Yesterday, I headed over the Michigan Vietnam War Memorial in Lansing to play “Taps” at the usual time of 11 a.m. This was a tradition I learned from legendary Professor Walter Adams when I was a freshman at Michigan State University.
I have been doing this for many years, first on campus, later at the Capitol, and ultimately at the memorial. In most years, no more than a half-dozen souls showed up to hear me play.
One can imagine how shocked I was to see rows of chairs, a podium and flags set out yesterday morning. Perhaps 40 people were there, and they looked at me curiously as I trotted up (traffic having been abysmal) at 10:58 a.m. and attempted to warm up my trumpet while gasping for air.
I gave an adequate performance, and then retired to a seat in the rear row, having no idea what was going on. Over the next hour I learned in great detail about the difficulties involved in honoring Vietnam veterans. It was a deeply controversial conflict, and a considerable segment of the electorate considered it shameful, and unworthy of any official memorial.
Several speakers referenced the intense passions that raged about the subject for decades, and I found it to be a welcome reminder that however divisive we consider politics today, they are a pale imitation of what was going on during the Vietnam era.
Put simply, most of our conflict plays out online, whereas back then, it took place in real life. The assassinations of Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. (and Malcolm X) were set against a background of bombings and urban riots far beyond anything we have experienced. This was when New York tipped into urban decay and Detroit went from being the Motor City to a war zone.
I then reflected on how veterans are treated now compared to back then. Countless businesses offered special deals yesterday for veterans, and people now tell me “Thank you for your service” to the point where it becomes embarrassing.
I think that amidst all the political theater, it is important to understand that while there are many conflicts in our society, there are also areas of broad-based agreement. We should focus on those, and not obsesses about the constant content churn designed to maximize clicks.
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