By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News
Many people will see today as simply the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, but some people who were there may see it differently.
Duane Currington, who grew up in Fairbury and now lives in Ocoya, said it is seen differently by Vietnam Veterans and each one has a different experience to tell. Currington said he didn’t talk about his 15 months in Vietnam much until he was able to reach out to fellow veterans at the Livingston County War Museum-Dal Estes Education Center, where he is a familiar face, leading tours.
“The thing that really helped me more than anything for some reason…I started going up to the War Museum with soldiers who fought in World War II, Korea and not too many Vietnam people up there. That really helped bring me out of it,” Currington said. “I said, ‘Hey, there was 58,479 killed over there and I came back home. What’s the matter with that? Why am I so quiet about everything that happened over there?’”
Currington said each veteran had a different experience dealing with the violent protests associated with the country’s involvement with Vietnam when they came home from the war. The man who describes himself as “Red, White and Blue” said he did his job by fighting for his country and against communism.
“I still am proud of what I did, standing up for my country, and I always will be, because that’s what I did,” Currington said. “I stood up for my country to help stop communism. That’s one thing we did. We helped break communism.”
Currington said one thing he would tell people to do is appreciate that the United States is still a free country, and one of the few left.
