What follows below is written by a Vietnam War veteran living in Milwaukee, Bill Christofferson, in reaction to Obama's inugural speech.
Can you guys run this and/or forward:
http://www.uppitywis.org/obama-vietnam-vets-welcome-home
Obama to Vietnam vets: Welcome home
Posted January 20th, 2009 by Bill Christofferson
He had me at 'my fellow citizens.'
But of the many remarkable things Barack Obama said as he assumed this office of president, this simple phrase spoke volumes to me, and no doubt to many of my fellow Vietnam veterans, numbering some 2.5-million with another 6+ million who served during the Vietnam era:
"For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn."
I'll leave the analysis to others. I know what hearing that from the lips of our new President meant to me.
Vietnam, like Iraq, was a terrible mistake. But, as Vietnam Veterans Against the War have said for 40 years, it is possible -- and fitting -- to honor the warrior, not the war.
By mentioning Khe Sahn in the same breath as Lexington, Gettysburg, and Normandy, Obama has done that.
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Obama to Vietnam vets: Welcome home
