What is carried home from time at war? Does it matter if your side won? Or lost? Or if you are uncertain what the fighting was for?

As time pushes forward, those who were soldiers once, and the rest of us really, are left with our own indelible memories, at times interrupted by wavering recall of our most impactful experiences. What remains is recollection reshaped by time, and living, by our friends, brothers and sisters, and fellow soldiers. A work in progress, forever.

How much remembering — of sculpting our own self-portraits — from when we were 19 or 22 are fully our own? What role has historical interpretation and cultural framing played in our own acceptance, rejection, or reinterpretation of the most intense moments of our long ago pasts?

With most World War II veterans gone, we can only partly know what each soldier carried with them through the decades into old age. A war fought by the young — as are all wars — how much of their remembrance was truly their own experience?

How much did they forget, or remember but bury deep? What, if any, of their most difficult moments were shared with family, other vets, or barstool strangers? While many World War II veterans felt deep pride in their service, even grudgingly heroic, others carried the burden — in their view — of doing nothing remarkable. Collectively though, theirs felt like a just war, a war those soldiers carried along with purpose.

And then there’s the Vietnam War. The place, a minor chess piece in a Cold War era power struggle, barely registered in the minds of most Americans until the war effort escalated in the mid-1960s. A decade later, over 58,000 US military personnel were dead in what many came to believe was an uncommitted, unwinnable war.

Vietnam War veterans are now in their 70s and 80s. The portraits in this series reflect lives a half century or more removed from time on the ground in Vietnam. Most of these vets shared stories tinged with pride, of serving their country as best they could, but each carried with them some measure of personal conflict.

Many of these veterans made clear they were not heroes, deflecting to buddies, some killed in battle. In between were poignant stories recalling the camaraderie and bonhomie unique to wartime. Others tried in vain to push beyond their experience, sharing expressions of bitterness following unwelcome encounters back home. There were also words of regret for failing to shed anger, yet a healthy acknowledgement of the ravages of PTSD.

Wary to share stories over five decades old, the veterans who fought in Vietnam — those remaining — are nevertheless among us, long home.

                            - Mitch Conlon, Photographer

In just five days my grandsons will be joyously setting off fireworks in celebration of what has become America’s quintessential summer holiday. This year will mark the 247th year since our birth as a nation. Just a month earlier we paid tribute to those who gave “their last full measure of devotion” on behalf of the freedoms we declared on July 4, 1776.

I was recently reminded of the relationship between these two national holidays when my wife and I took our grandsons, ages 11 and 8, to Veterans Community Plaza in Sedro-Woolley. Our primary mission was to fly kites, and perhaps stroll the grounds of Northern State Hospital. But first, we paid a visit to Skagit County Parks and Recreation’s tribute to the county’s veteran community. One of the plaza’s panels describes the park exhibit as “part of a revolving display to acknowledge the heroic efforts and experiences of our service people.”

Over the years that my wife and I have been visiting the Northern State Hospital grounds, we’ve watched the Veterans Community Plaza evolve, starting with the 2016 decision by the Skagit County Board of County Commissioners to designate 1.2 acres of parkland “in honor of Skagit County veterans” — a decision met by “a groundswell of community members (who) assembled plans for constructing a picnic shelter, restroom facility, plaza, and trail system.” Skagit County Parks and Recreation provided plans for the picnic shelter and volunteers began construction.

In 2017, Skagit County secured state funding to bring water, sewer, and electricity to the site. These improvements laid the groundwork for the construction of the plaza. While the designing process was underway, a core of dedicated volunteers assembled signage and additional park amenities. In 2018, Parks and Recreation secured grant funding through the Recreation Conservation Office for the construction of the park. County Commissioners generously dedicated additional funds, making the completion of the park a reality. In November of 2022, the Veterans Park Plaza was christened.

I consider myself a good writer, but I lack the vocabulary to convey the impact of photographer Mitch Conlon’s images and the words that accompany them, as related by their subjects. What I can do is share some of those images with you, and then recommend that you spend some time with them in person. As an added bonus, you can admire the architecture of the old Northern State Hospital, take in the grounds with their views of the Cascades, maybe play a little disc golf, and cap the day off with a stop in downtown Woolley for a bite to eat. It’s just another in an endless number of great ways to spend a day in the Magic Skagit.

I would also encourage you to say hello to the park’s custodians, Midge and husband Joe, who reside at the plaza grounds in their 25 year-old, refurbished Alpenlite trailer. You’ll get a warm greeting, a big smile, and some goodies for the kiddos if you have any in tow (the grandsons got some healthy snacks). Like the plaza they maintain, their authenticity and openness fits in perfectly with the images and stories on display.

Mitch Conlon’s photos tell some hard but necessary truths. These aren’t the breezy displays of patriotic zeal that glorify war in order to honor those who fight it. If my generation learned anything from the Vietnam War, it should have been that there are no unwounded warriors, and that we owe those who chose to serve (or were given no choice) our respect and compassion, however we may feel about the conflict that consumed them. And as I reminded my grandsons, who took in the exhibit with the thoughtful solemnity it deserves, the people who serve our country in uniform have always done so in the hope and expectation of defending our freedoms — often with a greater integrity than the motivations that placed them in harm’s way to begin with. Kudos to Skagit County Board of Commissioners and Parks and Recreation for creating such a beautiful reminder.

Happy 4th of July, Magic Skagit!