Friday, August 30, 2024
Geno was the everyday kind of military hero whose contributions often are underestimated by civilians like me. I met Geno about 25 years ago when my college anthropology class was discussing an ethnography focusing on the Run to the Wall, the annual motorcycle pilgrimage of Vietnam veterans from California to the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington DC. In search of a speaker, I had reached out to Vietnam Veterans Chapter 20. Geno returned my call. He offered to find time in his busy workday to come and tell us his story.
I have not forgotten his moving presentation and the deep personal convictions that Geno shared with us. He told of being a college student who felt so compelled to join the war effort that he signed up with the Marines before telling his parents. He told of rapid training and then the deployment and brutal action in Vietnam that awakened him to the awful realities of war. Throughout his time there, he was sustained by the camaraderie of his peers who shared the deep commitment that had landed them in such a perilous place.
Geno also spoke honestly about the pain and confusion that resulted from the rude and thankless reception he received upon returning to the States after his tour of duty. Unlike World War II veterans, those who fought in Nam were often scorned and rejected. Vietnam was an unpopular war, and American society was in upheaval about the US involvement in the conflict. It would take decades for America to heal and come to a place where it could realize and express its appreciation of the sacrifices made by our Vietnam warriors.
Geno said that the war experience had shaped his decision to engage locally in the Rochester community. Because Vietnam vets faced different challenges than earlier war vets he and his peers decided to establish their own organization (Chapter 20 of Vietnam Veterans of America) to address specific needs. Homelessness. Addictions. War wounds, physical and mental. The need never to forget the horrors of war, especially those Missing In Action.
Geno also made a personal commitment to help educate the community so that we could reflect on the cost of conflict. When the country was ready to remember, Chapter 20 worked with governmental agencies to plan and install the Vietnam Veterans Memorial of Greater Rochester in Highland Park, taking inspiration from the national monument in Washington DC. Geno often led groups through the memorial, and he encouraged members of the anthropology class to visit the park and experience it firsthand.
We were spellbound throughout the presentation as Geno went on to share his thinking as a young man and also how some perspectives deepened or shifted as he matured. Loud applause broke out when he had finished. Then the students spontaneously lined up, approaching one-by-one to shake his hand and say a few words to this hero. I am grateful to Geno for his sacrifices and service and for sharing his story with us. He was wise to realize that Americans need to know, and then he rolled up his sleeves to do something about it. Geno Lenyk, Semper Fi.
Nancy Forand
