• Curious Traveler | C.J. Fitzwater
• Nov 9, 2023

I stepped into Salisbury Town Hall last week to the vibe of a busy morning. There, amid the flurry of local civics, stood a familiar face, Lou Papandrea, or “Low Tide Louie,” a voice many in our community recognize from the oldies program “Tales and Co.” he co-hosts on 94.1, and a Vietnam War veteran.

At 74, he was registering to vote for the first time. His stubborn delay, a silent protest rooted in the treatment he received upon returning from overseas, struck a deeply personal chord with me. Lou’s reluctant entry into the voter rolls set my mind wandering back to another veteran, a man whose service and sacrifice shaped my very being, my father.

Hints of my father’s stint in Vietnam peppered my younger years: his unyielding uniform, now idle and dust-laden, alongside photo albums brimming with snapshots of Vietnam and portraits of young soldiers, their futures as hazy as their distant stares.

Among these memories, one image always captured my attention: it showed five soldiers aboard a military truck, a stark “EXPENDABLE” label imprinted backward on the hood of the deuce and a half. Their eyes diverted in every direction but ahead, bound together by the cruel inscription that seemed to include them as mere cargo.

My father, not yet old enough to cast a ballot when he was sent to war, followed orders to serve in a conflict far from the deep woods of West Virginia, where he grew up. In Qui Nhon, central Vietnam, he stood guard over an ammunition dump, his youth fading with each passing day until his return home in March 1971.

The scars of war weren’t just carried in the mind; for my father, they seeped deep into his body. Agent Orange, the defoliant used by the military, would later ravage his health, leading to high blood pressure, strokes, and ultimately, terminal liver cancer.

His transition back to civilian life was marred by the nation’s turmoil and rejection. Like Lou, he was met with disdain and hostility – a “baby killer,” they called him, an accusation followed by the spit of contempt. The uniform went into the closet, and with it, the pride of service was stowed away.

But in the wake of 9/11, something shifted. My father, like many Vietnam War veterans, began to wear his service on his sleeve – quite literally, in the form of a Vietnam veteran cap. As if the tragedy reminded the nation of the value and cost of service, it gave my father a voice, however faint, to speak of his own sacrifices.

His battles were not over, though. The government that sent a generation into the jungles introduced them to a new enemy at home, bureaucracy. The same government now hid aid behind a labyrinth of red tape. My father’s quest for adequate Veterans Affairs assistance was an impossible task, one that ended only with his passing in 2021, weighing less than 100 pounds, and underappreciated by the system he served.

As Lou inked his name into the registry of voters, I saw the full circle of a veteran’s journey. The stubborn stance on voting, the eventual pride in service, and the enduring wounds, this is not uncommon for Vietnam veterans.

This Veterans Day, as we celebrate those who have donned the uniform, let’s also remember Lou and my father, Joe Fitzwater, the ones who came back to a country they didn’t recognize, bearing the weight of their service in silence. Let’s ensure their legacies are not defined by what they carried back, but by the honor and support we bestow upon them now.

In honoring their service, we must vote, advocate, and strive for a nation that upholds the promises made to those who have protected it. Only then can we truly celebrate the courage and commitment of our veterans.

Salisbury resident C.J. Fitzwater is a curious traveler, perpetually on the lookout for fresh frontiers. With each journey, he blends historical threads into his stories.

https://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/columns/curious-traveler-echoes-of-war-a-vote-for-change/article_f82787a2-7ca8-11ee-90e8-23155b33a9c4.htmlhttps://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/columns/curious-traveler-echoes-of-war-a-vote-for-change/article_f82787a2-7ca8-11ee-90e8-23155b33a9c4.html