The Peace Symbol

The pharmacy tech was, maybe, 25 years old. She was working in the pharmacy this morning at the base hospital clinic I was at and she was helping to fill my prescriptions. To me, her age was important because she was wearing a pair of orange earrings that were the hippie “peace symbols.” The fact that she was just 25 puts her into that group of innocence, of not knowing. At 25, she was probably older than her mother was when her mother first saw the “peace symbol.” The fact that she was working in the pharmacy of a military medical clinic during a time when soldiers were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan really has nothing to do with my observation. If I had asked her, I would have probably gotten the same reaction from her as I get from my 15 year old grandson who wears a t-shirt with the symbol. It really means nothing … it is a symbol of peace.

The iconic peace symbol is not the upside down broken cross inside a circle, as we have come to accept. The symbol of peace has always been the dove with an olive branch in its claws, or just the olive branch. This symbol dates back to the time of Noah when he released a dove from the ark that returned with an olive branch, telling Noah that the waters were receding off the face of the earth. The symbol we see today has not been the symbol of peaceful times … in fact quite the opposite.

The symbol started out in the ‘50s as the symbol of nuclear disarmament in England and Europe. It came to the United States about 1960 and was picked up by the anti-Vietnam War movement, beginning at the University of Chicago. A couple of years later, it was everywhere and was used to rally the anti-war crowd – mostly college students at the more liberal schools in the country. I remember walking down the street near San Jose State College and seeing the symbol painted on just about everything…graffiti. It was present when student “peace” demonstrations turned violent at The University of California at Berkley, and at Kent State University, resulting in the deaths of students participating in the demonstrations. The National Guard’s shooting of students, while tragic, was a direct result of students assaulting the inexperienced troops called out to protect University property. It was present when anti-war protestors rallied on the National Mall in 1969. And it was present during the infamous visit to North Vietnam by activist Jane Fonda in 1972. Google “1960s peace symbol ”or“ anti-Vietnam War movement and you will find pages of articles about how the peace movement, with its symbols, was responsible for the ending of the Vietnam. In actuality, if you search hard, you will find that it was more responsible for prolonging the war, resulting in the deaths of additional American servicemen.

During the early 1960s, Vietnam was an obscure little country “somewhere near Japan,” and as a 10th grade student in 1960, I wasn’t really sure where Japan was. I had no idea where Vietnam was and the term Indo-China was never used. The US had some military advisors there, but that was about all I knew, if I even knew that much. All through high school, the only foreign news stories I was aware of had more to do with the outrageous hairstyles of The Beatles and whether they would ever be more popular than The Beach Boys. After I graduated from high school, I had to register for the draft. My fear of being drafted didn’t involve going to war, but whether or not I was going to be able to go on my Mission before I was drafted. All of that changed in August 1964 when the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred. In the resulting resolution, the Congress gave President Johnson the authority to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal Congressional declaration of war. The build-up of American forces in Vietnam was rapid, and I began to wonder if I would stay out of the draft long enough to even go on a Mission.

I entered the Mission Home in Salt Lake City in September 1965 and was told that Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve, was the Church’s representative working to get Missionaries their ministerial draft deferments, but that it was not a done deal until the deferments were secured. Two days later, I got the word that my 2Y Ministerial deferment had been approved and I was going to be a missionary. As I came to the end of my mission, the escalation of the war was in full force and we were beginning to hear about the war in our homes on the evening news. I was afraid that I wouldn’t get my student deferment, but I did. Attending school in San Jose was an eye opener for me. Everywhere you saw the peace symbol, and every day, a demonstration. More than once my fiancée had to be evacuated from her office because of the tear gas from the police. After that year in school, I transferred to school in Southern California as I obtained a good job and was getting married. Upon my transfer, I couldn’t get the minimum required units and I lost my deferment. A month after my deferment expired, I was in the Army.

On April 30, 1975 the fall of Saigon was complete. The Americans had withdrawn and the country of South Vietnam ceased to exist. Since the end of what became known as the Indo-China War nearly 35 years ago, many books have been written by principals in the leadership of both sides in the conflict. From Rush Limbaugh: “How many of you remember the name General Giap from the North Vietnamese army? … He was a very famous, knowledgeable general in the North Vietnamese army. He's published his memoirs and here's a pull quote: "What we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi. You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for another day or two, we were ready to surrender. It was the same at the battle of Tet. You defeated us. We knew it. We thought you knew it. But we were elated to notice that your media was definitely helping us. They were causing more disruption in America than we could in the battlefield. We were ready to surrender. You had won." He makes the point the Vietnam War was not lost in Vietnam; it was lost [at home].”

For those of us who were there, the Hippies’ peace symbol will always generate hostile feelings towards those who extended our war. The Lord tells us to forgive, and I have forgiven those who participated in the anti-war movement; however, it is their cause and tactics I still remember, as do most soldiers who were there. I have looked at the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall and wonder how many fellow soldiers whose names are on that wall would be alive today but for the “Peace symbol” and the movement it represented.

GRUMPY OLD MAN

After today I have decided that I will never be old. Therefore, you cannot call me “old and grumpy” anymore, just “grumpy”. This morning I went to the gym to do my bike ride and I noticed all the old people in the parking area. The gym I go to is the city facility and the senior center is located right across the parking lot. A few months ago, when I decided to join the gym, someone told me that I could get a senior discount if I belonged to the senior center. So I went over to take the 50 cent tour of the place. Now, years ago, when my mother was alive and living here, she belonged to the senior center. I had no problem with that because, to me, she had been old my entire life. So she would go to the senior center and square dance (right Holly?), have lunch, do ceramics, and get free bread. So I figured that if I had to join to get the discount at the gym, I could use a free loaf of bread every now and then. I took the tour just before lunchtime the day I went. The gentleman giving me the tour was just a year or two younger than General Eisenhower….and I am sure he knew him personally. He told me the senior center had its own gym, which should have sent up a red flag right there. He took me in and told me that I could use the equipment at no charge, (there were several pieces, but only 1 of each) but that I had to first take a 4 week training course on the equipment before I could use it. He then took me to the “library”. There were about 50 books….but it also was equipped with two computers and their instructor would teach me how to use them. After the library we went to the lunch room. They serve lunch every day at 11:30 and dinner at 4:30. This gave me pause because the center is closed on the weekends, so I wondered where the old folks ate on Saturday and Sunday; but I digress. He told me I was there just in time for lunch …. and only $2.00. I looked into the dining area and I was reminded of the countless nursing homes I have visited over my life. It looked and smelled just like them all. By now I was so depressed I thanked the tour guide and told him I would get back with him if my wife and I decided we wanted to join. Then I decided to go to the gym facility and check it out. As a senior (over 55 – seniors get younger every year, it seems), I could join for only $10 a month. A quick tour and I knew this was okay. No classes, no ceramics, and no lunch. Before I left I was a full-fledged member of the Tommy Harris Fitness Center.

This morning, after my workout, I was sitting outside on a bench in front of the gym, cooling down; enjoying my music and the breeze, as I do every morning. I noticed that the parking lot was especially full because of some type of training for police officers taking place in the gym facility. Cars were moving up and down the parking aisles, drivers looking for places to park. It became obvious that the drivers were members of the senior center because they only looked for places near the center …. Up and down the aisles looking for a parking space to magically appear. Across the lot, away from the center, there was plenty of parking….but not near enough I guess. Reluctantly, some finally took spaces further away and took the long trek to the center. I could tell by the body language and hand gestures being displayed in conversations with others, that they were not happy that someone had the audacity to park in the senior side of the lot! (It sort of reminded me of the parking lot at my high school with underclassmen parking in the sacred senior side).

Then today I had to go to the PX to check on moving my prescriptions from Walgreens to the Darnell Pharmacy. I was also looking for a couple of items I needed to buy since I was there anyway. I became aware of an announcement being made over the PA system….it was the second or third time I heard it, but now I was listening to it…mostly because the sound of the voice was annoying. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special showing today of a product not normally available in the Exchange”, the announcement said. We are giving away a free sample of the product today only, in just a few minutes, to all adults in the Exchange who would like to have one. This product will be available here at Fort Hood and at no other Exchange in Texas. You have seen this product on QVC and the Home Shopping Network”. Now, I never watch either one, but that made me realize that I wasn’t interested in anything they were giving away. And never at anytime were we actually told what the product was. The demonstration and giveaway was taking place in the center of the store, where the toy department and garden department intersect. Now, I had to weave my way right thru that part of the store to get to the exit. My first reaction was “what is going on that there is such a bottleneck here? Then I realized that I was in the midst of the giveaway area. I also noticed that all the people clamoring around for a free sample were old. I wondered if the Senior Center knew all these people had escaped! Old gray haired women in sneakers and old potbellied men with khaki shorts, black loafers and long white socks that went halfway up between their calf and knee, milling around waiting for the coveted free thingamajig. It was more than I could stand and decided right then and there I would never be old and grumpy – just grumpy!