Where I Stand--Mike O'Callaghan: A weekend for memories

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

AN OLD FRIEND

and former colleague in service to the state of Nevada, Minor Kelso of Reno, was one of the many readers who responded to my column about Bob Kerrey's experience as a SEAL in Vietnam. Kelso, an Airborne Ranger in Korea, is now president of the association of Ranger Infantry Companies (Airborne) who survived the Forgotten War. They served with distinction and their casualty rates were high.

Kelso starts by taking a close look at the recent uproar about Kerrey in Vietnam when writing: "Reporting at its best. Do the research. Single out and pillory Lt. Kerrey for his sins. Maybe even get the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Keep your focus on this incident. Ignore the fact that for years our soldiers in the jungle fired at every rustling leaf. Shoot! Might be mama-san or papa-san or a 6-year-old kid with a grenade. Free Fire Zone. Stay alive if you can. A country where we went in with good intentions. We ended up thirsting for McNamara's high body count. He said that is the way to win. Endless B-52 bombings killing thousands and Agent Orange still there into the next generation. We managed to get the whole country turned against us. But I wasn't there."

Then the former Ranger recalls his tours of duty in Korea: "I was in Korea. I have seen civilian dead literally stacked in heaps and stinking in the hot sun. Who killed them? Other Koreans who were rooting out supposed Communist sympathizers. But how come I had to drag dead children and old people off the road to get my jeep by. They didn't look like Communists to me.

"Forget the Rules of War as laid down in some chamber where the Geneva Convention folks are holed up. War is Hell. People kill people. Is there some sense of humanity that will prevail? It is pretty hard to remember it in the middle of a moonless night in the enemy's jungle."

U.S. Senators Max Cleland, Chuck Hagel and John Kerry, all combat veterans of the Vietnam War, wrote a piece in the Washington Post that gave everybody something to think about, including the following: "To commit our young men and women to a war is to subject them to the horrific experiences that former senator Kerrey and millions more are still trying to put behind them. War is a deadly serious proposition and should never be undertaken lightly or without the highest regard for those who bear its ultimate burden."

Another man I know, the highly decorated David Hackworth, wasn't as gentle when writing about the Kerrey stories created by writer Gregory Vistica and television star Dan Rather. In his syndicated column, Hack concluded:

"This week, Vistica finally presents his sensational story of events long ago in print, followed by Dan Rather on television. But neither was on that op; neither has been a combat grunt. Vistica never served; Rather did have a go at becoming a Marine but never completed boot camp. As far as I'm concerned, neither is qualified to pass judgment on soldiers or sailors.

"Matter of fact, neither of these frequent military bashers is fit to shine Kerrey's one jungle boot -- the other having been left behind in Vietnam with his foot in it while he bravely answered his country's call."

War and death memories cross all geographical and national barriers. I just read Israeli Uri Dan's story in the Jerusalem Post about how he has carried the burden of arranging for his cousin, Shaul Aprik, to go on missions against Egyptian Commando units in 1973. Only this year he found the opportunity and courage to tell Shaul's sister, Zivah, how her brother's death had happened 28 years ago.

There are unbelievable numbers of other stories from all wars that haven't been, nor will ever be, told.

Just remember this when celebrating Memorial Day.

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