"Be it Cold War, or in a hot war, it all mattered. And that means something. Actually, it means everything. Be proud and stand tall vets - you have earned what recognition you get today."
I decided to pen this article today, just because things are so different now than they were when I was young. The year was 1967, and I was in my last year of high school. Every night on the news, there were stories of this war going on in Viet Nam. It seemed so distant, so far away. After all, Robbinsdale High School was nestled in the heartland. We thought about football, sock hops and having fun. But that was about to change once we graduated. All of a sudden, this war overseas, the selective service draft, was about to become very real for many of my classmates.
I made it through almost a year of college after high school before my 2S student deferment went away. All of a sudden when I transferred up to St. Cloud State from the junior college I went to, many of my credits did not make it. I was now IA, ready to be drafted. I was living in a dorm on the campus, and it seemed as if ever day somebody would "disappear". In other words, the draft got them, and they were gone. I knew my time was running out, so as my grandpa would say, "I better do it to myself before somebody else does it to me." I went down to the St. Cloud Federal Building and enlisted in the United States Navy.
Why tell this story? Because we are a generation who is aging out. Some are dying out. What the service was, what the draft was, what the Viet Nam War was, is something which younger people today will never experience. And that is a good thing. The war and the draft were the kick in the pants I needed back then. I have said many times that going in the Navy was one of the best things I have ever done. Why? For so many reasons - the first of which it transitioned me from being a boy to being a man. I learned responsibility. Commitment. Honor. Duty. The list goes on and on, but other vets know of which I speak.
The funny thing is, when I joined the Navy, my wish list was to be on an aircraft carrier. Go to sea. Be part of the war effort from a "bird farm" (aircraft carrier). It never happened. I was picked to go into some field which back then, they could not even tell me what it was. The bottom line was this - I never did get a chance to go to sea. I was a "spook", so shore duty was my entire career. That was the bad news. The good news is it opened some opportunities to me which were exciting and unique. Do I regret the path which was given to me? Not a bit.
My journey really did start at Robbinsdale High School. Trying to see my future when I graduated, the draft and the war were like two fog banks which obscured my vision forward. I was not ready for college, and I knew my path would intersect the service in one way or another. And it did. Today, there is no draft. No war. Kids can go into the service and learn a trade. Learn responsibility. Serve their country. What am I trying to say? A vet is a vet, throughout the years. My experience in my era was much different than my dad's. He was a WWII vet. And my era's experience was very different from today's era. The common denominator is a vet is still a vet. Honor, courage and commitment.
For those who are still with us who have served in Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, and Afghanistan - the nation salutes you on this day. No matter your experience, no matter how unique it was, it matters. We are the home of the free because of the brave. Every time you take the oath, you commit to something greater than what you are individually. You become a part of the great cadre of warriors who keep and kept this great nation free. Be it Cold War, or in a hot war, it all mattered. And that means something. Actually, it means everything. Be proud and stand tall vets - you have earned what recognition you get today.
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