The Vietnam War left some 58,000 Americans and 3 million Vietnamese dead, and sparked a massive anti-war movement. It also left thousands of veterans wounded and traumatized by the horrors they experienced – one of the many impacts of the war that are still felt today. Wayne Smith is a Vietnam War veteran who is a lifelong advocate for peace, justice and the causes and consequences of war. He spoke with afternoon host Dave Fallon about his experience of the war, the ways it’s stayed with him over the decades, and what we’ve learned since then.
TRANSCRIPT:
Dave Fallon: Wayne, thanks for joining us,
Wayne Smith: Dave, it’s a true honor to be with you.
Fallon: Your involvement in the Vietnam War. You were a medic. How did that happen?
Smith: I wanted to be a medic. I volunteered with one of my best friends, Eddie McKenna from South Providence, St. Michael’s parish. And I grew up in a family that believed in our country. And for African Americans, we were really trying to assert and sustain the right to vote and other civil rights. And remember, they were being debated, and hotly, in Congress. So my family thought, and like many African American families, if we showed the country that we were, you know, carrying our responsibility, war and peace, that surely the American people would be more tolerant and accepting.
Fallon: So you charged into action with a medic kit?
Smith: Yes, sir. I was–
Fallon: What was that like?
Smith: It was extraordinary, in that men from very wealthy, affluent families, Latino, some Asian American, there were African American brothers from the South who had never, ever socialized with white veterans, and there were white veterans who had never met or socialized with African Americans. So we found ourselves in this little pod of survival, where we needed to depend on one another. And frankly, Dave, we became closer in war than some of my own biological family, the secrets that were told. And in that way it was so phenomenal, but also was very painful, because when one of us was injured or killed, it was gut-wrenching, and very difficult to adjust to. But the experience of having a real love of someone outside your family with such differences – and it’s not unique to Vietnam, we have seen this in literature about all wars, there’s something about human nature that can bring us together even as we tried to destroy others.
Fallon: What has stayed with you since then?
Smith: Oh, so much Dave. I think mostly, this knowledge that, how fragile life is, how sublime life can be, in that we are with people one day and thinking – as I and others did – what we were going to do when we got back in the world, how we were going to change the United States and make it better. And then the next day someone is hit by shrapnel and, and gone. Or having blood of my friends on my hands and arms and uniform, you know, was like just something I went through at the time – and for years, it used to make me feel guilty, because, you know, I wished I could have done more. But now I’m able to accept what a privilege it was to be able to try to help save both American and Vietnamese and I was able to do that, even some of the enemy soldiers. So I saw the humanity in one another, and that stays with me. And also quite sadly, in 1978, I remember a Vietnam veteran was quoted in the news, his name was Paul Reutershan. He said, infamously, “I died in Vietnam, and I just didn’t know it.” He was the first veteran that I’d heard about who was dying as a result of Agent Orange. And I understood what Paul meant in a kind of a general way at the time. But now I know personally, because I, like he, I died in Vietnam and just didn’t know it. I have Agent Orange, two cancers: prostate cancer and cancer of the lymph nodes. I just literally yesterday, my friend, completed 40 treatments of radiation – not by the VA, because the VA provides substandard treatment. They really do. It’s shameful. And it really breaks my heart in a way because so many veterans still rely on the VA.
Fallon: Vietnam vets are now seniors, and they have seen your needs. In general, are they getting that support that they need? You mentioned the VA. Is anyone doing enough for them? Other agencies?
Smith: The answer’s no. According to the VFW and other estimates, of the 2.7 million Vietnam veterans who served, the men and women who served in Vietnam, there’s an estimated 850,000 of us still alive. And this is no accident. This is a direct result of not only Agent Orange, but tragically suicide and other illnesses and injuries that were suffered in the war. And had it not been for the ability to get soldiers out of the battlefield, many would have died. But having said that, it has been enormously painful. And I think history will recall the VA’s treatment of veterans as a great tragedy.
Fallon: You are working to get a Vietnam War Memorial in Providence.
Smith: Yes, sir. I am. It is such an honor. The Vietnam memorial we hope will be more inclusive, Dave – recognizing that it wasn’t just those of us who went to war, but how it impacted our families, how it impacted our communities, how it impacted even Southeast Asian refugees who now are citizens and live next to us. So we want a memorial that is more inclusive, but more than just brick and mortar. We want to have and promote schools like Moses Brown, that has a superb program teaching Vietnam. Ponaganset High School. There’s so many schools that really, the students yearn to understand the truth about war and peace. And that is what we hope to do – not simply a memorial, but a testament to the lessons and experiences of war.
Fallon: Fifty years removed, what do you want people to remember about the Vietnam War?
Smith: Oh, thank you for such a good question. I want people to look back not only on the war, but look back on what we did about the war. We had part of our society say the wall was wrong, and it was wrong, and it needed to be stopped. And it took years and many students, you know, their lives were destroyed. Some went to jail. And they too are patriots in their own way. So we need to look at a more full picture. Again, this was the first generation since the Revolutionary War where Black and white and Native American, Hispanic and Asian fought together. And despite the horrible nature of the war, we fought, I think, with great distinction and at times, we fought and did our nation great honor.
Fallon: Vietnam War veteran and lifelong peace and justice advocate, Wayne Smith. Thanks for joining us.
Smith: Thank you, brother.
