Vietnam Veterans – Kindred Pain

Over the past few years I've noticed that Vietnam veterans tend to identify with Iraqi veterans. Now that the conflict in Iraq is winding down, I am not seeing this as much, but during the height of our involvement in the war in Iraq, I would get frequent inquiries from Vietnam vets about how the Iraqi vets are doing.

Are they having PTSD? Are they coming back ‘messed up?’ Are they getting the help they need? What sorts of medical problems are they coming home with?

This is an interesting phenomenon for a lot of reasons. One is that the Vietnam vets are not a group that has traditionally projected their feelings and experiences to other groups of veterans. They have a tendency to keep their own suffering to themselves and as a result, are not known for reaching out to other generations. Not that they lack empathy; it just that their extra dose of empathy towards the Iraqi soldiers is noteworthy.  

Why is this? Is it because both wars were so wildly unpopular, and the Vietnam vet has so many unresolved issues in regards to this? They were so poorly treated when they returned, do they worry about how the Iraqi vet will be received when they return home? Is it the similarities in the wars; not knowing where the next guerrilla attack from the jungle will come out of, not knowing when the next IED buried in the sand will blow up your convoy and set you up for an ambush? Thus, the Vietnam Vet feels a special kindred to the nature of this war.

I think all of these play a role.

Vietnam is not an era we look back on proudly as a nation. Unfortunately, there are a lot of similarities between these wars. It is likely that in the decades to come, we will not look back with national pride on the Iraqi war. I’m not here to argue one way or another on whether we should have gone to war with Iraq in this Millennia.  That’s history now. And I certainly do not claim that we did not/do not need to wage war on terror. I’m just saying that some of that national self-doubt is present in this war, as it was in Vietnam.

I also don’t mean to stereotype all Vietnam vets. There are many different personalities and problems to the Vietnam vet, and they do not all fit in a box. In fact, I will probably write  a post on it down the road. But there are some patterns and generalities I am in a special position to notice.

Maybe this outreach to the Iraqi vet will be therapeutic for the Vietnam vet.

I am glad that we learned as a nation, that even if we hate the war, we do not hate the soldier. I’m glad their homecoming is different from the homecoming of the Vietnam vet, and I am pretty sure the Vietnam vet is glad of that too.