Trafford Publishing: Of Silent Parades

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Of Silent Parades

by William Howard Graley

318 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0599; ISBN 1-55369-786-3; US$29.50, C$33.92, EUR24.23, £16.96

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About the Book

The main character in Of Silent Parades is that of a young American soldier, whose loyalty and devotion to his country gave him the moral courage to ignore a moment in history when the American public, angered and divided by its longest military conflict, used him and his comrades as pawns on the negotiating table in Paris to comfort an agonized and delinquent conscience. He, along with thousands of other young American men and women, contributed immensely in rebuilding the United State's military during the 70's and preparing it for future military conflicts, i.e. the Gulf War and the current war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
When the American public recognizes that war is not the product of the combatant, but merely the continuation of international politics by other means, and acknowledges that the chaos in Vietnam was the direct and end result of political interference and indifference, then, and only then, will it have reimbursed dignity to the Vietnam veteran.
Dignity is not negotiable.

About the Author

First Sergeant William Howard Graley, U.S. Army (Ret.), was born in a log cabin near Tiny Branch, West Virginia. He entered military service in 1956, and in 1959 was the Academic Honor Graduate of his class at the Non-Commissioned Officers Academy at Kelly Hill, Fort Benning, Georgia.
Graley studied journalism at Angeles University Foundation, Angeles City, Philippines, and the Writers Institute in New York. His civilian and military travels have enabled him to observe the grassroot cultures of thirty countries.
He served two tours in the Republic of South Vietnam - one as a Platoon Sergeant, 1st Inf. Div. (1966-67), and another as First Sergeant, 4th Inf. Div. (1971-72).
During his twenty years of military service, he was awarded 19 awards and decorations. In 1976, on the day of his retirement from military service, Graley was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal at Fort Ord, California. He now resides in Florida and is currently working on his next novel: "First Sergeant!".
VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND.....I am sure 'Of Silent Parades' will be a best seller. --Kathie M. Kielich, Director of Public Relations
FLORIDA TODAY...puts Vietnam War to rest.--Billy Cox, Reporter Florida Today
Gone With the Wind explicitly conveyed the adversities of the American Civil War. The Longest Day and The Sands of Iwo Jima vividly portrayed the conclusion of World War Two. Now, Of Silent Parades presents the long awaited Vietnam story that puts to rest the Vietnam Era... once and for all.

Sample Excerpts
D E D I C A T I O N
Of Silent Parades is dedicated to the Vietnam veterans who were ordered into battle only to find empty avenues between deserted sidewalks upon their return -- which, in wars past, had been filled with cheering crowds and marching bands hosting a therapeutical homecoming parade.
Often visited in the night by illusive dreams, an incalculable number of those veterans welcomed the covenant sunrise, vowing to dismiss an undeclared war in an unfamiliar land only to find at evening they were unable to escape the setting of the sun.
Years later, however, these very same veterans who resisted Communism under apparently disadvantaged circumstances were able to witness the deterioration of the Communist Empire all around the world, because thousands of men and women, like themselves, had fought and died pursuit in their belief that surely, in the end, good would prevail over evil.
OF SILENT PARADES
Camouflaged within the chapter of America's longest military conflict are countless sacrifices and tragedies suffered by the Vietnam veteran; not of death, as death is commonly perceived, but of humiliation, rejection, and abandonment.
There were those who claimed the Vietnam struggle was a civil war, and that American involvement should not be undertaken. But there were others, however, who supported the decision of the 1954 Geneva Cease-Fire Conference, which divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel into two separate and distinct nations, non-Communist South Vietnam and Communist North Vietnam.
Civil war is defined as a war between geographical sections or political factions of the same nation. Therefore, when Moscow and Peking began openly supporting and financing North Vietnam with arms, munitions, supplies and military advisors, President Eisenhower, in 1954, ordered U.S. military advisors to assist the newly-formed government of South Vietnam in repelling a deceptive and clandestine invasion initiated by its Communist neighbor to the north. The stage had been set for the beginning of America's longest military engagement.
The first American troops landed in mass during March, 1965. By mid-1969, at the apex of America's involvement, U.S. military numbered 540,000, not including forces from the Republic of South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand.
Time passed. Multitudes died. And in 1973, after many futile years of fighting a politically-dominated no win war, the Vietnam veteran was ordered to withdraw from South Vietnam. He never retreated to the beaches in shame as some historians have attempted to record.
The undeclared war in Indochina was not lost in sweltering, triple-canopied jungles nor in leech-infested rice paddies, but was forfeited on a polished mahogany table in Paris during a series of formal peace negotiations between U.S. National Security Advisor, Henry A. Kissinger and chief North Vietnamese negotiator, Le Duc Tho, resulting in a highly controversial peace-with-honor agreement known as the Paris Peace Accords, officially signed on January 29, 1973.
Although they were denied the victor's parade, Vietnam veterans should never bow their heads, except in prayer or in tribute to fallen comrades. When others seemingly disregarded Communism's stringent design to conquer the world, utilizing piecemeal tactics, they did not. They answered the call.
There were other young Americans, however, who did not answer. Unwilling to serve even in non-combatant roles, the dissenters displayed their true colors and fled to Canada and Sweden rather than paying for space they had leased in the world's largest bastion of freedom -- America.
Years later, a presidential pardon resolved the draft dodgers' unprecedented behavior, but from their deed arose a disturbing and unanswerable question which still echoes through chambers of Third World Nations around the globe: Who will, and who will not, defend freedom in the future?
The post-mortem of South Vietnam should never include the Vietnam veterans, for they were only instruments in an unsuccessful political operation. Death on the operating table is never faulted to the surgical knife, but directly to the surgeon.
Legally, the American public was well within its rights in protesting and demonstrating against its longest and most unpopular conflict. But the hypocritical degree of rejection it exhibited against its own flesh and blood, the Vietnam veteran, may never be morally justified. While America's military strength should never be advanced as the center of aspiration, it must, however, be recognized and supported whenever freedom is endangered -- be it near or far.
The day the American public spat on the uniform of the returning Vietnam veteran, the very uniform it must depend upon in the future, was the day America spat on her own past glories and the graves of gallant men and women who had paid the highest sacrifice so that others may live in freedom.
Spanning nearly two decades and disrupting millions of lives, the Vietnam Era is still mentally revisited by an unknown number of its victims. The following pages explore beyond the Vietnam Era -- presenting never-to-be forgotten lessons to the American public which were learned by the United States' policy makers and news media during a period of historical tribulation sustained by the Vietnam veteran.
We owe that dedicated group of Americans more than we can ever pay. We will be forever indebted to those young men and women who never blinked in the face of Communism...who never burned their draft cards in protest...who never paraded the enemy flag down main street...who never ran away to Canada or Sweden...who gallantly fought in sweltering, triple-canopied jungles and in leech-infested rice paddies only to find empty avenues between deserted sidewalks upon their return -- which, in wars past, had been filled with cheering crowds and marching bands hosting a therapeutical homecoming parade.
Vietnam and Korean veterans, by their service and sacrifice, did more to bring about the downfall of Communism than all of the anti-war love-ins ever held.
The main character in Of Silent Parades is that of a young American soldier, whose loyalty and devotion to his country gave him the moral courage to ignore a moment in history when the American public, angered and divided by its longest military conflict, used him and his comrades as pawns on the negotiating table in Paris to comfort an agonized and delinquent conscience. He, along with thousands of other young American men and women, contributed immensely in rebuilding the United State's military during the 70's, thus preparing it for future military conflicts, i.e. the Gulf War and the current war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
When the American public recognizes that war is not the product of the combatant, but merely the continuation of international politics by other means, and acknowledges that the chaos in Vietnam was the direct and end result of political interference and indifference, then, and only then, will it have reimbursed dignity to the Vietnam veteran. Dignity is not negotiable.
F O R E W O R D
In 1954, when Moscow and Peking were caught openhandedly supporting North Vietnam with arms, munitions, and military advisors, President Eisenhower ordered US advisors to assist the newly formed nation of South Vietnam in repelling a deceptive and clandestine invasion from its Communist neighbor to the North. The stage had been set for the beginning of America's longest military engagement.
Back in the 60's everybody and his uncle was chanting that the struggle between Communist North Vietnam and non-Communist South Vietnam was a civil war. How, then, in 1975, two years after all US and Allied Forces were withdrawn from South Vietnam, can anyone morally defend North Vietnam gobbling up South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and threatening the border of Thailand?
In January of 1973, a highly controversial peace-with-honor agreement (known as the Paris Peace Accords) was signed by North and South Vietnam, requiring both nations to freeze their military units in place, and called for all US and Allied Forces to leave South Vietnam. US and Allied Forces complied with the agreement, but the peace talks soon broke down. US Congress opposed further involvement, thus no US troops were returned to the war. In mid-1973, Congress began sharply reducing military aid to South Vietnam, which discouraged South Vietnamese fighting forces, and encouraged North Vietnam to thrust southward and capture Phuoc Long, just southeast of Saigon.
Two years after all US and Allied forces had withdrawn from South Vietnam in accordance with the Paris Peace Accords, South Vietnam had no choice but to surrender to North Vietnam in Saigon on April 30, 1975.
The unfounded lie (fabricated by left wing Liberals) which some Vietnam veterans have difficulty in coping with is the disreputable rumor that they, the Vietnam veterans, were responsible for losing the undeclared war in Indochina. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Rarely ever mentioned in Vietnam accounts are the categories of veterans -- support troops who never heard a shot fired in anger (Finance, Personnel, etc, etc.), and those who received and attended the wounded and dying, but who never personally experienced human bodies disintegrating into 'parts'. And then there were the combat soldiers (Grunts) who killed to keep from being killed, returning to farms, factories, and colleges. And lastly, the career combat veteran who returned to that ugly, undeclared war again and again to face hell for second and sometimes third 'tours'. When your enemy is trying to do you in, there isn't time to stop and debate whether killing is right or wrong. All you can think about at the time is survival. And if you're a better soldier than he is, you do him, then put it behind you the best way you can and get on with the business of living.
US policy makers, who now admit mishandling the Vietnam engagement, received an echoing message from the Vietnam veteran: If, at the last resort, military force is inevitable in the defense of America's freedom or the freedom of an ally...engage the enemy, kick ass, and get the hell out! Years later, United States' politicians wisely incorporated that hard earned advice in confrontations with Grenada, Libya, Panama, and Iraq.
Of Silent Parades blends a combination of dialogue, narrative, and description, revealing the horizontal aftermath of the Vietnam Era. Its characters cope with the rebuilding of America's military image during the 70's, and offer a means of reconciliation to bridge the immeasurably great intervals (which still exists) between the American public, the politicians, the news media, and the Vietnam veteran. Dignity is not negotiable.
Of Silent Parades -- The long awaited Vietnam story that lays to rest the Vietnam Era...once and for all. It was written especially for Vietnam veterans and their relatives. Many non-veterans, however, applaud the novel as a different perspective -- a straightforward, honest view from ground level...revealing that the Vietnam veteran did not lose the ugly, undeclared war in Indochina, and that the Vietnam veteran is putting a thing behind him...and getting on with the business of living.
After many years of fighting a politically-dominated, no-win-war, Vietnam veterans were ordered to withdraw from South Vietnam. They never retreated to the beaches in shame as some historians would have history record. Not until the roll call is complete should the United States relinquish its demand for a full accounting of all MIAs (Missing In Action) and POWs (Prisoners Of War) of the Vietnam Era.
Gone With The Wind explicitly conveyed the adversities of the American Civil War. The Longest Day and The Sands of Iwo Jima vividly portrayed the conclusion of World War Two. Now, Of Silent Parades presents the long awaited Vietnam story that puts to rest the Vietnam Era...once and for all.
Catalogue Information