Frank Watson: Veterans Are Ordinary People

I read a magazine article the other day that claimed to describe how veterans see the world.

I agreed with part of it but decided that the underlying objective of the article was to solicit for organizations that may or may not help veterans.

The article assumed that veterans are a homogeneous group set apart from the rest of society.

That assumption and the stereotype it generates are not only false but tend to support those who would con a sympathetic public.

I was on a New York subway a few years ago when two guys in old field jackets entered our car with signs saying “Support Viet Nam Veterans.” I asked the spokesman where he served in the war.

He folded up his sign and got off the train.

The Viet Nam Veteran portrayed on TV as a derelict drug addict is as much a work of fiction as the Gulf War veteran who suffers from PTSD so bad that he can’t cope.

Veterans are your neighbors, the guy who picks up your trash, and the lady who owns the corner market. They don’t wear identification tags, and they have very little in common except for donating part of their lives to military service. Far less than half of all veterans served in combat, and those who think they are owed lifelong benefits for a two to four year hitch are a very small minority. They are overwhelmingly average Americans with all the strengths, weaknesses and quirks as the rest of our society.

I graduated from the U.S. Military Academy right into the Viet Nam War.

All of my classmates served in Viet Nam except for the one who was killed in Santa Domingo shortly after graduation.

Most of us served multiple combat tours.

We saw and experienced things that we hope our children and grandchildren will never experience.

We didn’t develop PTSD because it hadn’t been invented yet.

We didn’t require comfort dogs to alleviate our stress because we didn’t know we needed them.

None of us turned into sociopaths in the image of Rambo.

We didn’t consider ourselves victims.

We came home and blended into society.

My wife and I hosted an Army/Navy party a few years ago that included four of my classmates who live in eastern Washington.

My 13-year-old granddaughter and one of her friends were there, and I heard them whispering in the background, “Who are all these old guys?” I eased over and introduced the girls to my old classmates.

One was a retired diplomat, another was a successful corporate executive, and yet another was a small business owner.

A fourth was a school teacher and the fifth was a real estate appraiser.

Oh, by the way, all had served multiple combat tours.

Three had been severely wounded; one of them twice.

Two were ex-aviators with more than 500 combat missions between them.

None considered himself to be a war hero; just a group of old guys.

We don’t want your pity and would rather not be singled out except on Veteran’s Day. Being veterans is not our primary identity. We are small businessmen, corporate executives, school teachers, little league coaches, neighbors, parents…who just happen to have proudly served our country.

(Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and a long time resident of Eastern Washington. He has been a free lance columnist for over 18 years.)