Memorial Day and the Vietnam War Memorial Day and the Vietnam War

I was listening to the Michael Reagan talk show last night, and was struck by the fact that in the last couple years there has been a remarkable Vietnam War catharsis in this country. For some twenty-five years, that war was a festering wound in our national psyche. And then something changed.

I attribute this change, this catharsis, to two primary factors. First, we are at war again, with troops in harm's way, doing their duty, and they come back and are dishonored. But this time, many of us aren't standing for it. And, second, John Kerry ran for president almost two years ago. He was a strategic blunder for the Democrats, not because he served honorably in Vietnam, but because of what he did when he came back from the war. He lost, in part, because a lot of Vietnam vets, who really starting voting Democratic in 1972, couldn't stomach a vote for the guy who stood up before Congress and told them, under oath, that all his brothers in arms were routinely committing atrocities in Vietnam.

So, along with our vets from Afganistan and Iraq, we are now truly honoring our Vietnam vets. And it feels good to do so. Reagan played a song about the 173rd Airborne last night, and for the first time in a long time, I think a lot of people were moved by it.