It seems that the older I get and the further removed I am from my actually military service the more I appreciate things like Veterans Day. I took this picture in Danville, California yesterday on Veterans Day; I just loved the flag with the beautiful fall colors. I was in Danville because I was picking my sister up at Oakland Airport later in the day and I decided to make a day trip out of it. My plan was to get a free breakfast from Denny's and then hit the road.
The only thing I had to pay for was the coffee so that was nice. I can't believe how many free offers there are for veterans on Veterans Day now. And before I go on with the rest of my day that brings me to the title of this post "Welcome Home". When I can home from Vietnam for the last time in 1971 there was no welcome home except from friends and family. I grew up watching television shows where a veteran would walk into someplace wearing his uniform and everyone wanted to shake his hand or buy him a drink. When I came home we were actually discouraged from wearing our uniforms in many places because there was such a strong anti Vietnam War feeling in this country.
As I have written in previous blog posts I taught history for almost 30 years and other than in an world history class where I taught some modern Vietnam culture I never taught about Vietnam. I was confused for all those years. I didn't even know how I should feel about myself as a veteran because the Vietnam vet was so often vilified. It wasn't until after I had retired from teaching and was attending some men's groups that I really started dealing with my feelings about being a veteran. I had always been proud to be a veteran but I had always been uncomfortable talking about it. That changed in some of the groups I attended. My daughter bought me a Vietnam Veteran hat that was very subtle as opposed to some of the more "in your face" hats. I was actually nervous when I first started wearing it but soon found that I felt a real sense of pride when I did. People began thanking me for my service and it felt odd. I was embarrassed by the attention but also grateful.
As you can see from the picture, the hat certainly received a lot of use. About two years ago I joined an organization called Team RWB or Team Red, White and Blue. It is an organization made up of veterans and civilians who support veterans and it has been a uniform I have been very proud to wear in every race since joining. When I ran the Jersey Shore Half Marathon there were two others wearing the uniform and we slapped hands each time we passed one another on the out and back parts of the course and one guy actually jogged back out after finishing and ran the last half mile with me to the finish. It's fun being involved in such a far reaching organization.
When I started wearing a new Vietnam Veteran hat is when I started having random strangers walk up to me and say, "Welcome Home". At first it felt very odd, after all I came home from Vietnam 43 years ago. I thought that it would be a one time or rare thing but it happens far more often that I thought that it would. While I appreciate the gesture I have to admit that I sometimes feel uncomfortable.
Since I was going to Oakland I decided to visit the John Muir National Historic Site. I have always admired Muir and his contributions to the National Parks of our country. He said, The battle for conservation will go on endlessly. It is the universal warfare between right and wrong". Muir married into the "fruit-ranching Strentzel family in 1880 at age 42. Martinez would be his home until he died in 1914". It was cool walking through his house and seeing it as it was when he lived there. A highlight for me was seeing his study as it might have appeared when he was writing.
Additionally there was an adobe house, the Martinez Adobe, on the property that was built in 1849. In the house was a display recognizing the Anza Expedition of 1776. I was wishing my grandkids were there to share the experience.
When I completed my visit I still had a couple of hours to kill and I saw on a map in the visitor center that I wasn't that far from the Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site in Danville so I decided to drive there. When I arrived there was a sign on the gate that you couldn't visit without a reservation. Oh well! I could have been upset but instead I chose to walk a trail that I drove past on the way to the site. All during my drive on I 680 I had been amazed at how vibrant the fall foliage was so a walk seemed like a great way to kill some time before heading for the airport.
After my walk I drove to the airport to pick up my sister Donna, she had taken a birthday trip to Maryland to visit her son Mark and his family. Before the airport though I stopped for one more Veteran's Day freebie.
Here are some pictures that I put together for my sister for her birthday.
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