“What color is the White House?” 

That is a classic question from Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” adventures when the late-night comedian asks ordinary people to remember facts about history, geography and politics.

Predictably, people could not answer the simplest questions.

So we wondered last Friday when Gov. Paul LePage proclaimed March 30 as Vietnam War Remembrance Day how many Mainers really remember what that meant.

For Mainers under 50 the war has probably receded into a foggy haze of old TV footage showing young American soldiers with helicopters and guns in a lush green country.

But those who lived through the war, and not just those who fought there, the war remains a very vivid and painful part of history, and significantly different than our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While all war is hell, Vietnam was really the first war in history that Americans could watch at home in living color. Although it took several days for cans of film to reach New York, what they saw for the first time was horrific:

Rows of body bags, the blood-soaked white t-shirts of wounded and dead Americans, screaming children burned by napalm and other acts of brutality never before witnessed on TV.

Then there was the draft, the random selection of young men chosen by lottery to become soldiers. While this was supposed to be a random process, the children of wealthy white families were often granted waivers for college and alternative service.

Ironically, many of the men who did not fight later became the “war hawks” for invading Afghanistan and Iraq.

About 3.4 million Americans served in the war zone between 1960 and 1973. At one point, we had 543,482 Americans in Vietnam.

Over the years, 58,202 of those Americans died in the war. Their names, of course, are carved into the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington. If you have never been there, go.

Every life lost in war is precious. Every death an unimaginable tragedy for a family.

But Americans were sacrificing their lives at a fearsome pace in Vietnam. In May of 1969, 1,411 Americans were killed there, 1,209 in action with the enemy. That was 352 a week, or about 50 a day.

When veterans returned, there were no airport greeters and far fewer physical and mental health services. Much the same can be said for Korean vets as well.

Most soldiers simply folded up their uniforms and attempted to merge back into a civilian world that was not particularly grateful for all they had sacrificed. 

We lost that war, not because of our warriors or their weapons, but because we completely underestimated the magnitude of the task we had undertaken.

We’re glad the governor recognized them Friday. But we owe them a debt every day.

[email protected]

The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and the editorial board.