Higgins: You mentioned the VVAW. Did you become an active member of that organization? Did you participate in protests and things like that? Can you talk about that aspect of your life?
Magnusen: I'm not sure how many years I've been involved with VVAW maybe maybe five or six. After the protest, no because I've been in bed for the last 10, but in 2015, there was a veterans parade Veterans Day parade in Palm Springs. I wanted to go and I wanted to protest. It turns out that VVAW no longer has any protesting going on that they have this other group instead do the protesting for them. I was supposed to meet these guys, so I go down there. These guys are a bunch of idiots, a bunch of Yahoos. Anyway, there's about ten of those guys, and I'm far behind them in the parade. A student that I had 20, 30 years earlier is pushing me in my chair. I'm holding a flag for Legion of the Silver Rose. It's just him pushing me and I'm flashing the peace sign to everybody up and down the line. I could tell by looking in the crowd, I could see guys standing in the back of the crowd looking at me. I could see their eyes. I knew they were Vietnam vets. I knew they appreciated what I was doing.
I wish I could protest more I want to be able to go to schools or groups of people. I want to be able to tell them what it's like for a person to come back from a war. What can happen, and because of that, what happens to society anyway.
Higgins: How long did it take for you to feel comfortable talking about Vietnam?
Magnusen: I don't know if I ever have. The only people that I've told; my wife. That might be it.