Seeds Planted in Vietnam Flourish in Activism on Iraq
Military Service Decades Ago Puts 2 Veterans at Odds Over Current Mission

By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Mike Marceau and O.P. Ditch both served in the Vietnam War. But one's dedication to the military mission became the other's disillusion. The conflict set them on profoundly different paths in life, propelled them into activism over the war in Iraq and deposited them on opposite sides of the barricades at this month's antiwar march on the Pentagon.

Marceau, vice president of the local chapter of Veterans for Peace, wore a black T-shirt with a white dove of peace and was among a large number of vets who led the march for an end to the war. Ditch, active in FreeRepublic.com, stood on the restive sidelines with other vets who called themselves Gathering of Eagles, waving a large American flag to show support for the mission in Iraq until victory is achieved.

With the war in Iraq going on for four years, Vietnam vets on both sides of the issue have begun to take leading roles in trying to shape public opinion and direct its course. But which side they take, which reports they believe and whom they trust depends largely on how they fared in the crucible that divided the country more than three decades ago.

For Marceau, who lives in Silver Spring, Vietnam taught him he could not trust the government. "We knew back then the numbers of casualties they were giving out were just fabricated," he said. "We need to get our troops out of Iraq no matter what happens. This war was based on lies and misrepresentation of intelligence."

For Ditch, who lives in Woodbridge, the lesson of Vietnam is to make sure that what he calls the negative mainstream media do not weaken the government's will to fight. "I didn't have any qualms about the reasons we went in" to Iraq, Ditch said. "The one person that I know that has the most intelligence and knows what is going on better than anybody is our commander in chief."

Both say the other side is misinformed. Both say they are the ones supporting the troops.

Said Ditch: "How can you support the troops without supporting the mission?"

Said Marceau: "One of the things we learned after Vietnam is that you can separate the war from the warrior."

* * *

The answering machine at Mike Marceau's home says it all: "Speak slowly and clearly so the National Security Agency people can monitor this call without too much trouble."

Marceau, 58, was born at Bethesda Naval Hospital and was the son of a career Navy man. After high school, he lasted just three months at the University of Maryland. "The late '60s wasn't a good time to be out of college," he said.

He got his draft notice on his 20th birthday and was "in country" in Vietnam by September 1969. He worked as a telephone operator in the 43rd Signal Corps, stationed at Pleiku in the central highlands to serve the Army's 4th Infantry Division.

Marceau said he didn't think much about the war's aims. "I was very unaware," he said. "I was willing to do my two years, get out of Dodge and resume my civilian life." He knew about the antiwar movement and even sported a peace symbol on his helmet, but that was more to be ornery, he said, than to make a political statement.

"I think a lot of us had the feeling that it was not wrong to try and help these people," he said.

Then President Richard M. Nixon ordered U.S. troops into Cambodia in March 1970, sparking protests about the escalation of the war. On May 4, Ohio National Guardsmen shot and killed four students at Kent State University and wounded nine others.

"I remember sitting there and just crying about it," Marceau said. He thought to himself: "We're not over here so the National Guard can kill college students."

The next day, the base was attacked. A piece of shrapnel pierced Marceau's lung, bounced off his rib and lodged in his left shoulder, severely damaging his nerves and arteries. His war was over.

Marceau wore a brace for three years until his nerves regenerated and he could begin to use his left arm and hand again. He marched against the war in April 1971. Thirty years later came 9/11.

"I remember thinking, 'We have to be careful about how we respond. Make sure we go get the right people.' And we haven't," he said. "We were attacked by Osama bin Laden. . . . But then the focus came on Iraq, and we let Osama bin Laden get away."

Now living on disability income of $1,100 a month and working as a bluegrass musician, Marceau speaks at antiwar rallies and visits high schools to tell youths there are other avenues to college than the military.

In a visit to Woodrow Wilson Senior High School the other day, he put on his old brace and passed out a box of his military medals, which include a Purple Heart. He told students not to believe everything military recruiters might promise. And he warned them to do what he had not: Stay abreast of current affairs.

"You have to be aware," he said, "that something going on halfway around the world can impact your life."

* * *

O.P. Ditch, 69, wears his political views on his sleeve, literally. In his Woodbridge condominium, he wears a button with a Stars and Stripes ribbon that reads: "Support Our Troops. And Their Mission." An American flag hangs out by the porch.

He grew up in Louisiana and joined ROTC in college. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force in 1959 when he graduated. He did a three-year tour and was out for a year, but then he signed up to return for good.

"I realized how much I liked it," Ditch said. "I was moved by the fact that we were defending our country."

He arrived in Vietnam in August 1965. He was stationed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in what was then Saigon and assigned to photographic intelligence. That year, President Lyndon B. Johnson began the "Rolling Thunder" bombing campaign of North Vietnam. Ditch's job was to assess the damage and evaluate the bombing runs. "The politicians kept stopping the bombing campaign," he said. "Just as we were ready to win, they'd have a truce or a cease-fire."

Unlike Marceau, Ditch was clear about why he was in Vietnam. "There was no question about it," he said. "We were trying to keep the South Vietnamese free from communism."

He, too, was aware of the growing antiwar feeling at home. "I didn't like them," he said. "I thought they were disgusting."

Ditch left Vietnam after 13 months but stayed in the military 22 more years, retiring a full colonel. Over the years, he's thought a lot about the way the war ended. "It was a mistake to quit and pull out when we did. We had 'em to their knees," said Ditch, who started an Internet company and later sold it. "But when the politicians gave up, that was the end of it."

That's why he's so adamant about staying in Iraq.

"We have to stay until the Iraqi government is strong enough to do its own business," he said. "And we also have to make sure Iraq does not become a haven for terrorists."

Ditch's political activism started after the 2000 election. He joined the Prince William County Republican Committee. He organized veterans to support Bush's reelection in 2004 and later started a Web site, TroopsSupport.com. And he credits the power of new technology with making his side of the Iraq debate public in a way it never was during Vietnam. "We didn't have the Internet back then."

At the recent march, vets for and against the Iraq war faced off in confrontations that often devolved into shouting matches and name-calling. "Some of this outburst," Ditch said, "is the fact that we've been silent for so long."

* * *

For the past two years, an antiwar group called Code Pink and a local group affiliated with the conservative Web site FreeRepublic.com have held dueling vigils on Friday nights by the front gates of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Marceau goes most Fridays and stands with what the other side calls "Code Pinkos." Ditch stands with what the antiwar crowd calls the "FReepers." They stand a half-block apart, veterans of an old war divided by a new one.