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CounterPunch
March 22,
2003
A Vietnam Vet on the
War
Johnny
Mack, When Are You Coming Back?
By JORGE MARISCAL
When I was a nineteen-year-old soldier in South
Viet Nam, one of the tunes played most often on Armed Forces
radio was "Jimmy Mack" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
Although a great pop classic with pulsing bass and a tight horn
section underneath Martha's fabulous vocal, the content of "Jimmy
Mack" was about little more than a girl caught in a triangle.
If Jimmy Mack didn't make it home soon, she warned Jimmy (and
all of us), the other boy just might win her affections.
But for young GIs far from home, the
central question of "Jimmy Mack" always carried an
extra level of meaning with a special weightiness. Yes, we had
girlfriends back home who might decide that they had waited long
enough. The "Dear John" letter was a well-known phenomenon
in hooches in country. What was even more troubling though was
the always unspoken follow-up question to "When are you
comin' back?" The ultimate question for all of us was "Are
you comin' back at all?" Or are you going to die thousand
miles away for reasons no one really understands?
Watch FOX and CNN interviews with GIs
in Kuwait and you will see the same unarticulated anxiety behind
the eyes of young men waiting for war. One CNN reporter disturbs
a handsome African American youth trying to get some sleep. Pressured
by the reporter about whether he wants to fight, he answers,
"That's what we're here for." "I just want to
get this over with," he adds. "Yeah, right. So you
can sleep," jokes the reporter. "Yeah, so I can sleep."
The terribly irony strikes me that should war come to this young
man, someone's son, husband, and father, he may be "sleeping"
forever.
Another GI, a Southern boy who sings
and plays guitar, performs briefly and CNN affords him fifteen
seconds of international fame. He wants to be a country singer
he tells the reporter. As soon as this war is over, he'll get
serious about his career. We can only wish him every success.
Like those of us who served in America's
war in Southeast Asia a generation ago, these young men know
little about the whys and wherefore of diplomatic maneuvering,
foreign policy debates, and geo-political strategies. Are they
about to sacrifice their lives to "disarm a regime,"
overthrow a brutal dictator, liberate the Iraqi masses or all
of the above? Or none of the above? Are they going to fight and
die "to protect our freedom"? No more so than did those
of us who were in Viet Nam. I have no doubt that what motivates
the majority of these young men is one thing and one thing only-to
survive the conflict and get back to their families.
Do those of us who disagree with Bush's
drive to war support our troops? I would argue that we support
them much more than the flag-waving jingoes lining up at pro-war
rallies and posing as FOX anchors. We support them so much that
we want them home now, alive and psychologically sound. We want
them home now so that young girlfriends and wives can embrace
them and need no longer sing, "Jimmy Mack, when are you
comin' back? Need your lovin'"
Jorge Mariscal
was a Specialist 4th Class in the U.S. Army who spent most of
1969 in South Viet Nam. He can be reached at: gmariscal@ucsd.edu
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