A Story of how Ray Kopp Spent His Time In The Navy
Why did I title this review as such? The Navy of the Forth Reich? How did Ray Kopp turn from gung ho for the war to completely against it? When the Newport News entered the Haipong area off the coast of North Vietnam to make strikes on coastal defenses and military targets, he learned there hadn't been a naval gunfire raid of this size since W.W. II ended. Incoming counter battery artillery aimed at the Newport News was a sure thing now that this 5 battleship flotilla of what was known as "Yankee Station" was now in North Vietnamese territorial waters. The big question was, if the war was being "Vietnamized", why was this strike force undertaking this mission, floating on a battleship laden with thousands of pounds of explosives? Deaths started happening. Three men, the Task Force commander, his Chief of Staff and his Operations Officer, the team that up the strike force together, were killed as their helicopter crashed as it made a night landing on the U.S. S. Providence. Regardless of American technology, "Thunder's" muzzle flashes could never be hidden, thus giving the North Vietnamese gunners a bead on the American's positions. Kopp realized that like the secret "Cambodian Incursion", no one in the U.S. knew that Nixon was stepping the war up via the Navy, thus leaving a bad taste in his mouth about America's leadership. If one is an astute follower of history, it is known that Adolf Hitler hid from native Germans the "Concentration Camps", lied to his people about the massive losses the Panzer divisions experienced in Africa and Russia, sent his subs and battleships on impossible, suicide missions, and at the end, recruited anyone young or old enough to defend the German homeland in May of 1945 from the Russian encirclement of Berlin from the East, and the Anglo-American thrust from the West.
Most people would crack under the stress Ray Kopp was subjected to. PTSD is real, debilitating, and is unrelenting to the sufferer. Towards the end of his 8 month Western Pacific tour, Kopp eloquently summed up his feelings to a woman of the night, man's "eternal therapist", as follows: "I just want to go back to Pennsylvania. I don't want to kill anybody. I don't want to get killed or see any of my buddies get killed." This brings us to today. Ray and other Veterans alike for the most part silently suffer from combat related PTSD as a consequence of Vietnam War, a conflict even today most people believe America should not have been involved in. Unjustifiably mistreated treated as pariahs, unwanted dregs of a social group, most Americans want to forget Vietnam. It is important to keep in mind that those that didn't skip off to Canada or Sweden thought they were doing an honorable, just, righteous duty by serving in the armed forces during Vietnam and were performing their responsibility as a patriot in the 1960's, Cold War era America. Mr. Kopp and countless others put their lives on the line as their revered fathers, uncles and brothers had for W.W. II. It is without gratitude and shameful that upon their return they came back to a country that felt it had made a big mistake in sending troops there to begin with and that all veterans of this conflict were a bunch of drug-crazed malcontents or William Calley clones. The stigma and the pain that the Mr. Kopp has personally expressed to me is inexcusable and deplorable. Similar to other social groups that been disrespected and stigmatized, such as Blacks, Jews, Hispanics, etc., many Vietnam Vets were turned away and ignored by the very same people they thought they were putting our lives on the line for, in their own country. Unfairly doled out mistreatment as a third-class citizen in their careers, communities and associations with others, Vietnam Veterans have reverted since the war ended to keeping their Vietnam Veteran status a secret. Incredulously Mr. Kopp has informed me that in his past, once people found out he was a Vietnam Veteran, he was treated like a criminal, with others ignorantly assuming all Veterans of Vietnam are ashamed of their actions in that conflict. It is tragic that for some veterans, their wounds will never fully heal. "Out of sight, out of mind" works for some veterans, and for the author of this book, recovery is about not having to be reminded and having to re-experience the hurts, hang-ups and habits that have accrued over the decades. This anger, depression, guilt and shame all consequences of his Vietnam experience.
As the plethora of memoirs and autobiographies of Vietnam Veterans bare witness, some recover with cathartic methods like revisiting their combat experiences, by taking trips back to the battlefield, reading lots of supportive literature that validates their exigencies and motive. Others, including Mr. Kopp, are too sensitive about their issues to ever go back there. For Ray, "moving on" to present day living, keeping as many reminders of his past out of his everyday life work for him, as it is necessary on a continuing basis to keep his sanity. There are Veterans that tragically experience long, deep depressions and suicidal thoughts and ideation. To preserve his tranquility, Mr. Kopp has spent the last 5 or so years in relative isolation and blessed relief from his constant, intrusive thoughts of the Vietnam War. According to the author, this is a blessing God has helped him to attain. Getting to know God and his savior, Jesus Christ on a daily, conscious level is paramount to his existence. Diligently working long and hard to get to the point of being able to feel some of the serenity he currently experiences has been a ten year quest. In my past reviews, I have been able to freely obtain dialogue about their experiences from W. W II and Korean War Veterans. Holocaust survivors and Vietnam Vets are a totally different story. It appears that for some, they fare better in life recovering from their P.T.S.D. by separating as much as they can, living a life free of reminders of their tours of Vietnam or traumatic experience. Mr. Kopp accepts his past, but doesn't live in it. Moving on, his identity is not defined by Ray Kopp, a Vietnam Veteran. In penning "Thunder in the Night" his intentions were to have his say about his Vietnam experience and then let it go. I am, as a reviewer, particularly pleased at Mr. Kopp's progress, respect his privacy, and have felt that I have uncovered a book of uncommon revelations, while at the same time, making hopefully a lifelong friend quite unique and special. Please, do yourself a favor. This book is unlike any memoir I have yet encountered and is an absolute "must read". It is way more than a suppressed story of the naval battles of the early 1970's, a part of American history that has unjustly been "swept under the rug." With America being sick of the Vietnam War by 1972, I know of no other book that rivals "Thunder In The Night's" examination of America's final offensive of this conflict. Written with dexterity, intelligence and skillful penmanship, this book belongs as an essential part of any American high school or college curriculum pertaining to this war
