TO THE EDITOR:
Now that Veterans Day has again passed, I guess we can finally get back to more pressing needs. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a vet (Army 1972-75). I was also a student at my beloved UNC (1976-82). But things were quite different then.
After a dismal grade on a midterm in Business Administration 71, the distinguished professor made a point of calling me out with some derision, “Not quite as easy as killing people, is it, Sgt. Howell?”
How he learned my rank in service, or where I served for that matter, remains a mystery to me.
When I returned from Southeast Asia in 1975, the anti-war crowd (mostly Business Administration professor wannabes I presume) were still spitting on folks like me in Oakland, Cal., when we got off the plane. I had read the papers; I knew about the protests. Still, I did not expect such behavior from learned people in the South — Berkeley, yes, Chapel Hill, no. But I was wrong. Even in my English 23 class the TA and fellow students were hostile.
I’m glad things are changing and veterans are getting the respect they deserve. Recently, the Chapel Hill Town Council recognized some veterans. Those who work for the town anyway, not the rest of us. And of course Sen. Kay Hagan, feeling the heat after her Senate vote in the Obamacare debacle, suddenly feels the need for veterans in her campaign commercials many months before the actual election.
Still, I appreciate the current sentiment sweeping most of the nation. I was a lucky soldier. While disabled, I still have all of my body parts, the horrible memories steadily fade and my life doesn’t totally suck. Many post-9/11 men and women have not been as lucky. I hope we remember them throughout the year, not just on Nov. 11.
Kenneth Howell
Chapel Hill
