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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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