In 1989, I was a Vietnam veteran advisor to the Fullerton College version of Tracers, a play that reflected upon the effects of the Vietnam War on its veterans. I have written Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day messages every year since. In each annual message, I explain why I made that commitment and why I feel that it is important to make my message relevant to our time and how we vets contribute.
Celebrating my seventy-seventh birthday recently was an opportunity to reflect upon my increasing age and life’s journey. To be sure, I have had a lot of significant changes in my personal and professional life. A great deal of my life’s journey involved training in the oriental martial arts. I began that journey as a teen to overcome a history of bullying and a lack of self-confidence. Interestingly, that start in martial art training also gave me a valuable mental attitude that proved helpful in my entry into military service in the ‘60s.
I am reflecting on that brief insight into my history to make a key point. That is that the military service presented me with the most important paradigm shift of all—combat. Interestingly also is the fact that several of my former military peers have offered the opinion that combat veterans are special people. I am not sure that is the truth. Rather, I believe that most of us were regular people who faced special circumstances. Some grew from the experience, and others were damaged by it. I think that it is important not to view combat veterans as better or worse than other soldiers. We just endured a very challenging set of experiences.
Having made that point, I should also note that combat, containing the specter of death, does represent physical, mental, and spiritual challenges to anyone who goes through it, either directly or in the periphery. To my mind, combat can be terrifying, but it can also be stimulating, empowering, and collaborative. At its best, combat prepares a person for effective teamwork and leadership in the return to civilian life. It also can inspire some to make the military a productive career. For me, it enabled me to go beyond the fear of standing up and taught me the value of service. It enabled me to be an activist for professional and social issues.
In the broader sense, being a veteran of Vietnam taught us something else. It taught us the damage of social and political polarization. My return home, just like that of many others, was not a pleasant experience. Despite the positive aspects that I noted above, combat can also load the veteran with emotional baggage that is hard to put away. That was true for all combat experiences throughout time, and it has always been a challenge to overcome, even today. Therefore, it is critical for the veteran to find proactive ways to address the trauma of combat’s insidious influence. It becomes critical to find ways to replace the trauma and negative impact to make positive contributions.
For me, returning to school and teaching martial arts helped me develop a strong personal mission. School gave me the tools that I needed, because I had the discipline to be a more serious student than I was before. Practicing and teaching martial art classes validated my desire to provide service to those who needed it and sought personal growth. I suspect that my experience mirrors that of other veterans. We could all make a difference if only we had the opportunities to do so. Some of my fellow veterans like John McCain and John Kerry served with distinction in the government, remaining true to those principles noted above. John DiFusco created the Tracers play, noted in the beginning of this piece, to share our stories, and we have remained in contact ever since the time of that first collaboration.
Veterans of all levels of service remain connected long after our time of active service. One of my closest brothers from the service is Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant Freddie McDonald Jr., known as “Top.” We only met remotely through our association with a close friend in the martial art world, and yet “Top” has remained a caring, dedicated colleague throughout the decades. This is the essence of military service. We work together. We share. We can be counted on to dedicate our personal efforts to our friends, our community, and our country. It is my considered opinion that we need that kind of leadership in our culture and throughout the world. We cannot just consider the veteran as a fighter. We must consider the veteran as one of the best examples of humanity. To me, Veteran’s Day is not just about honoring the soldiers who have served our country in its defense. We must consider the true meaning of this day as being a signpost for how we all can and must act to be Americans.
On several occasions, I have noted that I regret the loss of the draft. I do not say that to endorse war or fighting. Of course, the draft did ensure that we would have a ready armed force to protect our country. The reality is that it produced much more. It allowed many of my fellow Americans to learn how to be and act as soldiers. Being a soldier is not just about fighting. It is also about learning to work together to be socially integrated. It has not always been perfectly executed, but it was much more effective than has a culture that has been allowed to run free form and undisciplined. That is why we should honor the veteran. That is why we need to learn from the veteran. That is why we should entrust our future to veterans who understand the true mission of a unified America.
Jack Amsell, U.S. Army – Republic of Vietnam: 1967—1972