Listening Post: Another D-Day

As a boy in the early 60s, few things loomed larger in the imagination than WWII, endlessly dramatized in the movies and on TV, and endlessly reenacted in the fields and woods with plastic guns and homemade sound effects. D-Day, June 6, 1944, in particular loomed large–a conflagration that beggared depiction. I knew a few men in town who were there for that day, not that they would ever talk about it. Most of them are gone now.

Later, the newsreels from Vietnam, stripped of Hollywood glamor, poured into the home each night on the news and ruined the “game” of guns for me. That I had ever thought it a game only proved that I was a child. Then in the 70s I began to meet veterans of Vietnam. They were pretty quiet, too. And like the previous generation of vets, they were mostly solid, reliable, and capable beyond the average. Their shared experience had brought them a certain quality, a gravitas, and a different set of reactions.

When my daughter was four or five, a neighbor and Vietnam vet was doing some roofing work on our house. She and I were playing sidewalk superintendent when the work disturbed a big wasp nest in the eaves. The swarm went straight for us. My instinctive reaction was to take a few steps back. My neighbor’s instant reaction was to run toward it, and grab my daughter out of harm’s way. By that time, I was heading toward her, too–but that instant’s hesitation has always stayed with me.

Even Gandhi was an admirer of veterans. He said that it was much easier to take a person who had self-discipline, courage and a proven willingness to sacrifice, and to lead them toward nonviolence, than it was to take a “civilian” and instill in him the so-called military virtues. All I can say is that one veteran in one moment taught me an unforgettable lesson about being a grown-up and a parent. Without ever talking about it.

Now another generation of vets is with us and they too know things the rest of us need to know. They probably won’t talk about it much, but if you pay close attention to what they do, you can learn.

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8 Comments on “Listening Post: Another D-Day”

  1. Jim Benvenuto says:

    Great post, Dale! Well said, as always.

  2. velma says:

    such a good story.

  3. Ken Hall says:

    When I was a “kid” back in the 50’s one of my play mates told me a story that his dad had told him, in an effort to appraise him of the horrors of war, about an American slaughter of German POW’s that his father had been involved with. I told this mate that I did not believe it, that Americans would never do such dastardly things and I steadfastly believed such, until I arrived at Da Nang AFB in May 65. Throughout the majority of my life I have proclaimed, especially to young tough talking men, “the only people I know who think war is neat are those who have never been involved in one”.

  4. Laurena says:

    Thank you for sharing this – making us pause and listen

  5. Pete Klein says:

    Having been born in 42, I was a bit disappointed to not hear any mention of D Day in yesterday’s news.

  6. Sunshine says:

    Brought tears to my eyes, reading this.
    Still remember a favorite cousin, always big, strong and brave, warm and loving and funny…came home from Korea…a broken shadow of his former self. He is long dead now but I always think of Vince when I think of war.

  7. Phil says:

    Nicely said. I had two childhood friends who became marines. After their service, they were kind and gentle and strong. Too often the media writes about veterans who go beserk. Your column was a pleasant change.

  8. Ellen Rocco says:

    Thanks, Dale. Bill Ehrhart is a vet who became a poet, a peace maker, a teacher and a father. I tipped my hat to him in an earlier All In entry. Here’s the link: http://blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org/allin/2010/05/31/a-poem-for-memorial-day/

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