editorial opinion
page 4
Post war honor
One week ago today the American military
involvement in the Vietnam War came to an
official end. Much could be said about the
nature or the finality of this "ending." But is
is clear that the national divisions created or
nutured by the war did not magically
disappear on March 30.
There was no jubilant celebration when the
peace agreement was signed and there was
none last week when the U.S. officially
fulfilled its part of that bargain. The war may
have ended for Americans in Vietnam but it
has not ended for them at home. Neither
supporters nor critics of the American war
effort appear ready to declare a truce in the
battles they have fought on the domestic
front for the past decade.
President Nixon's television report on the
end of the war last week seemed to be an
unfortunate, and regrettably accurate,
reflection of the national mood as the U.S.
enters its latest "post war era." Although the
president hailed the end of the war and the
peace settlement (which he admitted was
shaky at best), he continued to poke at the
wounds this long war has inflicted upon the
American consciousness and conscience. The
President was unwilling to moderate the
ill-feeling he has openly heid for his critics
since he entered the White House and chose
to expand the war he inherited from his
predecessors.
Nixon took verbal jabs at what he called "a
small but vocal minority. . .who wanted peace
at any price." The President continued to
demand that the nation not "dishonor those
who served. . .by granting amnesty to those
who deserted America."
Nixon's attitude was hardly one that will
contribute to the reunification of the
American people. The President's television
remarks set the stage for a whole week of
attacks and counterattacks by the various
opposing factions into which our nation has
been divided by the war in Indochina. Some
war critics said the ex-POWs were hypocritical
liars about their experiences in enemy prisons.
Then some ex-POWs and war supporters said
that those war critics were the most
despicable people on earth.
Funny how the "honorable" peace has
done so little to help us become honorable
people, isn't it?
Tom Lansworth
Another
prisoner
of the war
goes home
dU
, orthur
hoppe
innocent
siondor
Another American prisoner of war has
been released. He is Frederick J. Friend,
24, of Elmira, Kan.
Friend, looking pallid, but otherwise
in reasonably good health, walked
unaided down the steps. When his feet
touched free American soil for the first
time in three-and-a-half years, he knelt
and kissed the ground.
"God bless America," he said, his
voice breaking, "and the ideals of
freedom and justice for which it stands."
Waiting to greet the young hero was a
crowd of several thousand cheering
spectators, including the governor, the
mayor and numerous other dignitaries. As
flags waved and a brass band played, he
shook their hands.
But the most emotional reunion was
with his wife, Felicia, and their
three-year-old son, Frederick Jr., whom
young Friend had never seen. "It was
your letters," Friend told his wife, "that
kept me going,"
The dramatic scene was interrupted
when an official handed Friend a white
telephone. "It's the President," he said.
The President's words weren't
recorded. But he reportedly told Friend
that America was proud of him for
displaying "the loftiest idealism, the
highest courage, the firmest convictions
and the greatest dedication to the cause
of individual liberty."
The President was also reported to
have told Friend that he didn't want to
"capitalize on the publicity" of the
homecoming, but that when the young
prisoner of war was refreshed and rested,
he wanted to invite him to the White
House.
"Thank you, Mr. President," said
Friend, his shoulders back.
The head of the local Chamber of
Commerce then read a long list of gifts a
grateful nation wished to bestow on
Friend "in tribute to the glorious
personal sacrifice" he had made.
These included a gold lifetime pass to
the hockey matches, a free trip to The
Mamouth Caverns and such things as his
and hers motorcycles.
In a brief speech, Friend said he didn't
want to talk much about the conditions
of his ordeal until all his fellow prisoners
"You're deliqhted, no doubt, to see a ceiling
on the beast."
of war had been free!' Wrdid;yrfc(r?? This brought a cheer from the crowd!
found the food adequate, if monotonous,
and the main problems were boredom
and the lack of exercise.
"What kept us going," he said "was
the deep belief that our cause was just
and the knowledge that millions of
Americans were behind us.
"We had reports, of course, that many
Americans didn't agree with what we'd
done. And many of us thought their
attitude was prolonging the war, But in a
democracy, we felt it was their right to
express their views as they saw fit."
Friend, an arm about his wife, walked to
a waiting car.
"Was it really all worth it dear?" she
was heard to ask him.
"To tell you the truth, there were
times in there," said Friend, looking back
as the gates of the Leavenworth Federal
Penitentiary closed behind him forever,
"when I wished I'd cooperated with the
draft and done a two-year hitch in the
Army instead."
(Copyright Chronicle Publishing Co. 1973)
THE LAST POUJ -T3 UAVS"
daily nebraskan
friday, april 6, 1973
