The latest issue of Time magazine included an article about
Bruce Springsteen, who has been performing for five decades. Although he has
sung about poverty, racism, and corporate greed, the cause that he is the most passionate
about is soldiers returning home from war. His latest album, Western Stars,
includes a song titled “Tucson Train”, which describe the struggles of a young
man dealing with PTSD.
His 1984 song, “Born in the USA” was a scathing condemnation
of America’s treatment of its fighters. The flip side of the album includes a
song titled, “Shut Out the Light, which depicted a soldier racked with PTSD and
insomnia.
Ironically, Springsteen has never served in the military, but
his father served in WWII, and suffered from bouts of depression and paranoia.
His activism for soldiers
started in the late 1970’s after he met Ron Kovic, who had written “Born on the
4th of July”, which was later made into a movie. Kovic won the
Golden Globe Award for best screenplay on January 20, 1990, exactly 22 years to
the day he was wounded in Vietnam. He was also nominated for an Academy Award
in the same category.
Before
the end of the war in Vietnam was declared on April 30, 1975, Kovic became one
of the best-known peace activists among the
Vietnam veterans, and was arrested
12 times for political protesting. He attended his first peace demonstration
soon after the Kent State shootings in May 1970, and gave his first speech against the war
at Levittown Memorial High School in Levittown, Long Island, New York that same spring. Kovic's speech that day was
interrupted by a bomb threat and the auditorium was cleared.
Kovic
has been an anti-war activist for more than 40 years, and has been arrested
numerous times as a result. His life history, which can be found at the link
above, makes for interesting reading.
I
served in the military for six years, but never considered myself to be a hero.
Truth be told, though, I was never in any danger unless the Viet Cong had
decided to attack the National Guard hanger at Holman Field in downtown St. Paul.
I
was in basic training when 4 students were killed by National Guardsmen at Kent
State. A month later, my cousin Donny’s helicopter was shot down
in Vietnam. The name Donald J. Lundequam, warrant officer, is now listed on the Vietnam Wall in
Washington D.C.
Our involvement
in Vietnam actually stretches back to 1954, but the trigger for our deeper
involvement was based on a lie called the Gulf of Tonkin incident. 39 years
later, another whopper, called Weapons of Mass Destruction, drew us into
another costly and unnecessary war. Today, the current administration is “rattling
sabers” at Iran, which is another foolish idea. In fact, Trump was “cocked and loaded” to retaliate against Iran
for downing an American drone, but canceled the strikes 10 minutes before they
were to be carried out after being told some 150 people could die.
Don
Caron may not be a name that’s familiar to you, but he is a very talented
musician. His full biography can be found at the link below:
My exposure to him came about due to his founding of the
Parody Project in 2017, an organization that has produced dozens of protest
songs about current events. The most recent one, “When Johnny Comes Rolling
Home”, is the story of a young man coming back from a future war with Iran –
and it will give you chills.
If you know anyone who has received treatment at a VA center,
you are aware of the fact that the care that they receive there isn’t always the
best. It’s impossible to estimate exactly how many of our veterans suffer from
PTSD, but we DO know that 20 veterans a day in this country commit suicide.
In 2016, there were approximately 40,000 homeless veterans in this
country. More than likely, you have seen them on streets corners in many cities
of the country. The vast majority are male, single, live in a city, and have
mental and/or physical disabilities. The most substantial risk factor for
homelessness, though, are the traumatic brain disorders and PTSD that they
acquired as a result of their military service.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development have long had programs that provided
at least some assistance to homeless veterans, but the Obama administration
started two additional programs (in 2012 and 2014) to further assist the vets.
On a personal basis, we can all help the homeless vets by
giving a few bucks to the guy on the street corner – but there IS a better way.
The best way to protect our veterans is to prevent more wars.
The current occupant of the White House has been called one of the most dangerous
politicians in the world, so we need to do as much as possible to make sure
that he doesn’t get re-elected.
Our veterans will thank you.
