When I was a senior in high school, 17 of my classmates signed up for the Marines knowing they would be sent to Vietnam.
The war had been going on, and we had all seen friends with a brother coming home in a casket.
And still they signed up.
They believed so in the freedom of choice, the freedom of democracy, that they were willing to give everything so others could have that right.
Some came back. Some didn’t.
I joined two years later.
I was never in the country and never faced a battlefield.
I will not pretend to know what my friends and countless others faced.
And while I call myself a veteran, I do not say Vietnam veteran out of respect for those who fought on the battlefields.
Warfare has changed since then, and the veterans we have coming home now may have wounds yet unseen, post-traumatic stress disorder being one that may take months to surface, and wounds that may cause social problems.
A veterans court is a peer court that has been having good success in other counties.
Our veterans deserve one here.
I am proud that I served and am dedicated to helping others who gave more.
I urge anyone wishing to honor and support our veterans to vote for Dave Neupert for Clallam County Superior Court judge and help make the veterans court a reality.
Doc Reiss,
Port Angeles