Echoes of Vietnam: What our turbulent past can teach us today

I've seen America divided before. I lived it. We've had times when Americans didn't trust their government, when people took to the streets, when we turned on each other out of anger, fear or frustration. One of the most divided times in our history was the Vietnam War era, and I can't help but wonder if we're living through something just as dangerous right now. When the Vietnam War finally ended in 1975, this country was worn out. For more than a decade, we'd been through protests, riots, political assassinations and the slow, steady breakdown of public trust. The Pentagon Papers showed us how deep the lies went. Soldiers like me came home to a country that couldn't decide whether to thank us or blame us. College campuses were battlegrounds. The anti-war movement drew voices from every part of society – radical student groups like the Weathermen Underground, civil rights leaders like Dr. King and millions of everyday Americans who weren't sure what to believe anymore. By the time Saigon fell, America felt broken. And yet, we found a way to move forward. It didn't happen overnight. There was no magic fix. But slowly, a few things helped calm the waters. First, the draft ended, and the war was over. Just being able to breathe again mattered. Second, we started telling the truth. The media, historians and the veterans who lived it began to speak openly about what had happened, what it cost, and what went wrong. The truth wasn't always easy to hear, but it mattered. Third, we grieved. We reflected. We processed the pain through music, film, books – things that helped us feel and heal. And in time, we began to look ahead. We celebrated our bicentennial and started to rebuild. Slowly, we remembered who we were and who we wanted to be. Now here we are today, and the country feels just as divided – maybe more so. We're not fighting a foreign war. We're fighting each other. Truth itself has become the battleground. We've seen political violence, attacks on democratic institutions and a level of mistrust I haven't seen since the '60s and '70s. Many Americans now live in separate information bubbles. We've even seen an attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power – something I never thought I'd witness in this country. If Vietnam forced us to ask moral questions about war, today's crisis forces us to ask whether our democracy can hold together at all. So, what do we do? What can we learn from the past? First, we have to get back to the truth. Not party-line talking points or cable news soundbites. Real, documented truth. Public trust can't be rebuilt on top of lies. That means holding people in power accountable and giving young people the tools to separate fact from fiction. Second, we need leaders who listen more than they shout. Healing doesn't come from blame. It comes from the courage to lead with humility. We need leaders in politics, schools, churches and even in our homes who can lower the temperature and raise the level of respect. Third, we need to remember that anger isn't a substitute for action. It's easy to vent online. It's harder – and more important – to show up: to vote, to serve, to listen, and to help build something better. America survived Vietnam. We paid a price, but we learned some hard lessons. We came out of it with a stronger press, new checks on presidential power and a deeper understanding of the cost of war. The question is, what will we take from this moment in history? That answer depends on what we choose to do next. History teaches us that division doesn't have to be our destiny. But unity takes work. It takes honesty, accountability, grace, rediscovering our shared values and the belief that the future matters more than the fight we're in right now. As I've learned: The true test of a nation's greatness isn't whether it can avoid hard times, it's whether it can come through them stronger. Kevin Brown is a Vietnam veteran, retired school superintendent and a lifelong believer in civic responsibility and service.