The girl shrugged. It is near the Library, and a student going in was glad to help us and took our picture together by the plaque. She had never noticed it before. This war that I hated and would not serve in is not part of student life at UMass-Dartmouth. Like all middle-aged people the size of my big times is imploding.
Young people have their own mountains to climb.
But those generous young men, seventeen years ago, knew that we had all been marked by their war. We are all veterans of Vietnam, on both sides of the home front as well. As the volume goes up on the hate machine I think of the Vietnam Veterans of what was then Southeastern Massachusetts University. They set a good example. Robert J.S. Ross is Professor and Chair of Sociology, Clark University.