URBANNA — After Kennedy’s tragic assassination in 1963, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took over the presidency. This startling change of leadership brought home the fact that voters must seriously consider the choices of the vice presidents when they cast a vote for the top slot because Veeps may take over the Oval Office and if they are not well qualified, inept leadership could possibly bring down the nation and/or destroy our economy.
Johnson built up military forces in Vietnam and expanded the war, which was a grave error because this nation did not wholly support the war. We were told we were there to stop the spread of communism, but many young Americans refused to serve, burned their draft cards and the American flag in protest and even some fled to Canada to escape the draft. The nation was torn apart with protest.
When the Pentagon papers later exposed the fact after Nixon took office that Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson had known all along a war in Vietnam could not be won and were lying to the American people about the war, the nation exploded in fury. On top of this the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been enacted and violent race riots turned city neighborhoods into ruins in some areas. Those serving overseas in the military and returning home were treated like pariahs. It was a very bad time.
Johnson learned a lesson. A president cannot initiate war without the consent of his people. Presidents cannot lie to us.
His unpopularity caused him to limit his service as president to just one full term in office. With more than 50,000 casualties in Vietnam and many cities at home scarred with rioting, very few Americans were sorry to see him go.
My husband and I were caught in the web. Chip barely got out of the South China Sea before Johnson ordered a freeze on those serving in the military. He returned in September in time to start law school. His four years in the Navy had made him one of the oldest members of his first-year class in a college aflame in student protests over the war.
I, too, was back on campus finishing my degree. I saw young students protesting the war as I walked back and forth to class. I was heartsick at the sight of students yelling at the William and Mary ROTC students and calling them “pigs” and “Fascists.”
As the young students, some just 18 years old, disrespecting fellow students who were preparing to become officers in the military and do their duty for their country, visions of the U.S. Marines running two by two and carrying rifles out of the belly of a troop ship that I was also on returned to me. They were singing the Marine song and on their way to Okinawa where they would be flown into Vietnam and instant battle in the jungles. Many of them never made it back home. I stood helplessly, watching the Marines, God bless the Marines, depart for war, holding my new baby in my arms. And I just wept.
My bitterness was overwhelming. The Vietnam War left many deep scars on my generation, which we have had to deal with. No excuses, we still had to succeed in life no matter how we felt about how we had been treated. One can’t continue to lick wounds from the past if one wants to recover and succeed. We had to overcome bitterness, accept and forgive those that had hurt us.
But in my case the experience left a general distrust of government and politicians. I don’t trust them anymore. Not since the Vietnam era. And to this day I can’t swallow any party’s dogma or believe anything a politician tells me. The Vietnam War took me a very long time to forget. And, as readers can well see today … I have not forgotten.
We were done with duty and sacrifice. We came home in 1965 yearning for peace and happiness in our young lives. The country was turned asunder but there was nothing for us to do but work hard to prepare for our future in civilian life, put down our roots in Virginia, grow our young family, and secure our livelihood and first home. In spite of everything, we had high hopes for a bright future.
But I wished for a great leader in the White House to reinspire the nation to become all it was meant to be.
And then there was Nixon.
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