Whether you are old enough to remember the Vietnam War or not, you likely share ambiguous feelings about those times with countless others.
Recently, 74 veteran service members of that era were part of a Twin Cities Honor Flight to Washington D.C. for a most memorable day. Part of the flight also were 10 Korean War era veterans and one WWII veteran who turned 100 years this past week.
I was one of the Vietnam War veterans, and what an honor and thrill this day was. I and my chosen Guardian, a requirement for each veteran, was Philip Soltis, also from Northfield. As Phil too served, we both “lived the dream” as we were honored again and again by the day-long program.
Reviewing the monuments and memorials while listening to the knowledgeable docent dedicated to us for the day added a good deal of context to the symbols of our national history. Our time at Arlington National Cemetery was somber and quiet. More than 400,000 of America’s finest have been interred there.
These 600-plus acres contain the bodies and cremains of more than 400,000 of America’s finest. This is the cemetery whose beginnings stand on the home grounds of a confederate, a Civil War general.
Somber to the point of a tear here and there, was witnessing the Changing of the Guard at the site of the Unknown Soldier. A dozen of our group were in wheelchairs, adding to the impact of this incredibly precise and disciplined pageant. The change of guards is repeated every 30-minutes, 24-hours a day. It began on Armistice Day, 1921.
The greatest honor to us veterans personally was the surprise at our post-midnight return to MSP Airport. As we deplaned, we were asked to gather before disbanding for home. Admittedly, that request was somewhat frustrating for me. My internal sentiment went something like this: The day has been great, but it’s over. We’re tired. We’ve seen it all, and it’s so late. Let us go home. Please! But it was not over.
As our group of nearly 200 finally moved on and turned a corner, the sound of bagpipes filled the air, and uniformed Honor Guards lined lobby walls, sharing rigid salutes. Scores of our friends, relatives, and strangers formed a virtual, cheering gauntlet while waving homemade Welcome Home signs and American flags. It was truly the homecoming never given Vietnam War veterans. Dazed by it all, I stopped along the way to ask a cheering woman, “Where did you people come from?” Her response was tender and precious. “All over the Twin Cities, Sweetheart.”
Almost coincidentally, I received an award recently for one of the historical novels I have written. “The Independent Press Award,” one of the most prestigious book award programs for independent authors, publishers, and illustrators, recognized “Weeds of War: Those Who Bled at Dien Bien Phu” as a 2024 Distinguished Favorite in the category of Military Fiction.”
As a character driven book, “Weeds of War” provides a good deal of context to the French-Indochina War, the precursor of our own dreadful, eight-year war. Completing a trilogy, my coming story is of our Vietnam War. The product of research and angst, it aims for a tapestry of the war’s blunders and bobbles as seen through the humanity of mostly well-intentioned characters. Mostly, but not all.
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