The War Around Us...

Living in Brighton Park in my early years, the late 1960's and early 1970's, the Vietnam War was winding down. I do not recall anything at all about the Vietnam War; I really don't. Out in the corner of my world on Pershing Road, I had no idea men were dying by the thousands, thousands of miles away in a foreign land. I had no idea we were losing the war. And I had no idea we were losing because of so many complicated factors: misguided foreign policy, the loss of public support here in the US and globally, and a bad military strategy.

Yes, war was foreign to me and I assume to most of my neighborhood friends. We were young and we were preoccupied more with Tastee Freez, bike riding, and who was leading off for the Cubs or White Sox. Yet, what seemed to be close were the memories of World War II.

It was during the early afternoon on Saturdays or maybe Sundays that I recall watching World at War and Victory at Sea. I was fascinated by the black and white film, the D-Day footage, German and Russian offensives, the African Campaign, submarine warfare, the sinking of the Bismarck. I enjoyed watching the episodes weekly. Less than thirty years had passed since the war ended, but somehow it seemed like such an ancient set of events to me.

My friend and neighbor, Gary, his father had served in World War II. I am not sure what theater, but he had his M-1 Garand mounted on the wall in the basement over his work bench. He even had the bayonet fixed at the end. It looked like the size of a bazooka, but I was only a little kid, so that is how I remember it.

I didn't know many WWII vets. A couple of Korean War vets that served in the Navy and Army, but not many. When I attended SJSA I remember going to mass and seeing the vets that served as ushers sometimes wearing their caps with the VFW logo. Once, my 3rd grade teacher took us to see the memorial to WWII vets that died in service on the side of the building of SJSA, right there on California Avenue facing west. That was a solemn moment as my 3rd grade teacher's father was one of the men killed in action and his name was engraved on the memorial.

The World War II Memorial on SJSA Elementary School Building.

Again, this was from World War II. The Vietnam War wasn't even on my mental radar unlike the rest of the city and country. At least, that's what I thought. Yet, the country was so divided and in such turmoil. Sure I was throwing up the peace sign and making fun of Nixon, too, but I had no clue why.

So I wonder if Brighton Park and other communities are currently isolated from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. If they are, what then does WWII, Korea, and Vietnam mean to them?

I, like many, have veterans in my family. My brother served in the Army as a medic. He shared with me the experience of East and West Berlin, watching the Russian tanks rush the gate, then abruptly turn and head back east. Of course, my nephew, his son, a medic as well, and now part of the 82nd Airborne. When he left to Iraq, war became close to home. War was real, not a black and white film, not a memorial, not a paragraph in a history book. It was 13 months of worry! I wonder how my brother would have felt if he were alive while his only son was serving in the Iraq War?

I wonder, what was Brighton Park like in the midst of WWII, Korea, and even the early years of Vietnam? How do we remember those days, the people that died, and the changes that came with it - the Red Scare, the fear of Communism, rationing, the suburban flight, the evident of super powers, protests, a new kind of music, civil rights, industry, unity, the Cuban Missile Crisis and even death?  Did we feel safer then?

Ultimately, military history moved me enough to complete a Master's Degree in History, but the books can't and won't tell the full story. That belongs to the veterans: neighbors, uncles, brothers, cousins, and fathers...maybe you, too.