As has been my wont for many years, this Vietnam veteran stood at the northeast corner of East 9th Street and North Marginal Drive on Labor Day weekend for the Cleveland National Air Show, promoting peace while wearing my vintage U.S. Army dress uniform and holding a U.S. peace flag on a pole. I cheerily greeted people heading to Burke Lakefront Airport, noting the beautiful weather.
A woman who recently visited Vietnam said the people “love Americans”, which is not a surprise since a majority of the Vietnamese had not experienced the horror of a war that ended 50 years ago. She said, however, the government “hates the press”. No surprise there, since Vietnam is a communist country.
A Cleveland policeman came over to talk, curious about my military service. Turns out he is Vietnamese and was one of the “boat people” who came to the U.S. as a child. Adult refugees were fearful of what life would be like under communist rule. I said to the officer, “Many people think our military is keeping us safe, but that’s not true. What’s really keeping us safe are state and local police, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and our intelligence agencies.”
When we kill people and destroy property with OUR weapons of mass destruction, we generate hatred for the United States among survivors of our attacks and make it easier for terrorist leaders to recruit new terrorists. That in turn makes the job of our intelligence agencies more difficult in determining who is a terrorist. What our military does is totally counterproductive.
To illustrate how non-military efforts are what’s really keeping us safe, in 2007 an alleged Islamist scheme intended to blow up a network of jet fuel pipelines and tanks servicing JFK airport in New York City. The pipelines are located under thickly-populated areas of New York City and if the plot were successful, the resulting conflagration would have made 9/11 look like a campfire. The plot was foiled by a law enforcement officer working undercover, keeping countless New Yorkers safe. Crediting the military for our safety is simply unwarranted.
I mentioned to some supporters of my message that “I didn’t serve my country. I served deceitful, lying, fear-mongering, war-mongering politicians–chief among them President Lyndon B. Jonson and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. Those truly serving our country are medics, nurses, doctors and mental health professionals who work very very hard to mend as best they can the psyches and bodies of those savaged and ravaged by war. They are the real war heroes. Not those who kill and destroy. That’s not heroic. It’s barbaric.”
One of the visitors to the air show, Liam, from Westlake, said after listening to my observations, “You are the most honest veteran I’ve talked with. You understand what the U.S. is about.”
On my way to Tower City to catch the Blue Line rapid home, a young man approached me on the plaza in front of the Terminal Tower and said he wore a uniform similar to mine when he was in a ROTC program at Glenville High School. He said he was required to be in the program in order to graduate. I asked the gentleman–Christopher – if he joined the army after graduation. He said he did not, adding that his mother was “scared” about him enlisting. However, Christopher said he is now considering joining the army. As he walked away, I said, “Listen to your mother!”
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