Warrior to Warrior

Vietnam veteran and author John Harriman returns to Mudville with the latest installment of his series Warrior to Warrior, letters from a Vietnam veteran to our soldiers in Iraq. See the intro to the series here).

The Real Folks Back at your Real Home

Dear Warrior in Iraq . . .

Lots of bad news these days on the national front. The comparisons to Vietnam. The self-flagellation over treatment of prisoners held in Cuba. New comparisons of our country to Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Demands that we set a date to bring the troops home. Surveys from abroad that tell of a lack of respect for America. Surveys from home that reveal that the relentless torrent of reporting bad news from Iraq is having the effect of turning more Americans against the war.

But I won't be writing about any of that today. Because I have news from Shelby, Montana.

In Shelby, a group of six Vietnam veterans got organized about nine months ago. Not to form a protest against the war, but to organize a show of support for Montana troops in Iraq.

They jointly signed a bank note, wrote a plan, secured a nonprofit status and started making phone calls and went looking for a hill.

Their mission was to build and raise a 100-ft. flagpole on that hill overlooking two major highways west of Shelby. The idea was to fly a huge 30- by 50-ft. American flag by July 4 in honor of all veterans but to dedicate the first flag to our soldiers in Iraq.

They announced their plan last November 11 on Veterans Day when all they had was to show for their effort at the time was one of the 30-by-50 flags, bought on that bank note. That alone was inspiring. Area law officers and more than a hundred veterans turned out to help unfurl the flag at ceremonies on the gym floors of the county's only two high schools.

On this, the week before the July Fourth holiday, the flagpole is ready to be planted, if it doesn't rain. And new plans are already being made to dedicate the flag monument on Sept. 11 in solemn ceremonies.

The group of veterans have exhausted their line of credit at the bank, but their mission was worth it because it will surely be accomplished. One of them, a Marine who was wounded in Vietnam (there's no such thing as a former Marine), has been welding pipe for weeks in his fabrication shop, on his own private mission to build that flagpole. One, a former soldier and a retired manager of the local electric co-op, was at the business end of a shovel this week, burying electrical cable for the lights he bought out of his own pocket. Another turned over his law practice to the mission of keeping the project legal and sound, so the community could have faith in it. A fourth worked his connections with government to line up FAA approval, city and county support and military participation in the ceremonies. The chief organizer worked the phones, workdays and weekends, keeping the team on track, keeping the mission in everybody's sights. Because of him and his crew of veterans, we will see that flag fly.

But the story is not about the veterans. It's about the people-your people back home. Your friends and neighbors and family back home in Montana. And a few strangers who care about you, people whose names you don't even know. Without them, the veterans group would still be churning away. With them, the project is about to become a reality.

For you see, from the moment of the public ceremony, people stepped up to throw a shoulder to the wheel and add their momentum. Some gave cash. A few gave thousands of dollars, but a lot of folks gave smaller amounts, including school kids.

One corporation donated the hill in the form of a 25-year lease. A family gave access land. The city and county governments chipped in with easements, insurance policy coverage, parks maintenance support. Seven corporations or individuals have agreed to buy one of the huge flags every year so the veterans can keep them flying. And when they must be taken down in windy weather, local law enforcement agencies have agreed to do that. Corporations have donated engineering, an estimated $20,000 worth, and steel pipe for the flagpole a like amount. The use of bulldozers and cranes are donations of time and operators. Newspaper space, donation. Concrete, donation. Concrete labor, donation. Electrical power and labor, donation. A professional singer cut a patriotic CD to sell with proceeds going to the project as a donation. Every time the group needs help, our people-your people-step up.

There's more to do here before you, our troops, come home, but no one doubts it will get done. With people like these, who can doubt it?

The veterans group and your people back home are planning the September ceremony in earnest. And hoping you'll be back in time to help celebrate it.

Till next week . . .

God bless you and Godspeed.

____________

John is a veteran of two combat tours in Vietnam and a member of the American Legion. These columns are excerpts from an upcoming book. His current book, Delta Force #1 : Operation Michael's Sword is a fictional account of the 9/11 attacks and the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom.