Opinion: Memorial Day — heroes serve regardless of war’s popularity

Philip Caputo, who wrote the classic Vietnam memoir “A Rumor of War,” described his decision to enlist in the Marines in 1960.

The passage is almost rhapsodic, the reflections of a boy on the threshold of manhood. He expects deliverance, a breaking away. A new life summons him, and he cannot wait to experience it.

“I had done something on my own; that it was something which had opposed my parents’ wishes made it all the more savory,” he writes. “For me, enlisting was an act of rebellion, and the Marine Corps symbolized an opportunity for personal freedom and independence.”

Instead of liberation, he found a torment none of his recruiters had mentioned. The map said Vietnam, but this place was different — toppled by winds unleashed from hell, a place where his quest for freedom disappeared in a flash of gunfire.

Caputo, 84, died of cancer this month. His death reminds us of the sacrifices our soldiers make thousands of miles from their homeland. It is well to remember that every day, but especially today.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Iran war is nothing like Vietnam

As we mark this Memorial Day, the list of service members we honor will be longer than it was a year ago. Thirteen Americans have died in a battle this administration has been fuzzy about labeling. It is a “war” one day, a “conflict” the next, an “excursion” the next.

Whatever you call it, the result has been the same for those 13 families — the death of their beloved sons or daughters, brothers or sisters.

Thirteen. The number may seem minuscule. But each death pierced the hearts of friends, relatives and strangers who recognized the treasure beyond the statistics.

The agony Caputo chronicled in his book resonates more than 60 years later. Most of our wars have enjoyed the support of the American people, with the populace rallying around the values and ideals the nation defended. That’s not so for Vietnam and Iran, conflicts viewed as ventures driven more by politics than national security.

Vietnam was an unpopular war, sparking protests throughout the country, just as the war in Iran is doing today. Most voters condemn the decision to launch the war against Iran, according to a New York Times/Siena poll. They say the war is not worth the cost, whether human or economic.

Whatever antagonism people harbor for government officials who launched the war, we should not transfer such negativity to the men and women waging it. They are answering their nation’s call, however noble or ignoble that call may be.

Vietnam veterans faced abusive treatment upon their return home, and if we learned anything from that experience, it should be that there is a clear fault line between the soldiers and the politicians who send them into battle.

One of the most amazing things about “A Rumor of War” is that, for all the horror Caputo describes, he saw glimmers of humanity. There are no acts more hopeful or positive than those committed in an abyss of depravity. They are all the more astounding for the environment in which they occurred.

“Two friends of mine died trying to save the corpses of their men from the battlefield,” he wrote. “Such devotion, simple and selfless, the sentiment of belonging to each other, was the one decent thing we found in a conflict otherwise notable for its monstrosities.”

Another profound point the author made is that surviving a war means more than returning home alive.

“We had survived, but in war, a man does not have to be killed or wounded to become a casualty. His life, his sight, or limbs are not the only things he stands to lose.”

So, on this day, we take the 13 who have died in Iran and we add them to the estimated total of more than 1 million who came before. All are heroes, worthy of the honor and respect we accord them today. We can never repay their sacrifice. The least we can do is express the thanks of a grateful nation.