Vietnam Veteran’s Family Mirrors U.S. Split on War

Norman Newfield kissed his mother goodby before leaving for a rally to support the Persian Gulf War, although he knew he’d see her there--at the other end of the park, demonstrating against the war.

The national divisions created by the war run through the middle of the Newfield family.

Norman Newfield points to the lessons of history and his own tour of duty with the Navy in Vietnam to justify the war. Amande Newfield’s feelings are rooted in experiences no less personal: watching three brothers risk their lives in World War II and agonizing over her only son while he patrolled Vietnam’s coastline for three years.

“He’s my son, and I love him, but as far as the war goes, we don’t see eye to eye,” said Amande Newfield, a 71-year-old retired factory worker who retains a slight French-Canadian accent, more than 60 years after she emigrated from Quebec.

She stood with her sister, her daughter and 30 other protesters during a rally at the town’s East End Park. Her 47-year-old son was the only family member across the green, where about 200 people rallied in support of the war.

“No one wants to go to war, not even people in the military,” Norman Newfield said that day. “But there are certain things you have to do. If we were not involved in World War I and World War II, what would Europe look like today? They’d be goose-stepping in Paris.”