The number of veterans living in Indiana is steadily declining, according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Ten years ago, approximately 455,000 veterans called Indiana home- about 10 percent of the state’s adult population at the time.
Indiana Department of Veteran Affairs data this year shows about 117,000 fewer veterans live in Indiana and make up about 6 percent of the state’s count.
Nationally, veterans from the Gulf War, which spans from 1990 to present, surpassed the number of Vietnam Veterans in the US in 2016 as the largest group of veterans by period of service.
But Indiana’s largest veteran population is still Vietnam-era veterans. They make up about 35 percent of the state’s veteran population.
By age, 65-74 years old are the largest group of veterans in Indiana by a small margin. Then, 75 years and up is the second largest group, about 25 percent. Then, it’s 35 to 54-year-olds, about 23 percent.
According to the nonprofit Veterans Data Central, about six thousand veterans live in Monroe County, which is about 5 percent of its population.
WFIU/WTIU News sat down to talk with a Vietnam War veteran living in Bloomington, Jerry Hart. He joined the United States Marine Corps in October 1963 and served until October 1978.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
WFIU: What made you decide to enlist?
Hart: That's a long story. I was 17, and me and my high school principal got into it. So, I quit school my senior year with three months left to graduate. I was born and raised in the Air Force. But I decided I wanted to do something better, so I joined Marine Corps. It's supposed to be rougher, tougher, and makes a man out of you.
WFIU: You think it did that?
Hart: I grew up real quick. The Marine Corps teaches: forget everything that you've learned, everything you shouldn't have learned, and they're going to put new thoughts in your mind– develop you as a Marine from that point on. And that's what they did.
WFIU: You served during the Vietnam War?
Hart: Yes, just before the President John F. Kennedy got assassinated, I was stationed in San Diego. They increased our training and put us straight to the rifle range the next morning.
WFIU: What were you thinking and feeling during that time?
Hart: The only thing I was thinking was, ‘what am I doing here?’ A couple days before that, I was home running the streets. Next, I'm sitting looking at the rifle range and expecting to go to war, which was all brand new to me at that time.
WFIU: How often do people ask you about your time in the Marine Corps?
Hart: Not much when I first got out. Back then, (Vietnam War veterans) were called baby killers, women molesters, and people chanted very vulgar things at us. (The public) had a disbelief in us as American military, and I wanted no part of it.
WFIU: I’m sorry that happened.
Hart: I didn't ask to be there, but Marine Corps said I had to go, so I went. When they tell you to go somewhere, you didn’t ask why or how come.
WFIU: What did you do once you got back from Vietnam?
Hart: To avoid attitudes at home, I served overseas in Okinawa, Japan. I also did recruiting in Louisville, Kentucky and pistol range training. I left Louisville, went to North Carolina and spent six months down there before retiring.
WFIU: What do you think when people thank you for your service?
Hart: It's nice to hear people say, ‘thank you for your service.’ They may be sincere about it. But I don't feel sincere about receiving it, because of the way I was treated when I first came back from Vietnam. (The public) didn't want to hear our views. So, I kind of got a hard feeling about it.
WFIU: That makes me a little sad.
Hart: Don't be sad. It's part of life, part of growing up… I liked the Marine Corps. I enjoyed it. It changed me.
WFIU: Can you say more?
Hart: I have a different outlook on life than I did as a teenager, keeping in mind that I was only 17 when I joined– so my outlook on life wasn't that broad. It challenged me every day, it was something different every day. You had to know what you're talking about. You had to know what you were doing and what was expected of you.
