Remember others as well

I’m old enough to have seen a few Muhammad Ali fights. Back in the day, if you wanted to see a championship fight, you needed to travel to Spokane and see it on a closed circuit screen at the old Spokane Coliseum.

Then about two or three weeks later they would show a rerun of the fight on ABC Wide World of Sports. I got to see the reruns of the fights.

I would have to say the Ali was a pretty good fighter and showman as well. His fighting presence made boxing a popular sport. The interest was simply that one group of people wanted to see him win and another group wanted to see him lose. The brashness and boastfulness was a turn off to a lot of people while others gravitated to it.

When Ali passed away last week, there were a lot of people that talked about all of the good Ali did as a humanitarian. People loved him. He was a hero to many.

His battle with Parkinson’s disease was devastating and the Ali that many of us grew up watching changed us. It was tough to see him in this state as opposed to the quick footed, dancing, trash talking heavyweight boxing champion.

A lot of people never saw him fight but were enamored with his larger than life personality that everyone had heard about. Most recognized him for his battle against the U.S. government. Ali was drafted by the Army during the Vietnam War and Ali stated that he was a conscientious objector to the war.

Ali wasn’t the only one to do this, but many conscientious objectors were still drafted and became medics for the military or served in other capacities. Ali fought even going to the military and was sent to prison for four years.

Prior to the all-volunteer military, every U.S. male had to register to the selective service, or the draft. This would allow the armed services to have enough men to serve in times of war and peace.

The Vietnam War was a volatile time in our history. Many that didn’t want to serve simply went to Canada to avoid going into the military. Ali made a statement by going to prison instead of the Army.

There was no way that Ali was ever going to go to Vietnam. His celebrity would have been a problem for a lot of different reasons. But I’m sure Ali also didn’t want to be the spokesman for the Army and get other young men to join something he didn’t condone.

Ali had made enough money in his earlier fights and became a hero to many for sitting this one out. Many others could not forgive him for turning his back on the U.S.

For a lot of young men at this time their choices weren’t quite as simple. Many of these young men’s fathers had served during World War II and Korea. So like it or not, they followed in those footsteps.

Others feared that if they went to jail they would never get a job in this country or at least a good one. A few others had gotten into trouble and were given an ultimatum by a judge, enlist or go to jail. If you enlist the crime would be expunged from their records.

There were too many of these individuals that had good jobs but had no deferments to keep them from being drafted. So some of them went to Vietnam and served and came home with few if any problems.

Too many were sprayed with Agent Orange; ended up with PTSD, were imprisoned or killed.

Those that did come home were ostracized by war protestors and those that didn’t believe in the war. These guys weren’t given a choice and if they were the choice was what the military determined anyway.

I’m sure that sitting in an American jail would have been a lot cozier than the ones in North Vietnam. One thing I heard a lot last week was that Ali was in jail during the prime of his career, and that is true, but that is a choice he made.

I’ve been to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. The over 50,000 names on that wall were lost in the prime of their lives as well and we should never forget them or those that served. They are heroes too!