Hollowfox, I have yet to meet anyone who lived through the Vietnam War years who wasn't messed up by it one way or another. Some actually were there. Some were killed there. Some had friends, family, neighbors who served there and for whom many prayers and about whom many worries were had. Some were doing all they could to end the war. Some were doing all they could to indicate their lack of support for it. Some ate their TV dinners and tried to pretend that the evening news reports didn't bother them. Some were happy to be able to have continued with college in order to evade the draft. Some were already in the armed services and wondered if they would be transferred from their stateside duties to a tour in Vietnam.

The list goes on and on. We were all touched by the war. It messed up all of us.

I know for certain that there are far more horrific stories than the one cited here that remain untold. I bear no malice toward those who were there. I thank each and every one of them for what they endured. War is horrible. It should be. If it were nicer, we'd have a lot more of them.

My favorite teeshirt quote from the war years was:

Suppose they gave a war and nobody came?