A time to take advantage of new confidence
It’s like nothing since World War II. When American troops returned from Europe and the Pacific in 1945, it was to flags and neon signs that blinked: JOB WELL DONE and WELCOME BACK. There was dancing in the streets, and free beer all around. Parades and speeches celebrated victory over the Axis. The feelings of pride and the new sense of purpose jumpstarted the entire nation.
Now the flags are out again. Yellow ribbons proclaim the welcome. Parades and parties await our fliers, swabbies and mud soldiers, and they damn well deserve the tribute. Few gulf soldiers saw the kind of fighting experienced by their counterparts in World War II or Korea or Vietnam. But all had to face down fear and most had to endure terrible conditions for long months. And when their country asked them to prepare for the ultimate sacrifice, very few complained.
What a change has occurred in America since I left to report the war in the gulf at Christmastime. War hung in the air, like an invisible black crepe covering the holiday feeling of joy, hope and peace. America seemed to be moving toward another bloodstained tragedy in a faraway land. But then an air campaign beyond even Billy Mitchell’s wildest dreams, combined with a ground war of just 100 hours, reduced the world’s fourth largest Army to rubble, ashes and defeat. And when I came back to the United States last week, I found a nation transformed, from New York City to San Francisco. Americans are standing tall for the first time in years.
It is all so different from what I found after Korea and Vietnam. At the end of the Korean War I was a 21-year-old kid and, after three years in the trenches and four Purple Hearts, I expected the works. I got nothing but a full and lonely hangover. That war was a “police action,” and we veterans were the unwanted cops. I was hurt and carried a chip on my shoulder for years. After Korea, I didn’t expect much from the American people during the Vietnam War. But each time I returned home during my five years there, the hostility grew more intense. At the end of my last tour, to avoid the sharp words and looks of revulsion, I changed into civvies in the Los Angeles airport john. I got four more Purple Hearts in Vietnam and saw too many good people get wounded and killed, and the attitude of the American people who sent us there gave new meaning to the expression: lest we forget.
Many veterans of those wars now find themselves envious of the instant heroes returning from the gulf. They figure that they bled plenty and got only negative recognition. And they are right. The coming parades and celebrations should include them: it was their pain that caused our country to say, “Never again.” My old comrade Maj. Tim Grattan hit it right on the head when he said, “The lesson from Vietnam was: if we’re going to fight a war we must get in there boots and all.” The gulf victory was done boots and all. We learned from past mistakes. The captains and corporals of Vietnam were the generals and senior sergeants in the gulf, and the veterans of Korea and Vietnam stoked the fires of national resolve back home.
So, let’s use our newfound confidence to turn America around. Yes, we need a new world order, but let it begin at home and not just with soaring polls and White House speeches. An important initial objective will be to slay the military-industrial complex that cost the United States so dearly during four decades of cold war, when we exchanged schools for missiles and Chevrolets for Toyotas. Our military shield must be rethought. It costs too much and there’s too much waste. The key is to get American priorities right. We need to start with our education system, so our kids can read and write again. We need to take care of the homeless and poor, and attack drugs and crime. We must clean up our environment, rebuild our highways, railroads and merchant fleet. We must revitalize our industries to the point that MADE IN AMERICA will once again stand for quality.
The victory in the gulf has also brought new international respect for U.S. military power. We must be careful with this power. It would be easy to get into another Vietnam somewhere. We must remember that right is might and stop giving guns and money to thugs like Manuel Noriega, Ferdinand Marcos and Saddam Hussein. Since there are few enemies out there now, let’s learn from the past as our generals have so recently done. Let’s harness this great feeling that is sweeping across our land. President Bush recently said: “Our vital national interests depend on a stable and secure gulf.” He got it half right. Our vital national interests depend on a stable and secure America. Let’s roll up our sleeves and make it that way.
