And so, when, thirty years from now, our brothers go down the street without a leg, without an arm, or a face, and small boys ask why, we will be able to say “Vietnam” and not mean a desert, not a filthy obscene memory, but mean instead where America finally turned, and where soldiers like us helped it in the turning.

John Kerry testifying before the United States senate (April 22, 1971) about the Vietnam War. From the film The Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.