Young filmmaker documents veterans’ difficult return from Vietnam

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The family of a young Marine killed in the Vietnam War handed Larry Lelito their dead child’s uniform and burial flag.

They didn’t want it. They wanted to rid themselves of their son’s military service.

“They weren’t disrespectful to me, but they were disrespectful to the whole scene of Vietnam,” said Lelito, 70, another Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, who later helped bring dead Marines back to their families. “That was kind of hurtful.”

Lelito experienced it himself when he flew home at 20 years old in 1967 after more than a year in Southeast Asia.

“You didn’t have any good reactions, let’s put it that way,” said Lelito. “You didn’t want to talk about your service in Vietnam because people didn’t want to hear about it. You didn’t want to wear your uniform in public because people looked at you different, like you did something wrong.”

This kind of reception was all too familiar to Lelito and many other servicemen and women returning from the war. But a new documentary tells a different story — about the welcome home they wanted.

A group of five Vietnam War veterans, including Lelito, collaborated to share their own homecomings and describe their preferred welcome back with Luke Broyles, an 18-year-old motion picture student at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan.

Broyles and Lelito were to attend a screening of his film, “Welcome Home,” at the GI Film Festival during Memorial Day weekend in Washington D.C.

“The experience for (veterans) after they come home, especially for Vietnam veterans, was very difficult,” Broyles told the Traverse City, Michigan Record-Eagle. “They were not respected.”

The veterans met with Broyles at Peace Ranch, south of Traverse City, to film. They meet there each month to talk about their experiences and mentor other veterans looking for help, he said.

They’re not necessarily looking for thank-yous, Lelito said. Civilians may not understand the pain a short phrase can elicit in a veteran’s mind, he said.

Lelito and other veterans attended a function prior to filming the documentary where people thanked them for their service, a gesture that, while appreciated, brings the veterans back to Vietnam’s violent battlefields.

“I had a pretty rough duty. It kind of flashes me back,” said Lelito, a scout sniper while serving in the war. “If they really knew what my job was and what I had to do, they wouldn’t be thanking me for what I did. I’d rather not be thanked.”

Broyles learned Lelito and other veterans prefer a simple “welcome home.” Others don’t know the tension that awaited Lelito and others when their service ended.

Broyles hopes his documentary spreads both messages.

The film will be screened at film festivals across the country, including Michigan, Vermont, Arizona, New York, Indiana and California. It received honors from the National YoungArts Foundation earlier this year.

Connecting with Broyles and sharing their stories proved to be an important experience for the veterans, who hope to educate viewers and prevent existing and future veterans from encountering similar reactions, Lelito said.

Broyles said he looks forward to sharing their stories, many of which may not have ever been told. One of the veterans interviewed in the film has since died, he said.

“This film, especially, is very personal in that I’ve never done a film where it’s so deep and been hidden for decades,” Broyles said. “This is more of a story that has been locked away in their hearts and minds and they’ve decided to share it with the world.”

Johnson writes for the Traverse City, Michigan Record-Eagle.