Posted on 04/12/2005 6:04:56 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
Johnny finally came marching home again on a rainy day in late March in the town of Quincy, Mass. The town turned out to pay its respects to Edward Alan Brudno and to 47 other hometown sons who made the ultimate sacrifice in a war no one wanted.
Al Brudno was one of the longest-held American prisoners of war during Vietnam: He endured nearly eight years of torture and solitary confinement that began when he was shot down over North Vietnam in October 1965. He was 25 then. He survived to come home with the other POWs who were freed in 1973.
Four months later, the day before his 33rd birthday, Al Brudno took his own life. Last Memorial Day, his brother Bob and his widow, Debby, saw his name join the 58,244 others on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, with four more to be added on Memorial Day.
"The outpouring of respect and honor for my brother some 32 years after he died was extraordinary," Bob Brudno said of the ceremony in Quincy. Brudno said it wasn't too late to welcome his brother home and "it is not too late to welcome those who fought and hold inside the same bitterness that has eaten away at me these many years."
Brudno said the ceremony, held before a standing room-only crowd at the local high school, "was from one small town's heart."
In his own speech at that Quincy celebration, Brudno said, "For a while, I wondered why Alan's story attracted so much attention so many years after his death. I now understand. The war is not over for many who served in Vietnam - not just POWs. Unlike any war before Vietnam and none since, this one offered no glory to those sent in harm's way."
He continued, "Alan's generation, our generation, never got to become the `greatest generation.' No less brave than those who landed at Normandy, our men were asked to risk their lives for their country and endure the horrors of war, but were denied the thanks and respect of a grateful nation. Today this country truly understands. I am happy that military service is again a noble calling. But for those of us affected by Vietnam directly or indirectly, the pain will never go away."
Brudno said that even as the crowd recognized the service of his brother, "We must keep in mind the debt still owed to so many. We must never, ever blame the war on the warriors again."
He told the hometown crowd how his brother, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was pursuing his dream of becoming an astronaut when he joined the Air Force, had resisted his captors in every way he could.
Al became a past master at the art of double-talk in the 20 letters that got through to his family during his long imprisonment. Intelligence agencies assigned specialists who, with the help of Al's family, decoded the hidden messages. Some contained clues to the names of American POWs the North Vietnamese had never acknowledged they were holding; others confirmed that the POWs were being tortured.
The Air Force acknowledged that Brudno was a Vietnam War casualty just as surely as anyone who caught an enemy bullet in the jungle. A military psychiatrist explained to Bob Brudno how his brother could give up even as he regained his freedom: "He just used up everything he had over those long years in captivity. There was no strength left with which to survive."
By his death, Al Brudno helped save many other lives. The military was shocked and realized that all the other POWs needed counseling and needed help restarting their lives. All the POWs began receiving that help, and it's now standard procedure for all returning American POWs.
It was 40 years ago this month that I landed in South Vietnam and began covering Americans at war in that place. In my four tours, I lived with and marched with soldiers and Marines and counted myself honored to be welcomed as one of them, through good times and bad.
They were fine young men, average age 19, doing their best to do their duty, doing their best to survive to make it home. What they found when they got home was a nation divided, many of their fellow Americans hating the war they had been ordered to fight. Some even hated them. Some called them baby-killers and murderers. Some spat on them and their uniforms.
Bob Brudno is right. This should never ever happen again in the land of the brave and the home of the free. Next time you see a Vietnam veteran, go over and thank him for his service to our country, then watch the tears come to his eyes.
"Next time you see a Vietnam veteran, go over and thank him for his service to our country"
I have done this , and they always appreciate it greatly .
I recommend doing so.
I meet one yesterday.
I shook his hand and thanked him.
You should have seen the look on his face.
He said I was the fifth person to do every thank him.
bump for later
Thanks for this article from this Vietnam Vet.
Neil... pinggggggggggggggggggggg!
Thank you and SEMPER FI
Joe was there and was one of us.
Nice piece. Joe Galloway was co-author of one of my favorite books: "We Were Soldiers Once and Young". The Movie does not cover the second major battle in the Ia Drang Valley, so I highly recommend the book to freepers who haven't read it yet.
I live in San Jose, which has a large Vietnamese population. I love to hear the stories from these people as they appreciate the opportunity here in America. Some of them escaped on boats, spent up to 3 years in refugee camps in Southeast Asia, and then came here to work hard and succeed. I was talking with one of my clients who escaped after the fall of Saigon in 1975. I told her that my father served in the Air Force in Vietnam in '66-'67 and that I take him out for Vietnamese food when he visits me here from Arizona. She grabbed my arm and told me, "Next time you talk to your father, thank him for me. Thank him for risking his life to help my people."
Tears filled my eyes when she said that and my Dad was really moved when I told him. He worked at the hospital and I have lots of pictures of him with Vietnamese children at an orphanage as he volunteered to deliver medicine. That's why I'm so bitter and offended at John Kerry's portrayal of Vietnam Vets as war criminals and barbarians.
Indeed...
Good article. I personaly know men who will never get over that. The treatment lashed out at us when we returned from that war, wounded/hurt some of us more than the pain from actual combat injuries...
"Never Forget" is tatooed on that half of our souls we didn't leave on the battlefield...
check out comment 9
I tell you Galloway will either bring out the worst in military folks or like today the best.
Something to be said for his fair coverage, it should happen more often. This is the Galloway I knew back when, your thoughts on Galloway and the comment 9?
±
"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty." 
Toward FREEDOM
I'm starting a Military/Veteran's Affairs ping list. FReep mail me if you want ON/OFF the list.
I've been able to give a second thank you to several Vietnam Vets returning home from the middle east. Yes it does bring tears to their eyes to get a decent greeting home. They really do appreciate it when they get a belated greeting long overdue for what they went through the first time they came home from war. I always thank them twice.
Thank you for the ping.
Pray for W and Nam Vets
Thank you much - and thanks to Mr. Galloway for a fine essay.
"For a while, I wondered why Alan's story attracted so much attention so many years after his death.
I now understand.
The war is not over for many who served in Vietnam
- not just POWs.
Unlike any war before Vietnam and none since,
this one offered no glory to those sent in harm's way."
I often wonder what the Brothers and Sisters on the Wall think.
I've finally know why God spared me.
And I've finally forgiven myself.
PING
Tonk, have to take a moment after reading you comment. I can only imagine the heart ache you must have endured after your return from the war.
I shared your comment with my beloved and his reply and share it ... "WOW".
Tonk, thank you for your service. I have no doubt the men you served with also thank you as well.
Thank you
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.