How Far Home: Veterans after Vietnam [VHS]
29 minutes, 1988
Description: The dedication ceremony of the Vietnam War Memorial held an importance far beyond the standardized official salutations and fanfare. This event was a reunion for a generation of soldiers who had never experienced public acknowledgment for their personal sacrifices in Vietnam. The dedication ceremony was an opportunity for veterans to come to terms with their sense of isolation from the rest of society and remember those who never made it home. How Far Home is an intimate portrait of men and women who returned from the Vietnam conflict only to find a new, more personal battle waiting for them back home. This program focuses on the adjustment that many Vietnam vets made in their personal and social lives since the war and their feelings about the dedications ceremonies. As veterans stare at the names of their fallen comrades etched in the smooth surface of the stark granite wall, they offer personal reflections on this turbulent era and the sacrifices it involved.