Perkins Keith

Description

It is difficult for me to explain why I decided to write this letter. In part it is an attempt towards catharsis on my part. It is something I have undertaken to bring my past into view for introspection and inspection. It is in part designed to be educational for those who have no knowledge of what the Vietnam experience is. It is in part an exercise which I hope will put events and my behavior in perspective for myself. At times this letter is polemic, at times the grammar suffers, at times it will not make sense to everyone. This letter is personal as well as generic. At times the text is repetitive and rambles, I can't help that, I was schooled in political science and I presently am a bureaucrat. I cannot and will not cover everything which I have experienced. That is not possible. Perhaps as time goes by I will add to this letter; perhaps I will throw it in the trash. Regardless of the outcome of this endeavor, it is tonight's assignment. I am a seven year Army veteran who served with the First Cavalry Division Airmobile from October 1968 to October 1969 as a combat photographer. As such I was in a unique position to observe, participate, and record the events that occurred in Vietnam while I was there -I served as both a combat trip and a rear echelon troop. I have experienced Vietnam from many Perspectives. What I will attempt to present is my personal interpretation of what the Vietnam experience is. You will note that this letter is written in the present tense. For many of us who served in Vietnam the war continues. We are no longer faced with an actual enemy force who is out to kill us, but with enemies who lurk behind every door we open. The war continues within us and continues within the minds of people who continue to despise us. Why are the veterans of Vietnam singled out as the tainted feather in the nation's cap? The most common answer I have heard is that we lost. We used every weapon at our disposal short of our nuclear arsenal against a nation of rice farmers and fishermen, and we lost! My own answer is that it is not possible to win a war of insurgency and guerrilla tactics, particularly if the guerrillas are well armed. Devotion to a cause, whether it be religious, political, economic, or philosophical, can and will defeat every obstacle placed in the way of the zealot. Hitler knew this. Ho Chi Minh knew this. The Ayatollah knew this. Would any of us be here today were it not for the devotion and perseverance of the nation's first army-the freedom fighters and minute men? There are no words to describe the physical and mental reflex action of combat - fear, desire to live, horror, instinct, willingness to save a friend, ability to ignore the dead, and relief when it it's over. I think of a GI who had his arm shattered, who was lying on a stretcher with a smile on his face. He knew, at least for him, that the war was over. At that moment it did not matter that his arm would probably always be useless. All that mattered to him was that he didn't have to go back into the bush, and that he would soon be leaving Vietnam. The problem for many vets is that even when they left the country, they took Vietnam home with them.

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