Estes Park American Legion Post #119 recently hosted a presentation where three Vietnam War veterans shared their diverse experiences during and after the conflict. The program, "Vietnam and America’s 1960s," on Monday evening, highlighted the war's enduring consequences for those who served, those who cared for its casualties, and their families, with many veterans still carrying physical and emotional scars 51 years after the fall of Saigon. The event was part of the legion’s history series, commemorating Colorado’s 150th anniversary of statehood and the nation’s 250th anniversary of independence.
Marine Corps veteran Terry Rizzuti recounted his difficult return home after serving as an infantryman in northern I Corps, one of Vietnam's most heavily contested regions. He joined the Marine Corps in April 1966, arriving in South Vietnam that October. After suffering shrapnel wounds on May 2, 1967, which earned him a Purple Heart, he was sent back to the field following a little over two weeks in a hospital. Communication with home was limited to letters and two radio calls during his 13-month tour.
Upon his return to the United States in November 1967, Rizzuti feared attacks from anti-war protesters and secretly carried a .45-caliber pistol. At Camp Pendleton, California, when asked to meet President Lyndon Johnson, Rizzuti recalled answering, "Just want to go home, sir," a sentiment echoed by fellow Marines. His homecoming, however, was marked by rejection from former college friends, acquaintances, and even nuns at his family’s church who asked him not to wear his uniform to Mass. He recounted an incident in New York City where a woman spat at him and called him a "baby killer." Even his close high school friend refused to associate with him, and his father, a World War II veteran, later called him a loser because the United States had not won the war. Rizzuti also encountered hostility from veterans of earlier wars at American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts. He eventually turned to writing to confront these memories, stating that he wrote his book, “Second Tour,” to relive the war.
Anya Kirvan, an Army nurse, offered a different perspective, focusing on her experiences treating gravely wounded soldiers. After graduating from nursing school in 1970, she enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps and volunteered for Vietnam. She served with the 47th Evacuation Hospital near the Demilitarized Zone, treating severe injuries like traumatic amputations, Agent Orange burns, and high-velocity weapon wounds. Kirvan expressed surprise at the youth of the casualties, expecting to see older soldiers but instead encountering 18- and 19-year-olds. She described working exhausting shifts in oppressive heat, surrounded by the smells of blood and injuries, and highlighted the unusual military restrictions placed on women, such as requiring girdles despite the heat. She noted that the Army, unlike civilian employment at the time, provided male and female officers of the same rank with equal basic military pay.
Kirvan revealed that she had compartmentalized her Vietnam memories for decades. Reading Kristin Hannah’s 2024 novel, “The Women,” brought these memories flooding back, causing her to become emotional. Like the novel’s protagonist, Kirvan came from an Irish Catholic family whose parents reacted angrily to her decision to enlist. Her story sheds light on the often-overlooked contributions of thousands of American women who served, primarily as nurses, during the war.
Air Force veteran Steve Irish also shared his reflections, discussing military intelligence operations that guided American bombing campaigns. He contemplated the limitations of military power when confronted by an enemy determined to continue fighting. Their collective stories provided varied insights into a war that deeply divided the country and left profound, lasting consequences for all involved.
