Artist Bill McKenna

Release Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am

Year 1986

Label FPOSF # 1102108

Format LP · Album

Country USA

Language English

Songs here 9 in the archive

1986 · Album · FPOSF # 1102108 · USA

Bill McKenna served with the marines in Vietnam, and returned to the US disabled. He became a regular performer at the Skidmore Freedom Fest. He died in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1995. The title on the front cover, "F.P.O San Francisco" , referred to the US military postal system, either known as APO (Army Post Office) or FPO (Fleet Post Office). The San Francisco gateway dealt with overseas mail to Vietnam.¹² He released this Vietnam-themed LP in the rock-pop genre in 1986, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The title song "Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am" (FPOSF # 1102108) looked at a Vietnam veterans attempt to find his place in society - which had labelled Vietnam a failure and a mistake. It can be viewed as part of a 1980s, Reagan-era trend of nationalism, or attempt to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome" - the perception that domestic controversies over the war led to the US taking a less interventionist position in US foreign affairs. This term also applied to veterans, who may have felt guilt or shame about the war, influenced by the domestic climate they returned to in the US.³

Ronald Reagan spoke about this on 18 August 1980: "for too long, we have lived with the Vietnam Syndrome....As the years dragged on, we were told that peace would come if we would simply stop interfering and go home....We dishonor the memory of 50,000 young Americans who died...we give way to feelings of guilt as if we were doing something shameful, and we have been shabby in our treatment of those who returned. They fought as well and as bravely as any Americans have ever fought in any war. They deserve our gratitude, our respect, and our continuing concern".⁴ Many war films of the period fitted into this climate of trying to overcome the Vietnam Syndrome, such First Blood [Rambo] (1982), Uncommon Valor (1983), and Missing in Action (1984).

So narrated in the first person, the veteran said that originally he did not want to go to Vietnam, but the experience and memories had helped to define him. But when he returned he "found the country in flames" , and the government "were freeing draft dodgers while holding Calley to blame" - which indicated sympathy for the plight of Calley, and of course, criticism of those who avoided the draft, and possibly the anti-war movement. He concluded that the veterans had "come of age" and were no longer "naive" , and thus they could "be proud of Vietnam" and "love" the "country" .

The songs