Dammit! I don't want to love a tragic story!

I'm the age of most Viet Nam veterans. My knees and a student deferment kept me from going, but some friends did. The few that returned were different.

There were a few places where the historical and geographical detail were almost too much. Almost.

Excellent story, and a sure vote-getter. If this one's in the lead, I'm not surprised.

 

I didn't want to spend a cold Sunday afternoon in tears. A very touching story, well-written and emotional.

 

The official first place submission! Congratulations!

 

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Congratulations on the premier win of a non-sexual work in this series of competitions.

I did not LIKE this story because of real life right now but I recognized the power of the writing and the skill of the writer.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

 

Thank You

To everyone who posted a comment to this story, thank you.

This story is not strictly autobiographical, but it is inspired by events in my life. The Potter's House does exist.

http://www.pottershousedc.org/

The Community for Creative Non Violence exists too.

http://www.theccnv.org/index.htm

Because the story is emotional I wanted to understate the emotion, and to write with the calm objectivity of a newspaper reporter.

 

A very good sorry and very well told. What else can I say that hasn't already been said.

HD

 

I was surprised to see that several hundred people read this story since I posted my last comment and no one else has ventured an opinion. Doesn't anyone remember the war in Viet Nam?

HD

 

HD, just my opinion here so take it for what it is worth: Probably most of those who have read it have not been to Vietnam, so may be unsure of how to respond.

Sometimes a story, and the commentary already posted on it, speak enough that no more needs to be said. Though as good a story as this is, it deserves more comments.

 

The war ended in the early 70s. It wasn't a popular one, that's for sure. I'd venture to say that the vast majority of people that come to this site were born after the war ended. I'd further venture to say that several hundred people didn't read this story since you posted your last comment; you are forgetting about all of the search engines and robots that are out there that hit sites like these over and over. Aren't sure you believe me? Click your back button and get to the main Sex Stories screen. Toward the upper right, find "Views" and click on it. Wait. Look down about 10 or so entries. See my story CAW 10 - Best Little Whorehouse: Virgins in the Whorehouse!...? It's showing over 250,000 reads. You really think that many people read that story? Noooooo. Glitch somewhere, but seriously, lots of robots and search engines, and a general lack of "who me, post a comment? I'd have to be a member to do that!".

My brother is a Vietnam Vet.

 

I graduated from college in 1972. I lived in a crappy old house with sixteen other guys junior year. We all watched the draft lottery on TV. I was one number above the cut-off. If things stayed as they were, I would not get drafted and sent to Nam when I lost my 2S student deferment. My knees may have kept me out of the service anyway, but I was very glad to know I wasn't slated to die in a Viet Cong prison camp.

Several of my stories have been set in that era. I've done a couple stories with military men. Historical pieces are a challenge to write, and they don't always "sell" well here.

The Viet Nam war era was too long ago for many readers here, but too recent for them to have studied much in history class. This story is, in that sense, foreign material.

Horse is right. Read counts don't necessarily equate to the quality of a story. If a writer gets ANY reads or positive comments and is happy with his effort, that's a win.

 

I hope I am not tramping on a touchy subject here, yet on the matter of 'historical' pieces, I have to concur with Want Some Fun.

Based on my work of the 1939-40 "Winter War" I have learned that some subjects, even of that age, are still very touchy.

To this date I still get PM's from people who scorch me for 'not letting the Germans conquer Russia', or 'not getting historical facts correct' despite it was based on an Alternative Historical ending.

Mind you, I based the 'Winter War' on two books from the time period in my collection (one is a Soviet-era book 'justifying' why they had to invade Finland 'for self-defense'; talk about the purest Communist bull-shit I have ever read)

From my own experience, limited as it is, on historical pieces, the story might be perfect in detail and presentation. Yet it is the readers knowledge and perception of time and events which can cause them to interpret a story as good/bad/etc.

Consider this: when researching a historical setting for a story, how often have you personally discovered something was different or unexpected than 'the way I had understood/been told/been taught'?

One such incident happened when I was researching the story for my and NEW's CAW entry of 'Phoenix 1962" of the San Carlos Hotel. I was passingly familiar with some of the historical events (such as the 'ghosts', and the true murder-suicide which happened) but getting into the historical truth of the place, and the school which burned a couple of years before the hotel was built (suspected arson) revealed how much I did not know. When I interviewed some of the people who worked at the place, and was shown some of their historical relics, it added yet more depth to the piece.

Yet there are people who I ask about the events who would say 'they never happened' or 'you do not understand' and the like.

Sometimes I think our own biases or lack of knowledge of events can be a hindrance in reading a great story, and really being impacted by it.

It might be added: it is still too painful and controversial of a subject.

Concur.

 

I could have almost written this story about a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, the scene in the Potter's House where Laurel, Professor Armington, and Roger listen to the talk by Mitch Snyder is important to the rest of the story. The Potter's House still exists. So does the Community for Creative Non Violence. However, the Potter's House no longer gives evening talks on various subjects. Mitch Snyder died in 1990.

In 1986 a made for television movie, "Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story" was made. Martin Sheen played Mitch Snyder.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091888/

 

http://www.pottershousedc.org/

 

Excellent information.

 

The War in Vietnam was accepted without enthusiasm. Eugene McCarthy lost to Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire primary. A public opinion poll indicated that most of those who voted for McCarthy supported the War, but thought President Johnson should be pursuing it more aggressively.

During the rest of the 1968 primary polls indicated that Richard Nixon could defeat either Eugene McCarthy or Robert Kennedy. The only Democratic candidate who was ever ahead of Nixon was Hubert Humphrey. This was not more obvious because Humphrey entered the primary too late to qualify for any primary election.

With the riots at the Democratic National Convention at Chicago the anti war movement succeeded in making itself, rather than the War in Vietnam, the issue. By 1971 it could probably be said that a majority of Americans disliked the War in Vietnam, and disliked those demonstrating against it even more. The disruptive behavior of many anti war demonstrators, as well as their hostility for the United States and support for the Vietnamese Communists angered many voters, and provoked them to vote for hawkish politicians who prolonged the war effort.

After four student demonstrators were killed by National Guard troops at Kent State in 1970 residents of the surrounding area wore green arm bands to indicate their support for the National Guard.

The polarization that characterizes American politics now really began during the War in Vietnam. President Clinton presided over eight years of peace and prosperity. Nevertheless, millions of Americans - who were nearly always white men - hated him because he protested against the War in Vietnam.