On Sunday, March 29th the Nation was to recognize the service of the men and women who served during the Vietnam War. This day was initially set aside by President Barack Obama as a day to have parades and ceremonies to honor those who served during the period of the Vietnam War. Five years later in 2017, President Donald Trump made this day an annual event with the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act.
On Sunday, there were no parades nor ceremonies to commemorate our veterans who dutifully served and sacrificed during this period. Understandably, these activities were overshadowed by the war we are waging against an invisible enemy, the coronavirus, which has adversely impacted so many Americans and has taken away the freedoms we have so often taken for granted. The media appears to be focused on the current war and the Vietnam Veterans are a casualty of proper recognition, once again.
If you listened to the news on the television or picked up the local paper on March 29th, you found very little, if any, recognition given to our veterans by the media or the politicians. While we are in this period of limited movement, we must place more reliance on the media to take a leadership role in making their listeners and readers aware of the significant events of the day. The Vietnam War was an event that scared the Nation as well as the servicemen and women who participated in it. There were"9,087,000 military personnel who served during the Vietnam Era... Of these, 2,709,918 served in Vietnam, this represents 9.7% of their generation, and 58,307 men and women died in, or as a direct result of, the Vietnam War." There were many more who suffered physical and psychological wounds.
These uniformed service personnel came home not to parades and ceremonies but to a less than an appreciable Nation. What Presidents Obama and Trump attempted to do was to give due recognition to the service, not only to the men and women who served in this period, but also to the families who waited upon their safe return. We are now only three years past President Trump’s signing of the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act and the interest of the media has appeared to fade away.
There is a disturbing trend of the media in this regard and it has been going on since the Korean War cease-fire armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. The media plays a major role in how the citizens of the Nation perceive things. Korean War veterans return from war to the welcoming arms of their loved ones. There was no special recognition. The media seems to have forgotten or choose not to report over the years the significant events of this war. Now we see the same is occurring with Vietnam war veterans. What about those men and women who are engaged in the War on Terror? What will be their legacy? How will the media recognize their service and sacrifice? Some cynics will say there is a shelf life to these events, I sincerely hope not. It appears the media has taken to heart a statement made by General Douglas MacArthur in his farewell speech to Congress on April 19, 1951, “Old soldiers never die they just fade away”.
On Sunday, there were no parades nor ceremonies to commemorate our veterans who dutifully served and sacrificed during this period. Understandably, these activities were overshadowed by the war we are waging against an invisible enemy, the coronavirus, which has adversely impacted so many Americans and has taken away the freedoms we have so often taken for granted. The media appears to be focused on the current war and the Vietnam Veterans are a casualty of proper recognition, once again.
If you listened to the news on the television or picked up the local paper on March 29th, you found very little, if any, recognition given to our veterans by the media or the politicians. While we are in this period of limited movement, we must place more reliance on the media to take a leadership role in making their listeners and readers aware of the significant events of the day. The Vietnam War was an event that scared the Nation as well as the servicemen and women who participated in it. There were"9,087,000 military personnel who served during the Vietnam Era... Of these, 2,709,918 served in Vietnam, this represents 9.7% of their generation, and 58,307 men and women died in, or as a direct result of, the Vietnam War." There were many more who suffered physical and psychological wounds.
These uniformed service personnel came home not to parades and ceremonies but to a less than an appreciable Nation. What Presidents Obama and Trump attempted to do was to give due recognition to the service, not only to the men and women who served in this period, but also to the families who waited upon their safe return. We are now only three years past President Trump’s signing of the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act and the interest of the media has appeared to fade away.
There is a disturbing trend of the media in this regard and it has been going on since the Korean War cease-fire armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. The media plays a major role in how the citizens of the Nation perceive things. Korean War veterans return from war to the welcoming arms of their loved ones. There was no special recognition. The media seems to have forgotten or choose not to report over the years the significant events of this war. Now we see the same is occurring with Vietnam war veterans. What about those men and women who are engaged in the War on Terror? What will be their legacy? How will the media recognize their service and sacrifice? Some cynics will say there is a shelf life to these events, I sincerely hope not. It appears the media has taken to heart a statement made by General Douglas MacArthur in his farewell speech to Congress on April 19, 1951, “Old soldiers never die they just fade away”.
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