by The Hon. Eileen C. Moore
The motto of Vietnam Veterans of America is “Never Again Shall One Generation of Veterans Abandon Another.” What a sad statement about this exceptional country of ours.
Vietnam veterans felt shunned by veterans of WWII and the Korean War, as well as the traditional veterans’ organizations. Somewhere along the line during the 1960s and 1970s, the term “patriot” became a four-letter word. There were bumper stickers saying such things as: “Want to take a voyage to far off places, meet exotic people and kill them?” Until Vietnam, soldiers and sailors were a familiar sight in America’s neighborhoods, as were the men who wore their uniforms proudly. But during the Vietnam era, soldiers were subject to taunts on public streets, and people spit on them at airports.
I think the American people confused the massive transformations and unrest going on in our society at the time with the Vietnam War. While great changes are occurring, folks tend to be confused and unhappy. It was a time when Americans were making fundamental adjustments regarding our ideals of freedom and democracy.
Numerous United States Supreme Court decisions resulted in major changes in the existing order. Examples are the restrictive covenant cases, otherwise known as Shelley v. Kraemer, that voided the routine restrictions based on race and religion which prevented people from buying houses where they wanted to live. Baker v. Carr changed the political atmosphere along with electoral districts. Gideon v. Wainwright required the public to pay for counsel for poor people accused of a felony. Loving v. Virginia voided statutes which banned interracial marriages. Roth v. United States relaxed pornography laws.
The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and by the time the war was at its worst, the Civil Rights Movement was at its height. Hundreds of American cities saw race riots. Funny the way things go. At the beginning of the war, I don’t remember ever seeing a Black, Hispanic, or Asian officer. By the end of the Vietnam War, I saw many.
Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, was published in 1963. Before long, women all over the country, including me, were pushing their way into businesses, industries, and institutions of higher learning.
Hollywood apparently realized how profitable fanning the unrest could be. A few of the films of the time were Dirty Harry and Death Wish, which sent the message criminals were being coddled. M*A*S*H challenged almost every accepted practice.
All the while, our soldiers in Vietnam only wanted to remember the America of their dreams, their girls, their mothers, and apple pie. I know. When they opened their eyes to see an American nurse standing over them, all they really saw was America. They didn’t know where they were. All they knew was, wherever they were, if an American nurse was there, they were safe. Often their hand would drift up, just to touch the softness of a girl’s face. When they were told they had lost an arm or a leg or an eye, their first words were often about home, about America. “Charlie can’t get me anymore and I’m going home” was a typical response. I used to think their biggest fear was dying so far away from home.
Our boys needed us and we let them down. But we learned from our mistakes. Across this county, there are thousands of people spending their time and money on veterans’ issues.
Let’s take our courts as an example. Judge Wendy Lindley has California’s first Veterans Court in a defunct department store on Main St. The first graduation was last month.
California courts are able to respond straightforwardly to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, PTSD, in a combat veteran because of a law amended by the California Legislature in 2006. The statute, Penal Code section 1170.9, permits the courts to divert into a program any veteran who was a member “of the military forces of the United States who served in combat” and “suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or psychological problems as a result of that service.”
Judge Lindley’s program centers around the specialized needs of combat veterans. The judge thinks they are better served when they are separated from others because combat veterans share a common bond, understand each other and are accustomed to structure. She accepts those who had no problems during school and no contacts with the criminal justice system when they joined the military. A veteran, and most of them are active members of Vietnam Veterans of America, is assigned to mentor each defendant in Veterans Court. Thus, the Vietnam vets are putting their motto into action.
America is truly a wonderful place. We recognized how we let our Vietnam veterans down. Since the Vietnam War, Americans realize it’s okay if they still love their warriors, even though they may hate a war.
Eileen C. Moore is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeals, who served as a combat nurse in the Vietnam War.