The War That Will Not Let Us Rest

Comancheros of 'A' Co, 101st AHB, 101st ABN, Sept 1970

by Byron Edgington

Recently, I had the privilege of addressing a local High School World History class about the war in South Asia. 

Like many of my fellow Vietnam veterans, and most of my fellow Americans, even fifty years after the fact, my opinion and belief about Vietnam and our efficacy in prosecuting that war has changed time after time.

I was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. I flew for a year with the 101st Airborne Division based at Camp Eagle in Northern I Corps. In my one-year tour, I logged 1,200 hours in the cockpit. 

I left Vietnam March 17th 1971, and within two days, I mustered out of the Army. I was, quite literally, flying combat sorties on a Monday, and back home in Columbus on Friday. It was surreal, and more than a little disorienting.

I believe my experience matched that of many, if not most, of my colleagues, troops who filtered back into the world alone, unheralded, with little fanfare or opportunity to tell what happened to us, let alone uncover its meaning in our lives.

Here’s what I believe. This may be a minority view, but, as I said, my opinion about Vietnam has altered and changed many times over the years. 

Today, without meaning to be patronizing to my fellow vets, I believe that our actions in Vietnam may have been more heroic than what our fathers did in their war. 

We’ve heard the tales and trials of the Greatest Generation, their unbelievable exploits to defeat the Nazis and the Japanese war machine. We’ve read the books, seen the movies, and heard the trumpeted war stories all our lives. Those men and women were indeed heroes of the highest order for what they did.

Here’s the crucial difference, in my humble opinion: they were faced with a nation at risk of being defeated, subjugated, and crushed under the tyrannical rule of Nazi Germany. The threat to our way of life was real, harsh and immediate. 

It’s no stretch to say that, had our fathers’ generation not fought tooth and nail to defeat those two armies, we may very well be living today under a fascist form of government. The upshot is this; those troops had no choice but to fight through to final victory.

The military we faced in Vietnam was little more than a rag-tag collection of insurrectionists and rebels, a nationalistic band of determined little men, who fought valiantly to unite their small country. The North Vietnamese military and the Viet Cong posed no threat to America. 

They had one goal in mind, to create a unified Vietnam, and to end the artificial separation of their country by foreign nations after the World War.

In other words, those of us who went to Vietnam did not go to protect the borders of this nation, or our culture and way of life. We went simply because we were told to go, and we did. 

Again, in my humble opinion, perhaps those Vietnam vets who still labor under the disillusion that we ‘lost’ the war, or we ‘failed’ in some way, I say take heart. Regardless of how anyone feels now about that war and our part in it, we answered the call, even when it was unnecessary to do so.

Byron Edgington

Byron Edgington

The SkyWriter

Other Articles by Byron Edgington:

War: A Waste of Youth
The Right Seat is the Wrong Seat
Jim, Frank, and The Snake
Smokey, The Alcoholic Pup

Book:
The Sky Behind Me: A Memoir of Flying & Life 

Byron's Website

Byron's Blog

“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale


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