Literatrix

Book reviews, art, gaming, Objectivism and thoughts on other topics as they occur.

Feb 16, 2006

Two Veterans

When I lived in downtown Dayton, I would frequently see a man sitting on the corner, panhandling, with a sign that read “Vietnam Veteran Needs Your Help”.  He was wearing old, battered, dirty fatigues and apparently hadn’t bathed or shaved in days.

What a hideous stomach-churning vision of an ex-soldier.

Then, today, as I was driving home, I noticed that the license plate on the car in front of me read “Veteran”.  On the side were the colored bars that represent Vietnam service.  Intrigued, I took a closer look at this man’s lovely dark blue Saab 900s.  I had plenty of opportunity to look at it, as I wound up inadvertently following this gentleman until he turned into his lovely home with its three-car garage.

Thank you, Mr. Blue Saab, for purging the vision of that horrible bum from my memory.  That’s an idea of a Vietnam vet that I can respect!
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3 comments:

EdMcGon said...

Veterans are no different from the rest of society in that regard. Some find success after their service, others don't. Some are respectable, others aren't.

8:32 AM
Jennifer Snow said...

The idea is that the vision of the bum as THE archetypical Vietnam vet (either that or some traumatized huddle of flesh in a psych ward) has been embraced so extensively by the media, ESPECIALLY as an attempt to frighten us out of the CURRENT war.

If that weren't the case, the observation would be pointless, I agree.

12:11 PM
Nicholas Provenzo said...

There is a lot of fakery when it comes to vagrants passing themselves off as veterans. One man (the name escapes me) write a book on the subject where he revealed that the vast majority of “homeless vets” are utter frauds who never served a day in uniform.

Of the many veterans I know from the Vietnam era, I have found them to a one to be honorable and productive men and women.

1:36 AM

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