CJ did not blow it

I have a personal note to add to a blog CJ, A Soldier’s Perspective, just completed, and titled, “I Blew It”.  CJ was interviewing anti-war protestors and lost his composure, as a result he feels he blew the whole thing. No you did not brother, anyone in your shoes, home from a tour in combat, seeing what you saw would have done the same. It is a difficult task to remain objective, while your friends are seeing the elephant. It is very easy for others to look upon us and say whatever they feel. They hide behind their amendment rights and scream as loud as they can if we are protesting to show support. They will go to any length, cross any point to insure we get as much trouble as possible. I am speaking from experience, been there, done that, wearing the t-shirt, we are not alone either.

In the late 1960’s I was home from a war no one wanted and protested even more. The anti-war movement was taking its first steps; Woodstock would not take place for another year. Bob Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind” had been released a few years earlier and was already an anthem, Joan Baez, usually seen with Dylan was protesting loudly and already had a following. The movement was a few years old, old enough for protestors to throw eggs at a few friends and me when we deplaned, screaming loudly that we were baby killers. We quickly ran to the protection of MP’s who turned out to care less what was going on. They were used to it and simply told us to get inside. A year later I was trying hard to understand their side, as most soldiers I knew the war was ran by Washington and in its present condition would never be a winnable situation. Still, my brothers were there and I supported them with every fiber of my soul. They were part of me, a part that no one would have understood. I was curious and wanted a few answers. I attended an anti-war protest seeking those answers, joined by a girl I was dating.

Immediately I was struck by the amount of drugs passed around, this was the 1960’s, remember that. People would stand at the microphone saying who had what and who had what to avoid. This became a common practice during these events, as demonstrated at Woodstock. I had seen drugs before and had never touched them, I was planning a career that frowned upon it and simply avoided them. I tried opening discussions with a few individuals and the answers never really made sense; I attributed it to the drugs and moved on. It was my girlfriend who got a good conversation going with a few people and I joined in. She was a political science major and had as much interest as I did. In the beginning the conversation was intelligent and enjoyable. I was learning what was going on. That quickly changed when someone said all the soldiers need to die and get this over with. A few others joined in and the conversation rapidly turned from good to really bad.

Tempers began flaring and I was throwing back words as fast as they were coming. I was telling them the soldiers had no choice in the matter and did not even want to be there, but it fail on deaf ears. It got down to two guys screaming at me and me at them. One guy said something that to this day I cannot recall and I punched him. It really got bad then. I was trying to get my girlfriend out of there when the Police arrived. They arrested a half dozen of the protestors and my girlfriend and I.

I explained what had happened and how the whole thing went from open discussion to a few of them bleeding. I knew I was in deep trouble and was very concerned. Times were different then and Police were different too. The officer looks at me and asked when I had returned from Viet Nam. I had not even told him I had been in the Army. I answered his questions and a few others. He and his partner took my girlfriend and me out of sight of the crowd. He tells me his son was in Viet Nam and that he had served in Korea.  He then explained that I would never find answers with the protestors because they were only doing this for attention and a reason to party. He explained that the majority of them were not even from here, but were known professional protestors who travel to the events instigating as much publicity as possible. He then had another car take my girlfriend and me back to where my car was located and sent us on our way.

Answers? They turn out to be within us. I found mine a few months later. We can’t find them at protesting events. They always scream loudly about the poor troops facing combat, when in truth they could care less. You did not blow it brother; you can’t do that when you are talking to people whose views are as alien as someone from another country. The comments they make are the same now as they were then. It is a roads show, it never stops, just moves to a different place. I loved your jihad question and have used that one myself in a few discussions. Remember, you did not blow it; you simply climbed down to their level for a moment. You are not alone either. You have a lot of brothers who feel as you.