Eighth Annual 50th Vietnam War Cadet Essay Contest

By COL, Ret. Arthur N. Tulak, Chair, 50th Vietnam War Commemoration Comm. This is the 8th year of the Vietnam War Cadet Essay Contest, which provides Cadets the opportunity to write an essay for publication in one of 3 categories. The purpose of the essays is to challenge the JROTC Cadets and CAP Cadets to appreciate the sacrifices made by Vietnam Veterans who served their country in an unpopular war, and to discern lessons of citizenship, loyalty to country, and commitment to duty and service. This effort encourages the Cadets to identify and share these lessons with their own generation, while simultaneously honoring the Vietnam Veterans who continue to serve their local community, and who fill the ranks of many Veterans and Civic organizations in Hawaii, and the nation at large. This year, we introduced a new category focused on those who waited for their servicemember at the home front, and asks “What lessons can we learn about duty to country from the families at the home front, who waited for their service members to return from War? “

The first place essay is published in full in the June edition of the Commandery News, and all the winning essays are shared with other Veterans Organizations in Hawaii. Winning essayists receive a certificate from the Hawaii Commandery MOFW, the Hawaii Chapter of AUSA, and the DoD 50th Vietnam War Commemoration signed by COL Larry Brom, Acting Director of the DoD 50th Commemoration. Congratulations to those recognized for 2021: 1st place Cadet Rhapsody Espiritu, Farrington High School JROTC. “Homefront Heroes” 2nd Place Cadet Michaela Ballesteros, Farrington High School JROTC. “Vietnam Veterans: The Forgotten Fighters” 3rd Place Cadet Michaela Patdu, Farrington High School JROTC, “Hometown Hero: James ‘Kimo’ Gabriel Jr.” Here are some excerpts from the 2nd and 3rd place essays: 2nd Place: Cadet Ballesteros’ essay draws many parallels to the events of today.

“One of the immediate impacts of entering the War was the need for manpower, a demand that would be met with draft lotteries, a method of randomly selecting men to fight in Vietnam. Several drafts were held from 1970 to 1976, the first of which selected men born from 1944 to 1950, the latter drafts for those aged 18-19. Many of these men were attending college or had just graduated. Campuses soon became crucibles of protests against the draft, which the students saw as a looming cloud of uncertainty over their futures. Many of these protests were “mostly peaceful” and incorporated ‘teach-ins,’ which were seminars indoctrinating students about the Vietnam War. As the war raged on, the turnout to these protests grew, and the methods of “resistance” soon turned violent. One of the largest took place on October 21, 1967, when about 30,000 protestors marched on the Pentagon. The protest soon turned into a large brawl between demonstrators and the U.S. Marshals guarding the building, resulting in hundreds of protestors being arrested.

In 1968, thousands of protestors organized in Chicago, on the week of the Democratic national Convention, where Lyndon B. Johnson, who was currently overseeing the war, was expected to be renominated. Over 500 protestors, 100 bystanders, and 152 police officers where injured over several confrontations. The brutality of these anti-war demonstrators culminated on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, as a ‘peace rally’ turned violent when students began throwing rocks at National Guardsmen, four students were shot and killed, as well as 9 others injured.

The American citizenry turned against the military that was fighting to protect them. A slow fade from the original motifs of the war were lost on the citizenry. A descent into hostility and animus [followed]. When these veterans returned. They were struck with shock: a decade of fighting didn’t make them heroes, it made them [in the eyes of society] ‘murderers,’ and ‘baby killers.’ Veterans weren’t able to get a job or live comfortably, many of them becoming homeless, and suffering service-connected conditions and injuries. The Vietnam War is an outlier from other wars America has fought. The citizenry hadn’t known how drawn-out the war would be. They

simply couldn’t comprehend the point of fighting a proxy war in a country many didn’t even know existed. They didn’t understand why they needed to adhere to the draft….” 3rd Place: Cadet Patdu’s essay captures how American popular culture turned on Vietnam Veterans, denying them any expression of gratitude, respect or honor, and heaping instead, scorn, ridicule, and isolation. The Vietnam War was the first War that it could be said America did not “win.” The absence of a victory and appearance of a stalemate that was considered too costly impacted the views of American society on the war, and the servicemembers who fought it:

“The Vietnam War was the first war America ever lost, and this loss led to a heavy impact on the American Homefront. Numerous soldiers suffered greatly from this war physically, mentally, and socially. These soldiers fought to protect the people of the United States, while risking their own lives. A lot of these brave men were either killed or injured. In addition tothis, they did not gain the deep and never ending respect they deserved at the time. Many of the soldiers came back to the United States and [were made to feel like] a criminal. The particular reason for this circumstance is due to the negative outlook portrayed [by media and war protestors] as a condemnation [assigning blame] to soldiers as the reason why the United States was losing…. [A]ll these Veterans protected our country and its values. They did this by putting their lives on the line every day, in foreign countries, against enemies with little or no moral code, or regard for human life. They willfully did this whether or not their efforts were appreciated by [their fellow Americans] or not.”

Principal Carganilla and VP Ledgerwood present Cadets Rhapsody Espiritu and Michael Ballesteros the MOFW Silver Academic and Bronze Leadership Awards, respectively, at the annual awards ceremony conducted May 18, 2021.