Vietnam voices: Jerry McGrath

Jerry McGrath, 61, retired elementary school teacher, Wading River.

July 9, 1969, was the day I returned from Vietnam. I was 22. I got off at JFK, just a single soldier. I took a quiet cab ride home to Cypress Hills where I lived. Rang the door bell, and there's my sister greeting me at the door and my parents jumping for joy. I have to say, that day ... was just one of the happiest days of my life. It was just nice to come home and be alive.

It was such a sharp contrast of feelings in a 48-hour period. I was in this country filled with squalor and war and oppressive heat. I had gone through a situation in May, where it was a real horrific combat situation, the scariest moment of my life. And then sheer joy, coming home to Mom and Dad in Brooklyn and all of my friends.

The lack of welcome didn't exist among my parents and friends. But it was the weirdest feeling to step into a situation where it was almost as if the Vietnam War didn't exist and nobody really cared. Coming home was a lonely experience. What really hurt more was the lack of recognition over an extended period of time. A lot of people just didn't care about hearing about the experience. They wanted to forget about it.

It's never been out of my life. I wear hearing aids to live with my impairment. I live with it every day. You never escape the experience.