to these people about their sons. Those interviews were awkward, sad, but sometimes unburdening. Many families had created little memorials on a side table, others had left their son's rooms untouched.
I could only bring myself to make three calls a day. Even today if I have a couple beers and start recounting the project I get weepy. I was no combat infantryman but I did my time in Vietnam. Why them and not me?
39
The amazing part is young men (and now women) are selected by some process to deal with several days of some of the most emotionally difficult times they will every experience, and to do so without any specific training other than being a good soldier. I have not heard of any (if there are any) instances in which escorts have not shown the same degree of respect for their fallen comrade and had the grace to handle times like the pizza and beer farewell, or the belligerent uncle with dignity and grace.
Until i happens to you or a loved one, you'll never sense the degree of respect that goes with this ultimate sacrifice.
The Honor Guard salute with the firing of the rifles, even if I didn't know the soldier, is emotional beyond what I'd predict. A very moving portion of a service and never has been done superficially.
Until i happens to you or a loved one, you'll never sense the degree of respect that goes with this ultimate sacrifice.
The Honor Guard salute with the firing of the rifles, even if I didn't know the soldier, is emotional beyond what I'd predict. A very moving portion of a service and never has been done superficially.
19
Deeply moving story. My father served in WWII for 48 months in the South Pacific. Saipan, Marianas, Okinawa. He returned to civilian life and like most vets of his generation, he never spoke about his war experience.
Recounting the pain/ trauma as you did is so challenging -
Thank you for this touching, beautifully written, deeply felt memory and for your service.
Recounting the pain/ trauma as you did is so challenging -
Thank you for this touching, beautifully written, deeply felt memory and for your service.
25
Thank you for your escort and your good story.
18
I was astonished at the rush of layered memories that followed the reading of Mr. Master's subtle and heartfelt piece. In 1967, I was a college freshman, daughter of a Naval aviator who had already served multiple tours in VietNam. As a young child, his returns were uncomplicated by understanding of what his absence had signified. Only when another fighter pilot, the father of a close friend was killed did reality intrude. A pit of dread opened inside me that only closed with his return. In 1973, when I was a newly minted Naval officer myself, I was part of a two person team in notifying a young Navy wife and mother of the loss of her pilot husband in VietNam. As our sedan pulled in front of the tidy house in a row of base residences, children stopped playing and gathered in silent groups or scattered indoors. I had a dreamlike feeling of being in several places at once, my childhood self standing outside as we walked past, the waiting wife, who could have been a younger version of my mother, and whose look of surprise and bafflement would crumble under a tide of shock and loss, and the unwilling carrier of a devastation that my own family had been fortunate enough never to receive. Mr. Master shines a rare perspective on the many layers of lives affected by the decision to send a great country to war. There are real costs here, people on many sides of the equation that deserve a moment of reflection that is too often brushed aside.
78
Truly sincere letter that every politicianust read before sending yet another person to fight over useless wars that serve no one but defense companies and inflated egos of presidents and dictators. Vote for no war . Vote for human dignity.
24
25-years after my friend, LCpl Darwin Judge, was killed on the morning of 29 April 1975 while standing a post near Tan Son Nhut airbase, I visited his hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa for the first time with several of the Marines we served with in Saigon. Many years since I have returned to visit his family each May and to speak briefly at his high school's awards night where two of the scholarships are named in his honor. Even 42-years later I recall the hollow feeling when I was about 6km away and we received word he and Cpl Charles McMahon, Jr. had been killed - and subsequently left behind. It would be another year before they were returned to their hometowns and laid to rest - by then I was at another embassy, in another country and didn't even receive word they had been repatriated. In meeting with LCpl Judge's family each year I often wondered if my own mother would have been so grace-filled as Mrs. Judge if the situation were reversed. LCpl Judge's father, Henry (a B17 tail-gunner during WWII), passed away in April of 2002 just before we awarded the first scholarship and his mother, Ida, followed him in September of 2011. I still think of them - and their son / my friend, Darwin, often.
Marine Security Guard Detachment
American Embassy, Saigon, RVN
29-30 April 1975
Marine Security Guard Detachment
American Embassy, Saigon, RVN
29-30 April 1975
34
Mr Masters: I have never been a soldier but my heart goes out to you and to the others who served. This is a brilliant piece of writing - it is timeless; it could have been written about the last trip home of a Greek soldier -- or of someone, unfortunately, in the future.
Peace, now and forever.
Peace, now and forever.
39
Thank you for writing this. I think the words capture the experiences of many who have lived through similar events ... simple, seemingly remote, and absolutely unique.
18
The people who send people off to war should be required to occasionally deal with the aftermath of these situations, the realities of war.
18
As someone who went over in 1966 and returned with about a year left in the Corps, I cannot imagine having been assigned as a body escort. I think at some level all veterans feel guilty, or maybe torn, that we survived and others didn't. I don't think I could have handled an Uncle of a fallen Marine confronting me with a question that I often asked myself.
21
As I read this, I remembered 'Taking Chance', the Kevin Bacon HBO movie, which was absolutely heart-rending, about a young Marine coming home from Iraq to be buried in his home town. Hard, hard duty. God bless Mr Masters and Lance Corporal Michaels.
21
George Masters, your writing is superb. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
22
One afternoon in SFO, early 2000s, I watched a Marine escort retrieve a flag draped coffin from an airplane, out of public sight except from the small corner I was in. It was at the same time both a deeply moving experience and excellent Kabuki theater.
I stood, at attention, till the coffin was in the van and gone. Ave...
USN 19677 - 71
Viet Nam 1968
I stood, at attention, till the coffin was in the van and gone. Ave...
USN 19677 - 71
Viet Nam 1968
19
Very very sad and painful. I hope Mr. Masters has found some peace and healing from his frustrating turn of duty as a body escort, as well from his experiences in the war in general.
12
I wish I knew more about how this very eloquent has spent the last 40 years, how he feels about his service in Vietnam and whether he ever imagined that evading service in Vietnam would prove no obstacle to the political careers of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Dick Cheyney and George Bush.
24
Or Joe Biden.
And still wars go on. I think of what the lives of both these men may have been had there been no Vietnam.
15
Our current President went to a military academy, excelled in sports, then dodged the draft by getting a doctor to declare him unfit for duty in Vietnam due to bone spurs.
Some gave all, some sacrificed much, some gave nothing. Never forget all the Vietnam veterans living or dead who sacrificed for their country. Let's stand together and push for VA reforms so that our soldiers are cared for with the proper respect and dignity they deserve. Do our soldiers have to be killed in action to be honored?
Some gave all, some sacrificed much, some gave nothing. Never forget all the Vietnam veterans living or dead who sacrificed for their country. Let's stand together and push for VA reforms so that our soldiers are cared for with the proper respect and dignity they deserve. Do our soldiers have to be killed in action to be honored?
52
While a sailor in Boston in 1951 I saw at Chelsea Naval Hospital wards full of Marines whose hands and feet were black from the frostbite they received in the Korean winter of 50-51. It must be painful for those Marines assigned to White House duty to salute Donald Trump and not feel resentment against him for all the fake medical problems this coward used to avoid service. I am so ashamed of this man whose job it now is to sent men into harm's way. When I see these fine men saute him I want to throw up.
When I see
When I see
22
Thanks for writing this.
27
This is a piece of writing with power. I think people’s honest, personal, accounts of what they did in war is the only kind of war narrative that means anything – after 1918 Siegfried Sassoon made such writing into a lifetime’s work. Political and military overviews, though valuable, are not something you can feel mentally and emotionally the way you can another person’s experiences. Participation in war is a personal experience, unique to them, for whoever does it.
I have posted on here before and said I am grateful to Harold Wilson the British Prime Minister who resisted the blandishments of LBJ to bring the UK into Vietnam on the American side.
When I see the photos of Marc Leepson and others they look not unlike photos of myself when I was a young man and I remember that if I were American I would have been their contemporary and I am grateful to observe this experience of loss only at second-hand.
I have posted on here before and said I am grateful to Harold Wilson the British Prime Minister who resisted the blandishments of LBJ to bring the UK into Vietnam on the American side.
When I see the photos of Marc Leepson and others they look not unlike photos of myself when I was a young man and I remember that if I were American I would have been their contemporary and I am grateful to observe this experience of loss only at second-hand.
16
This is an excellent series. Mr. Masters has surpassed everything written so far and all of it has been first rate.
19
This was an insightful piece of journalism and provides a snapshot of an important but unheralded honor given to fallen comrades in arms. I have always felt that a decision to send soldiers into harms way should never be made by politicians. The decision to go to war should made by combat veterans and mothers. Only they truly understand the magnitude of the decision.
18
Thank you for your service. As an emergency room physician who had to notify too many family members of the death of a loved one, it's the toughest part of the job. But like the role you played, someone has to do it. And not just do it, but do it well, with respect and dignity for both the deceased and their loved ones. Your reaction to the uncle was simply perfect. I bet there's no manual for that. Semper Fi.
22
Beautifully written parting the fog of long ago memories..."The past is never dead. It's not even past."
36
It took three tissues for me to get thru this article. I am a Marine Combat Infntryman, Nam 67, and pride myself for being hard core and never crying. Thank you.
100
I have read each of these Vietnam '67 pieces, and they all have been nothing less than excellent. But I must say this one moved me more than any other so far. Mr. Masters' evocative writing is brilliant.
Lance Corporal John Michaels and more than 57,000 of his fellow Americans died for corrupt and immoral reasons, one of the most shocking being the Gulf of Tonkin lie told by LBJ and his henchmen. Why can't this country bring itself to admit that one of our Presidents essentially mass-murdered so many of our own?
Lance Corporal John Michaels and more than 57,000 of his fellow Americans died for corrupt and immoral reasons, one of the most shocking being the Gulf of Tonkin lie told by LBJ and his henchmen. Why can't this country bring itself to admit that one of our Presidents essentially mass-murdered so many of our own?
41
Mr Masters,
What a writer you are. What a story. Thanks.
Old men send young men to war. I can't figure out why.
What a writer you are. What a story. Thanks.
Old men send young men to war. I can't figure out why.
23
You did your duty, Corporal Masters. Stand relieved. Semper Fidelis.
22
My husband was escorted home from Dover Delaware by a dear friend. He found my husband's coffin in the hangar and stayed with it until it came back to Camp Le Jeune. When I was told the Marines would provide an escort I looked at my friend and said I will not need your escort and asked this humble man if he would bring his friend home. He took it as an honor and treated it as one. He never left my husband's side. It puts escorts in an odd role but I know that everyone of them does the job honorably and without hesitation. It could be them one day, I the coffin and they provide the ultimate salute to a person who died in service. Like the pilots who fly the angel flights, they stay with their comrade in arms as long as they need to assuring their last trip is smooth. Trust me when I say the escorts become as family. While not all escorts are adequately prepared for the task they are assigned they are in their own right a kind of angel.
66
I look forward every new article in this series; this was the most touching. The dead coming home from that war was not something that got a lot of notice then. Thank you.
49
Read this column, and when you're done, read it again, 58,000 times. And each time, ask yourself, "Why? To what end did this brave, young American have to die?" And each time, know that there is no answer.
For this young man did not have to die. He died for the misguided, farcical vision of American might in Asia which infected so many politicians' perspectives. He died for the greed inherent in the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned the country about. In the end, he died for no good reason.
He died for a mistake.
Now, look to Afghanistan and Iraq, and ask the same questions, 6,800 times. You will get the same answers, every time.
Lord, when will we learn? How many bodies will it take to teach us?
For this young man did not have to die. He died for the misguided, farcical vision of American might in Asia which infected so many politicians' perspectives. He died for the greed inherent in the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned the country about. In the end, he died for no good reason.
He died for a mistake.
Now, look to Afghanistan and Iraq, and ask the same questions, 6,800 times. You will get the same answers, every time.
Lord, when will we learn? How many bodies will it take to teach us?
151
Spot on
17
This has been a fine series, but Mr. Masters' writing has been, in my opinion, the best of all of them.
Like Hemingway, he just tells it as it was, with adjectives at a minimum.
I thought I was riding in the car with the author with a can of beer between my legs.
Like Hemingway, he just tells it as it was, with adjectives at a minimum.
I thought I was riding in the car with the author with a can of beer between my legs.
50
Couldn't agree more. A natural writer.
18
A pity they don't hand this assignment to generals, Congress reps, Senators, and the Secretary of Defense. Why should a corporal have to face the ugly results of their screw-up?
39
Why would we inflict that on the families?
I first want to say to Lance Corporal Michaels & George Michaels thank you for your service to our country and welcome home from a Vietnam Combat Disabled Veteran. The article was excellent and how do I know, because every couple of seconds I stopped to dry the tears in my eyes and I still have tears. Sad & unforgettable memories of the two tours I did in the Nam. My second tour was to prevent my older brother from having to serve in the Nam, that's another story. I was single, wet behind the ears & pissing vinegar. I said "self you've already served a tour & can do a second" so that he doesn't. Tours in the Nam: 66-67 & 68-69. The second was worse then the first, believe me. I reenlisted. I was afraid to be out in the civilian world and not be accepted. Secured on active duty with fellow soldiers and in a secured Army base. On one of my assignments @Fort Lee, was fortunate to serve on a burial honor guard squad, made me feel honored to serve thosr not as fortunate as I. I always asked myself why not me in the casket while I got chills up my back, my body would start to shake begging at my knees and my palms would start to sweat, luckily we wore white gloves to prevent our M14 rifles from slipping from our hands. Every burial I would list the name of the soldier I was honored to be at his funeral to present the 21 gun salute with taps..Thank you Mr. Michaels and as another writer wrote I to recommend the movie "TAKING CHANCE" an eye opener.
27
I'm sitting here with my lunch, and I am weeping. And suddenly not hungry.
19
Kathy, you're not alone. God bless you & your family.
10
Half a century has done nothing, nothing at all, to quieten the mind, to soothe the feelings left raw by The War. 1967 was the year I turned 21, spent in the peaceful surroundings of an elitist men's college in Western Massachusetts, doing my best to bring The War home in the form of protests against the whole bloody enterprise based, in my view, on one lie after another, starting with the idea that the United States had a legitimate role in Vietnam.
Privileged boys like me were allowed to spend those years amidst ivy covered halls playing at being revolutionaries, a safe enough occupation then as now. Today, reading this story, the old feelings washed over my breakfast table like a spot cup of scalding coffee, a reminder that my war is not yet won, may never be won. It suffered a great defeat last November, but must be, will be, forever be carried on until Right defeats might, Truth vanquishes falsehood.
Did we learn a lesson in Vietnam, or in Wilkes-Barre? I don't know. I have reason to doubt it, but this story will serve as a clarion call to renew the struggle, starting with this comment. At least I learned to salute with respect my brothers who were caught up in the fatal conflict of ideals. On this day I take time to salute them, to remember them, their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families, most now passed.
And then after lunch hour, back into the fray with more energy than ever as time grows shorter, the deadline to overcome draws nearer.
Privileged boys like me were allowed to spend those years amidst ivy covered halls playing at being revolutionaries, a safe enough occupation then as now. Today, reading this story, the old feelings washed over my breakfast table like a spot cup of scalding coffee, a reminder that my war is not yet won, may never be won. It suffered a great defeat last November, but must be, will be, forever be carried on until Right defeats might, Truth vanquishes falsehood.
Did we learn a lesson in Vietnam, or in Wilkes-Barre? I don't know. I have reason to doubt it, but this story will serve as a clarion call to renew the struggle, starting with this comment. At least I learned to salute with respect my brothers who were caught up in the fatal conflict of ideals. On this day I take time to salute them, to remember them, their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families, most now passed.
And then after lunch hour, back into the fray with more energy than ever as time grows shorter, the deadline to overcome draws nearer.
24
What you did so many years ago, no matter how difficult for you emotionally, was honorable and a great kindness to the family. My brother "came home" in the late fall of 1969. Fortunately for us (the family) he was accompanied from Vietnam to the States by his close friend and college roommate, also an infantry platoon leader serving in combat in Vietnam. This Memorial Day weekend, my wife and I visited my brother's grave which is located at a cemetery where he attended college. It is surrounded by the graves of other young men (many Classmates) who also died in Vietnam. I was a teenager when my brother died and now I am an old man. Still, when I saw my brother's grave, I cried like that teenage boy did on the day his big brother was buried so long ago. Time does not heal all wounds.
103
so beautifully written. thank you.
17
Before I shipped to Vietnam myself, I was stationed at an Army Depot, close by to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. One of the duties I was assigned was 'Survivors Assistance Officer', which meant I shared many of the same tasks as the author - working with families to arrange funerals, collect personal affects, and manage financial issues. Although the job was emotionally difficult, it also provided a degree of satisfaction when you were able to provide some small degree of support to what were horribly grieving families. But one incident continues to haunt me. I had been instructed to deliver a series of medals won by a soldier to his parents' home. The young man had been dead for almost a year, but, in typical Army fashion, the paperwork to get his medals had taken months to finalize. I remember sitting at a Formica kitchen table in the parents' modest home outside Scranton, talking with the father, who obviously was still in pain. He pointed out how difficult it was dealing with the death of a son and I tried, in my clumsy way, to sympathize, saying that I understood - I had, a few years earlier, lost my father. Through very sad eyes, he looked at me and said that he too had lost a father when he was young, but nothing compared to losing a child, especially to a senseless war . He told me that his wife, cried every day and that they were considering moving just to get away from the memories. Nothing I could have said would have reduced that hurt.
47
The author is a true writer. I was really moved by this story, deep in the guts. With very few words, a particular case becomes a universal tragedy, of a young life meeting his fate earlier than expected. My hat to the author for expressing this so accurately, and my sympathy to the family.
21
Semper Fi Lcpl Michaels, Rest in Peace Marine. Semper Fi Cpl Masters, and you were, Always Faithful to your fellow Marine, that week so many years ago. Thanks for standing and delivering, and thanks for sharing your story, it means a lot.
29
Don't know what to make of this essay. I got back to the world the same year as the writer. I would have been glad to help that family by, say, listening to and hearing their stories. If there was any meaning in that war, this would be it.
14
Thank you for your service. Growing up I remember seeing the pictures of the flag draped coffins being unloaded at Dover AFB. All of us wondered if the carnage would end before we got our draft notices. Perhaps, the politicians who voted to send 54,000 men and women to die in Vietnam should have each accompanied one combat casualty home and seen the toll exacted on grieving families and friends. A long time ago someone observed that "old men start the wars and the young men get to fight and die in them."' History keeps repeating itself and not in good ways.
33
As a former Marine infantry officer who lead Marines like Cpl Masters and LCpl Michaels, I was moved by his understated, unadorned expressions of duty to LCpl Michaels and his family. Thinking about Marines like Cpl Masters and all of the other brave, young Marines I knew who did their duty and died or were maimed for no good reason, I damn near cried as I read his account to my wife.
52
A beautifully written memory. I lost a teammate and friend to the same war, and to this day I remember his very young, sweet face, his devotion and pride in serving in the Marines, although for just a few months before he returned home to his own final goodbye.
I am saddened by the photo of Lance Cpl. Michaels gravestone, which looks to be broken with a missing corner. Can it be replaced?
I am saddened by the photo of Lance Cpl. Michaels gravestone, which looks to be broken with a missing corner. Can it be replaced?
22
I think it may just be soil on the stone.
6
The Vietnam '67 articles bring me back in time. Each one of them has a memory, reminding me of something that occurred to me while in Vietnam. I understand your feelings George Masters. For years I have told people that being a Survivor's Assistance Officer was the worst duty I ever had. I would show up after the Chaplin notified the family and explain their benefits and help with the funeral. I would hand them the flag after the burial. Combat in 'Nam was easier. I would like to honor Sgt. Sterling Hill of Michigan. I will always remember him and his family. His young wife Suzanne and his four small children.
39
In the near future the last Vietnam Veteran will die and the Vietnam War will take its place along with WWI, WWII and Korea as merely pages in American History books.
10
In the near future, no thank you, I plan to be around for at least 20 more years!
28
Hi Neil, and I hope you are around for at least 20 more years.
Semper Fi,
RVN '68 - '69
Semper Fi,
RVN '68 - '69
14
A hard duty. Done for a fellow Marine. It's a good thing you did, at a difficult time for the nation.
Thank you for your service... to all of us.
Thank you for your service... to all of us.
66
I really appreciate having had the chance to read this. Earlier, I had read another Op-Ed piece, today about the new Communications Director at the White House Anthony Scaramucci entitled 'This isn't the Mooch I know'. I was struck by one particular line in that piece detailing Mr. Scaramucci's background that included the words 'Goldman Sachs (for two tours of duty)'. Seems to encapsulate a lot of what ails our country when we borrow a term used to describe the experience of marines like Mr. Masters and Lance Cpl Michaels to allude to time spent as a well-paid finance executive on Wall Street.
176
Including politics and disdain towards a person unassociated with the honoring and stoic experience Mr. Masters shares with the public is merely not just a disservice to Mr. Masters but also to those he so selflessly cares to remember.
1
great peace I love the series
15
Thank you for creating this intimate window into the real costs of war.
Condolences to surviving members of the Michaels family who still miss having their loved one in their lives.
Condolences to surviving members of the Michaels family who still miss having their loved one in their lives.
56
The self-important fools (Johnson, Nixon, Bush, McCain, and thousands more) who misled and mislead our country should have been tried and executed as traitors. Their actions: Treasonous to the interests of our citizenry.
10
Fifty-eight thousand dead Americans, hundreds of thousands of dead Vietnamese, a country devastated and defoliated, billions and billions of our treasury gone, the reputation of our country besmirched and nobody ever stood trial or was punished with prison. Just business, I guess. Was anything learned? Sure looks like nothing since we are still doing the same things and still preparing for 'the big one'.
24
Beautifully written. What an abomination that war was.
32
Among many very good Vietnam '67 essays, this is certainly one of the most touching. Thank you, Mr. Masters.
49
Great series, keep up the good work.
(It really takes me back to this era)
(It really takes me back to this era)
16
Thank you George for writing this; thank you families who lost their loved ones in a war.
14
Thank you Lance Corporal Michaels and George Masters for your service and sacrifice for our country.
21
Thank you George Masters.
18
This is similar to the story of my father's body returning from Okinawa. It was January and snowing. His coffin was taken off the train and left on a huge railroad baggage cart. It was snowing. My grandfather and uncle tried to move the cart out of the snow. They couldn't. They asked the Marine Honor Guard for help.
The six men picked up the coffin and carried it a mile through the snow to the funeral home, past my grandparent's home where my grandmother watched it go by from a window.
Mr. master's story gave me some insight as to how those six men felt that day.
The six men picked up the coffin and carried it a mile through the snow to the funeral home, past my grandparent's home where my grandmother watched it go by from a window.
Mr. master's story gave me some insight as to how those six men felt that day.
212
I put three of my people on an airplane to take them home for the last time. That was ten years ago.
This piece brings it all back. I hope my people had such a man as the author to take them the last mile home.
This piece brings it all back. I hope my people had such a man as the author to take them the last mile home.
169
My high school graduation was in 1966. In 1970, just a few weeks after graduating from college, one of my classmates was killed in Viet Nam, while on assignment with a Red Cross hospital unit.
Her name was Ginny Kirsch, she was 21, and she was murdered by a GI.
Because Ginny was not killed in the line of duty, her name was not inscribed on The Wall in DC, but was added about 20 years later following efforts by another Viet Nam vet.
The small community she came from decided, after 50 years and pressure from a woman who served with her and the Red Cross, to honor Ginny for her service and sacrifice.
Susan Bradshaw McClean's story of Ginny:
http://www.war-stories.com/donut-dollie-diary-ii-slook-1970.htm
Her name was Ginny Kirsch, she was 21, and she was murdered by a GI.
Because Ginny was not killed in the line of duty, her name was not inscribed on The Wall in DC, but was added about 20 years later following efforts by another Viet Nam vet.
The small community she came from decided, after 50 years and pressure from a woman who served with her and the Red Cross, to honor Ginny for her service and sacrifice.
Susan Bradshaw McClean's story of Ginny:
http://www.war-stories.com/donut-dollie-diary-ii-slook-1970.htm
41
What a moving and eloquent piece. Thank you for this- and for your service.
115
Thank you for this well written memory. Sadness, honor, duty, ordinariness. May Lance Corporal John Michaels rest in peace.
58
Sadly that is the story repeated all too often over our history.
People who are too old to fight send people often barely old enough to vote off to fight and sometimes die in wars. I thought the practice of hiding the dead arriving in Dover from Iraq and Afghanistan by the Bush Administration was a hideous intrusion of political considerations into a somber and solemn part of sending our troops to war.
I remember the 40th Anniversary of D-Day which I attended. There were men there- all or almost now all gone- who had not been back to Normandy since that day. Prior to the Anniversary in their old age, the only time some of them had ever been overseas was in a war fighting people they had never met in a place they had never been.
The next time politicians start beating the drums of war I suggest each of us take a trip to the Veteran's Circle at a local cemetery and think of the price that has been paid for us to be free and for the follies of our politicians.
To the author and all our other war veterans, Welcome Home and Thank You.
People who are too old to fight send people often barely old enough to vote off to fight and sometimes die in wars. I thought the practice of hiding the dead arriving in Dover from Iraq and Afghanistan by the Bush Administration was a hideous intrusion of political considerations into a somber and solemn part of sending our troops to war.
I remember the 40th Anniversary of D-Day which I attended. There were men there- all or almost now all gone- who had not been back to Normandy since that day. Prior to the Anniversary in their old age, the only time some of them had ever been overseas was in a war fighting people they had never met in a place they had never been.
The next time politicians start beating the drums of war I suggest each of us take a trip to the Veteran's Circle at a local cemetery and think of the price that has been paid for us to be free and for the follies of our politicians.
To the author and all our other war veterans, Welcome Home and Thank You.
97
This piece and others in this series have told individual stories in a very personal way of the men and women who served in Vietnam. I believe that some 2.6 million young men and women (from big cities and small towns across the country) were stationed in Nam between 1964 and 1973. Each one has/had a story to tell.I thank the Times for running this series and George Masters for this well written reflection.
80
This is an excellent piece of writing. Very moving.
40
A beautiful piece. I recommend the movie Taking Chance about escorting a coffin home.
31
Yes - a beautifully written piece. I am sure that still today many Americans do not know or have any knowledge of this moving and wonderful tradition for all our service men and women.
Just like on the battlefield - Marines never leave their wounded or dead and do anything and everything to recover them - their comrades in arms.
And that love, loyalty, and respect continues until they are escorted home and to their final resting place - so even in death they are never 'left alone'.
I too found the movie "Taking Chance" starring Kevin Bacon to be so real and moving and educational on this tradition. I have watched it at least 3 times and highly recommend everyone to watch it.
Today's warriors are given so much more in ways of hi-tech procedures and strict and new protocol for the escort to follow than in past wars. It is an honor for them but also extremely hard emotionally and mentally.
Just like on the battlefield - Marines never leave their wounded or dead and do anything and everything to recover them - their comrades in arms.
And that love, loyalty, and respect continues until they are escorted home and to their final resting place - so even in death they are never 'left alone'.
I too found the movie "Taking Chance" starring Kevin Bacon to be so real and moving and educational on this tradition. I have watched it at least 3 times and highly recommend everyone to watch it.
Today's warriors are given so much more in ways of hi-tech procedures and strict and new protocol for the escort to follow than in past wars. It is an honor for them but also extremely hard emotionally and mentally.
8
Good piece. Good series. Thanks everybody.
47
George, from one Vet to another, Thanks for your service.
69