You Can't Come In (There's No Room for You)

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American men and women, many young and naïve, were sent to a little-known country in Southeast Asia to serve our national objectives during the 1960s and early 70s. Some volunteered to go, some did not. Not everyone agreed why we were there. But, we all shared one common goal: going home after his or her twelve or thirteen month tour of duty was completed. For roughly fifteen years, the United States supported the government of the Republic of Vietnam. Initially, our military and political gauntlet was solid, filled by the strong hand of national pride, moral support and encouragement. But, that strength would not be sustained. The hand grew weary. The fist weakened. Brought into our living rooms by the never-to-be-doubted evening news, night after night the nation watched the hard reality of death and destruction on TV from the comfort of home. Returning, expectedly to a grateful nation, was once a driving motivation in completing our missions and staying alive. That became an illusion. We came home, alright, one by one; but, quickly learned society, in general, and peers, in particular, would not let us back in to their uninterrupted world of routine and complacency. Near the end, the was in Vietnam was widely unpopular in the United States; it's veterans, pariahs. Coping with rejection and social estrangement from the same people who sent us there, it was occasionally too much to accept for those who did not run when their nation called. Veterans reacted, individually and collectively, by closing ranks. Society did the same as they reacted to us. Each side searched tepidly for common ground, mediation, and healing. The common message from each side was 'you can't come in, there's no room for you.' This story is a first hand account of a young soldier who experienced strong military esprit de corps during his first combat tour. A year later, he returned to a demoralized unit at a forward fire support base in Vietnam. The anti-war and anti-military sentiment of our nation had found its' way in-country. His second tour was fraught with drugs, crime, and illegal orders. The mission for many was not to win, but to get the hell out of there, alive and in one piece.