I do not believe war and military service are the only means to honor. God grants us all the privilege of having our character tested and our honor affirmed. The tests come frequently, as often in peace as in war, as often in private as in public. However, for me many of those tests came in Vietnam, the place where I learned much of what I know about honor. I don't cherish a romantic remembrance of war.
All wars are awful.
When nations seek to resolve their differences by force of arms a million tragedies ensue. Nothing, neither the valor with which it is fought nor the nobility of the cause it serves, can glorify war. Whatever is won in war, it is loss the veteran remembers. Every veteran remembers those comrades whose sacrifice was eternal. Most veterans have at one time or another been called a hero, and it is at that moment we feel most keenly the memory of friends who did not come home to the country we loved so dearly.