27 Nov 2023
I was an eager attendee at last Sunday’s CC about military service in Vietnam, but had nothing to say then because I did not serve. Like many of our classmates, I was pre-med and excused from military service when I went to med school. I did have a brief flirtation with Army ROTC when I was scared into joining by a senior class ROTC officer in full uniform who showed up at my dorm room during freshman week to remind me that 50% of those headed to medicine didn’t make it and would be eligible for the draft (read Vietnam, enlisted man). I woke up after a couple of months of marching drills on Chase Field and some sort of introductory geography classes, both of which were like fingernails on a chalkboard for me, and I quit ROTC. But, like Sandy, I am a big believer in national service and I tried again after family medicine residency, to join the PHS National Health Service Corps to practice medicine in an underserved area. Unfortunately, that too did not work out due to administrative issues. So, in the end, I did not serve in any way and that has left me with lots of feelings. Guilt is probably the strongest one - it’s like I “dodged" an obligation that cost many of my peers greatly. Curiosity and feeling of missing out on a major event of my lifetime is there too. Relief, that I did not have to be potentially in harm’s way is there too, of course. And sadness too, for all the trauma and loss for everyone involved in the whole things.
Politics is also an inevitable part of the conversation. I was naive and trusting of government messaging when I arrived at Dartmouth. It was only over time, through all the heated arguments going on throughout the campus, that I developed a more realistic view of the whole thing. (Sandy is right again, about the value of a liberal education to assess situations more broadly). As was mentioned on Sunday, I also filtered many of my decisions about how demonstrative to be against “authority” through the fear of losing my deferment. Sad, but true.
The one happy and ironic note I have found in our class discussion about Vietnam is that an issue that was once hugely divisive, has now become a unifier. I am sure that, like me, many classmates who never had the opportunity /requirement to serve in the military were strongly affected by all the issues around the Vietnam war. I hoe they get an opportunity to share as well.
Thanks again to Bill and Arthur for putting the CC together and to all those who shared their stories, each one fascinating and touching. I am so heartened by the insight and humanity of our class!
Best to all,
Steve Barrett