'It shaped our lives': Vietnam was a story of death, sorrow and pain | Guest column
The Vietnam War was one of the longest, costliest, deadliest wars the United States has ever fought. It was one of the most protested, brutal and complex wars in our history. It is a story of death, sorrow and pain.
The war was different in many ways from World War II. During World War II, the United States declared war on Japan and Germany, had a plan to win the war, had the complete support of the people and had the atomic bomb, which it used on Japan to end the war.
The United States never declared war on North Vietnam, did not have the full support of the people, and did not have the option of using the atomic bomb. World War II veterans came home as heroes. Vietnam Veterans came home “losers.”
For the United States Marine Corps, it was the costliest war we ever fought. We lost five times more Marines than in World War I, three times more than in Korea, and had more Marines killed and wounded than in all of World War II.
For 13 months, the North Vietnam Army and Viet Cong were trying to kill us [my fellow Marines and me] and the only way to survive was to kill them first. You change under pressure seeing death up close every day and pushed to the limits of what the human body and soul can endure. I don't know if it was worth my soul. I can never get that back.
Coming home from the war did something to my generation of veterans that the war never could. We came home to anger and hate and were called losers, drug addicts and baby killers. Military organizations turned their backs on us. Employers wanted nothing to do with those who were exposed to the demoralizing effects of drugs and defeat.
We soon realized we had not defeated all our enemies. The media publicized the war and told many lies and made those fighting the war look bad. One of the biggest tragedies of war is not the bullets or shrapnel that tear into your flesh. Sometimes, even dying is not the worst thing that can happen to you.
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But killing to survive and putting your friends into body bags and knowing you cannot stop the horror and madness can destroy your soul and make you a casualty of war for years to come.
The war and homecoming made us what we are, whether we like it or not. It shaped our lives mentally, physically and spiritually, and rarely for the good. War is a nightmare 24 hours a day, and at any moment, that nightmare could turn into reality.
Ken Leland of Lakeland served as a Marine Corps sergeant and squad leader in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. Wounded twice, his 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. He has been a speaker for Vietnam Veterans of America for 23 years speaking in high schools, universities, civic organizations and others about his service before, during and after the Vietnam War.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland Vietnam veteran recalls death, sorrow and pain
