VietNow National Magazine

Rockford VietNow Color Guard
I'll Always Remember Them

by Christian Nelson, VietNow National Editor

My Dad wasn’t any kind of war hero, but still I grew up hearing lots of “war stories.” Not the kind filled with blood and guts, but mostly just experiences he’d had in Iceland, crossing the Atlantic a couple of times, unbelievable artillery barrages, and once being strafed by a German plane just before they crossed the Rhine River into Germany. He was a Tech Sergeant with the Combat Engineers and had been drafted just before the U.S. got into the war, and stayed around for as long as it took to finish the job.

He never joined any veterans organizations, but he was proud of his service; and even though he hated to see me go to Vietnam, I know he was secretly proud of the fact that his son was serving in the Army and wearing the same uniform he had once worn. And never once did he call Vietnam-era soldiers “crybabies” or anything else. He was mad at the politicians, but was filled with respect for everyone who went.

He worked hard all his life and ran his own business most of the time; but as he got older he started running out of friends and, as happens so often, his memories of things that happened fifty years ago became more real to him than lots of the present day events. World War II and his memories of those days became one of his main topics of conversation. By the time he was 80, the war and reminisces of his family seemed to be all that mattered to him any more.

When he died, one of the main things I knew was that I wanted my Dad to have some kind of military presence at his funeral. He had never asked for anything like that, but I knew it’s what he would have wanted. Not having any idea of what to do, I mentioned it to my friend Nick Parnello (one of VietNow’s original founding members) and he said, “Maybe the Rockford Color Guard can do something.”

They did. And it was beautiful. Those guys didn’t know me. And they didn’t know Carl C. Nelson, my 80-year-old Dad. But on that beautiful Saturday morning in May, there they were at the cemetery, with a flag, their rifles, and their uniforms. My memory is foggy about things that happened that day, but I’ll never forget the feelings I had as the Rockford VietNow Color Guard stood at attention, folded the flag, presented it to my brother and me, and fired off their rifle salute.

The tears I had were for my Dad. But I was also crying because of the “Taps” I could hear playing somewhere on an old piano, and for the great bunch of guys who had come to honor my Dad and his service to our country. What they did that day is something I’ll always remember.

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VietNow National
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