It seemed like the fireworks had just ended from the 4th of July celebration when hurricane Beryl brought its fireworks into our lives. Many areas in the Houston area now look like a war zone. Big trees are down, destroying many homes with limbs and other debris everywhere. Power lines and transformers are out over most of the entire area. CenterPoint reported that around 2.5 million customers were without power as the storm moved out of Houston. The roar of the sound of generators filled the air, night and day as families tried to make it through one more day. Internet and TV service continues to be out in many areas including at my home adding to the frustrations of trying to talk to an actual person with Comcast.
Three years ago, I had a whole-house generator installed because I needed to be able to stay here during major weather events with Eva with her health conditions. I am thankful that I was able to do that, and it has run for many days several times in the past three years. With no internet or TV, I have been watching a lot of DVDs lately. Some of them have been war movies and some about the period after the Civil War.
“Hamburger Hill” is about the Vietnam War and a single battle for Hill 937 over 10 days in May 1969. This movie is based on real events and is about the individual lives of the men of Bravo Company. The battle to take that hill away from the enemy is brutal and costs many lives of brave soldiers and those who survived sustained injuries that they would carry for the remainder of their lives. The movie tells more than just the killing and death, it is also about the relationships between the men.
The small company of fourteen soldiers is made up of a few soldiers who have been battle-tested in other battles, some who have little fighting experience, and some raw recruits who will see their first action. The men come from different backgrounds and experiences that now have to co-exist while in camp and learn to protect each other’s backs while fighting the common enemy. Words exchanged between the men of different skin colors tell a story of perception by the different racial groups and punches are thrown. Order is restored and the reality of the fact that all of them are there and not in college or Canada.
One of the young soldiers gets a letter from his girlfriend and she tells him it will be her last letter to him. Her friends at college tell her that the soldiers are evil and that the war is wrong, and she must end her relationship with him. Another soldier gets a letter from his young wife who sends her love and words of encouragement from the family back home. Those of us living at that time here in America remember the riots and demonstrations by those against the war that feed other riots based on race. The radio man tuned to a station that was broadcasting from Hanoi telling the American soldiers to put down their weapons and come over to their side and they would be treated as heroes. He tells the other soldiers that some of the messages are made by some American celebrates.
The story is not about how important it was to take the hill to win the war. It was not about how the lives were lost in a war we did not win. More than 58,000 Americans died during the Vietnam War and millions more lived their remaining time with serious injuries, both physical and mental. It is about gaining an understanding that we have more in common than that which divides us. Our bloodshed knows no color and our need for freedom requires us to work together for the common good.
Those brave men who fought for freedom in Vietnam came home without the greeting of a grateful nation like at the end of WWII. Hollywood, network news, and many politicians had turned against the war and the American soldiers that done what was asked of them by their government. War is Hell and those who experience that reality, most often do not want to talk about what they experienced. We know some of our veterans end up homeless and with mental illnesses; however, like those returning from WWII, many quietly went on with their lives. They built businesses, and families of faith, and helped to lead our country.
Memorial Day is when we give thanks to all the brave men and women who have lost their lives fighting for freedom. Fourth of July or Independence Day is the day we celebrate the victory gained from the Revolutionary War. Veterans Day is the day we give thanks to all who have and are serving to protect our freedom. In 1973, President Nixon signed the law that ended the draft of young men into military service. Since that time, every soldier in America has been in the military as a volunteer. For most of America’s history, a large percentage of those serving in Congress had military experience. That changed over the past thirty or forty years and politics in America has become ugly and with less unity.
Many in Congress have made politics their career and become wealthy and corrupt. They focus on our differences, and they use that to divide us, so we do not notice what they are doing. For a few years after 911, we had a focus on a common enemy. To many current politicians are solely focusing on dividing Americans based on skin color and other social issues to gain greater control over our actions and freedoms. They have taken us back to 1965 with protests at colleges and in the city streets. Are we facing our “Hamburger Hill” to force us to find our common enemy?
Written 7/13/2024 at 1:15 p.m. – before the shooting of President Trump
