THE BEST OF AMERICA

Yesterday,I was taken aback, somewhat by the President's Memorial Day remarks. He called the military, the men and women of America's fighting forces, both living and dead, as "the best of America." And, then it was almost as though he was thinking out loud and said, "Why in an age when so many have acted only in pursuit of narrowest self-interest have the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of this generation volunteered all that they have on behalf of others. Why have they been willing to bear the heaviest burden? Whatever it is, they felt some tug. They answered a call. They said 'I'll go.' That is why they are the best of America." That is what separates them from those who have not served in uniform, their extraordinary willingness to risk their lives for people they never met."

The president, who did not serve in the military, noted his grandfather's Army service during World War II and his status as a father of daughters ages 10 and 7. Unlike many of those in the audience, Obama said he can't know what it's like to walk into battle or lose a child.

"But I do know this. I am humbled to be the commander in chief of the finest fighting force in the history of the world," he said.

And, I will have to say to the President, I am humbled by your remarks and they gave me pause. In a twenty nine year career, I never thought about how great it was that I was serving my country. It was a choice I had made. When I was in Vietnam, rarely did the troops and I discuss what it meant to be at war. Mostly, we were doing our time and when it was over, we were thankful we had survived. For us, Vietnam vets, we didn't enjoy any of the accolades at the time of having served our country. Quite the opposite: mostly scorn from all sorts of quarters, "how could we have been so stupid to get ourselves drafted and of all things go to Vietnam." We mostly just "sucked it up and surely didn't talk much about it. At some point, ten years or so, most Americans began to wake up and realize that we didn't cause the war but were merely doing what we were told. The country sent us to Vietnam.

For us Vietnam vets, our legacy, if we have one is that because we were treated so shabbily, soldies serving now are called heros just for being soldiers. To hear the president call us the best of America is pretty gratifying even if we don't believe it.