The Public Safety Writers Association, 2022 writing contest awarded “Coming Home” second place in flash fiction. The 302-word story chronicles the welcome a Vietnam Veteran received upon his arrival in San Francisco, California. The ending is open to the reader’s interpretation.
Coming Home
I’m still running. I’m running from something; I’m not sure what. It’s time to stop running.
It could have been the reception I received at the San Francisco Airport on that cold and foggy day. I had worn the uniform for what seemed an eternity. I took a cab into the city, but it had started before then. First, the baggage handler threw my duffle bag at me, and then the cabbie acted as though I was Typhoid Mary.
I’m confused. I only did what was expected of me. Why this?
Dropped at the Greyhound Bus Depot, I was treated as a pariah. People glowered at me, most backed away. One woman spat on me after saying something about babies, a killer. I had never imagined a woman could do something like that.
The bar was the same; one drink and I walked away. I found myself standing in front of a Harley-Davidson dealer. I went in—it was different. “Hi, welcome home, welcome to Dudley Perkins.”
The man treated me with dignity. Maybe that’s why I bought an Electra Glide in blue. I threw the uniform into a Dempsey dumpster. I didn’t go back for my duffle bag.
Now five days later, I’m in Utah, stopped alongside a lonely highway. Leaning against the motorcycle, I stare at a stark rock formation in a long-dead sea bed. The trees, those with foliage, display orange and yellow leaves that shift and drop as a cold wind passes through the lonely valley. I feel as cold and lonely as the scene in front of me as I prepare to say goodbye to a world that no longer cares.
A poignant slice of experience that rings true to what I’ve heard from Viet Nam vets. I love your description of the Utah landscape—I can see it in my mind. Well done, George!
Thanks Victoria
Great job! Definitely evoked lots of emotion.
Wow, what impact George. Great writing and so powerful
Great story, George. I was lucky- I didn’t experience much of that. Congrats on the writing awards!
This story rings true. It touches the soul.
Well done, George. Personally, I never experienced the disdain and hatred you depicted in your story, but I’m certain it took place often enough to leave some veterans feeling like outcasts. One minor editing suggestion. You failed to use a question mark after the short sentence, “Why this.”
I did know a few vets who got spat on and cussed out, but not all of them. My hubby served during Vietnam, but was sent instead to S Korea. Good atmosphere in the story.
Good story, George. I can see why it won the award. It reminded me of a conversation I had with a veteran of the Korean War. He said we were attacked at Pearl Harbor and went to war. After WW II they welcomed the GI’s back as heroes. They were indifferent to us after Korea, and they despised the Vietnam vets for no good reason. After the Gulf War soldiers and marines were given a hero’s welcome home again, and then were heroes again after the 9-11 attack as went to war again. Now, after twenty years or so, the public seems to have slipped back into the indifference stage. (Note the lack of outrage at our disastrous pull-out from Afghanistan. It was a year ago this week that it began and I’ll be able to bet nobody reading this can recall one name of the 14 members of our military who lost their lives.) Things run in cycles, but one thing’s a constant. Our military personnel bear the brunt and pay the price.
What a gift you have, George. What a powerful story. Congratulations on being recognized for your great writing skills.
Great work of flash fiction, George! Congratulations!
Wow, great piece. Very atmospheric despite the low numbers of words.
Very powerful – well done!!
Wow. Very well written!
George, you put such a strong emotional impact in to such a short story. Left me wanting more.
Wow, George. Just wow! I didn’t serve, but I knew someone who did. Frank S. was special to me, as we had gone through school together. We were attending Foothill Junior College when he got called up. He was a football player, gentle and kind, and he could really take a hit. But he couldn’t take the hit that the Vietnam war delivered. The cruelty and bitterness piled upon those that returned . . . Frank, like so many others, did not deserve and he suffered greatly due to it.
Heart-wrenching and unfortunately how many vets were treated who served during the Vietnam War.
A sad story of beliefs and principles gone astray in today’s world
George, you put me right there with the returning Vietnam Veteran. I felt his confusion, his pain, his despair. A slice of America’s past that should never be forgotten, and never repeated.
many of the soldiers there were there because they were drafted. I worked with a lot of Vietnam Veterans, and they were best. They were honorable, dedicated, and compassionate. I know it was a small minority who treated our soldiers like criminals, and it was fueled by the media and activists that blamed the government. To them our soldiers were the government and an easy target.
A black man came to one of our yard sales wearing a baseball cap that say Vietnam Veteran. I shook his hand, thanked him for his service and said I was honored to meet him. He said I wish everyone felt that way, but I would do it again if necessary. My wife and I never forgot his visit and his devotion to this country.
Amazing story. It taps right into what I remember my step-father telling me about returning from Vietnam. I’ve always believe it’s so important to honor the sacrifices of the soldiers fighting for our freedom even if we don’t agree with the choices our government is making. Soldiers don’t get to choose their missions.
Thanks for this powerful story, George. I’ve worked with Vietnam veterans at the UCCS Veterans Health and Trauma center (where I teach creative writing) and been profoundly affected by their stories. It’s unimaginable, sometimes, how we treat our veterans–sometimes with cruelty and often with indifference.
Powerful George. God bless our veterans.
Powerful flash piece, George! You put me right in the scene. I also like how you left me up in the air as to how the story precedes: Does he commit suicide? Does he walk out into the desert never to return to society? Or does he ride off into the sunset? I fear that he will commit suicide. I envision him walking out into the desert. But I think he must have ridden off into the sunset to find a new future.
Excellent flash.. i could feel the disillusionment, aching for the welcome imagined but not received, and the powerful dissonance in our country at that time, with misguided projection of feelings. No reruns please. Loved the road trip on a bike to a different sort of freedom in nature’s beauty. A gift of a read. Thank you.