What I Learned from Floyd
Before interviewing Floyd I knew very little about the Vietnam War. What I did know was mostly the government's side of the story: why various Presidents supported the War, what they said and did. I had heard about the extensive protests that occurred in the United States at the time. I have read about references to the US involvement in Vietnam and Cambodia as genocide. I knew that Vietnam was the first televised war, a fact that contributed to the US domestic response. What I did not know was what the soldiers went through, what they saw, how they felt. It was a vast missing piece in my understanding of the Vietnam War. While I will never fully understand the experience of serving in Vietnam, I must listen to stories and ask questions. By talking to Floyd I gained a new perspective on military service and on war. I look forward to hearing more of Floyd's stories and reading the memories of other veterans.
I
didn’t ask Floyd to do the interviews because I wanted to know about Vietnam. In fact, I didn’t know Floyd had been in the military at
all; he is not the kind of person I would think of as ‘the military type.’
I think that is one of the reasons I was so intrigued by his experience
in Vietnam. Military service is
something I grew up thinking was a part of every man’s life because so many of
the men in my family had served. At
the same time, I know almost nothing about their experiences including where
they were stationed and what they did. Maybe
by talking to Floyd I have learned a little bit more about my own family.
I have also redefined my concept of ‘the military type.’
By not talking about my family members’ roles in various wars I could remove them from the violent reality of war. I imagine this is how it feels to love a criminal; you separate the person you know and care about from the things they have done. I have recently learned that my family somehow avoided combat; Floyd did not. The stories I have heard from Floyd force me to see the human side of war. Through his friendship and by intrusting me with his memories Floyd taught me that soldiers are people first. They are somebody’s child, maybe a sibling, a spouse or even a parent. They are not “baby killers.” I have a lot more to learn but it’s a start. As a student I must also accept that Floyd probably killed people, that he was responsible for the deaths of both Vietnamese and Americans. This is a hard truth to accept. Floyd is not a killer, he is not dangerous, he is not violent.
I challenge anyone who is opposed to US action in Vietnam and other similar situations to read what Veterans have written and said. I challenge you to find a way to show American leaders how you feel while giving Veterans the respect they deserve.
The
representations of war are perfect places to find examples of knowledge, truth
and power issues. I instinctively
want to know what happened and why, but I also know that the answer I get will
be biased by the givers perspective. No one will ever know everything that
happened. Floyd’s story is
drastically different from that of another Veteran in another unit in another
place. I am getting Floyd’s
perspective on the events he lived through, nothing less, nothing more. It is an incomplete story and still it is invaluable.
Textbooks tend to focus on the facts: who attacked, how many people died,
where were the major battles and so on. By
interviewing Floyd I learned things that you probably won’t find in a book,
like the animals the soldiers befriended and the Vietnamese with whom they
shared their food. I am not yet a scholar, nor do I have an academic background
in Vietnam or the Vietnam War. None
of these things make Floyd’s story any less important and valuable.
It is his story.