Search for peace creates struggle for veterans

Dear Editor,

Listen to the wind in the willows. Listen to the murmur of voices long gone, but not forgotten.

Way back in the summer of 1962, while in basic training for the U.S. Army, I made the mistake of firing “expert” with an M-1 rifle. The war in Vietnam was just starting to heat up. I spent the better part of six years in special operations in conjunction with navel maneuvers.

Translation: I played numerous games of “Battleship” in an office in a National Guard armory using government-issue graph paper and ballpoint pens.

By no means do I intend to make light of anyone who has served in the military, nor to judge those unable or unwilling to serve.

For some time I was ashamed of my part as a soldier, or lack thereof, until I was made aware of the fact that a high percentage of our armed forces are involved in a supply or support capacity.

Such capacity becomes a game of “hurry up and wait,” that is more waiting than hurrying, rife with boredom, repetition, rumors and regulations designed as a common denominator of both men and material.

The select number of those veterans who have experienced mortal combat in kill or be killed situations, and survived, are for the most part a quiet bunch, as such horrific realities cannot readily be expressed in verbal terms, much less accurately depicted within a cinematic venue. It follows that some who have never heard a shot fired in anger are most vocal about their exploits generally after one too many beers.

In a real sense we are all veterans, not only those who have served in the military, but also ordinary citizens who send off young men and women from small towns, family farms and big cities, to far flung destinations in search of those two most elusive concepts, a just war and a lasting peace.

Both concepts remain elusive as conflict seems to be the norm of global problem solving, thus ensuring a perpetual flow of veterans.

As for my own military saga back in the 1960s, our unit was ordered to begin training to become ski troopers. Surely the U.S. Army never would send ski troopers to southeast Asia, or would they?

“The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind ...”

—Bob Dylan

Thomas Ylsabeck

Ironwood