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After going through thread after thread about the war in Iraq, and seeing them quickly decline into the usual liberal versus conservative commentary, I started to think about the 'spitting on the soldiers' that took place after the Vietnam War. I've heard about it, but I wasn't born until 1975 - and I would like to know what really happened. Were there a few isolated incidents? Was it a common occurence? If it was commonplace, was it concentrated in a few cities or regions? What group(s) of people frequently engaged in this, and were they punished?
Honestly, I can't think of a more degrading thing to do to a human being that served in the military and suffered what they did- I don't care how heavily the war (or 'conflict') was protested.
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I was very much opposed to the war but never really blamed the grunts who fought it, I certainly never spit in anyone's face about it. That being said I do believe there were quite a few in the White House and DoD who never received the good, swift kicks in their butts they so richly deserved for their arrogance and stupidity.
Honestly, I can't think of a more degrading thing to do to a human being that served in the military and suffered what they did- I don't care how heavily the war (or 'conflict') was protested.
There were incidences but those occured at time where people didnt see the soldiers as individuals but as a representation of the policies of the government they were opposing. Now people see the difference between individuals soldiers and the government. However the current administration would like to blur that line so if you question administration policies then you're questioning the integrity of the soldiers.
I can only speak about the Philadelphia area, it was all I observed. The individuals coming back were treated with sympathy and respect, the overall mood was that it was something you just survived (like going through a meat grinder). The protest and spitting were mostly associated with organized marches, which were pretty infrequent, and when military recruiters tried to make presentations at places like Temple University or the University of Pennsylvania.
Overall though, we treated the guys with respect, and let them know we were glad they were able to survive the ordeal.
When I came back in 1968, I was never disrespected. Until my hair grew out, a few people asked me if I had just gotten out of prison, though.
The only thing that really bothered me was the demonstrators who carried VC flags or mouthed the "ho ho ho chi minh" chant. I decided that I would just chalk that up to their ignorance, though. Most of my friends who opposed the war have remained friends of mine today.
I can't say, though, that I will ever be at peace. Damn that war, anyway....
After going through thread after thread about the war in Iraq, and seeing them quickly decline into the usual liberal versus conservative commentary, I started to think about the 'spitting on the soldiers' that took place after the Vietnam War. I've heard about it, but I wasn't born until 1975 - and I would like to know what really happened. Were there a few isolated incidents? Was it a common occurence? If it was commonplace, was it concentrated in a few cities or regions? What group(s) of people frequently engaged in this, and were they punished?
Honestly, I can't think of a more degrading thing to do to a human being that served in the military and suffered what they did- I don't care how heavily the war (or 'conflict') was protested.
There is a great deal of information on the internet about what happened to Vietnam vets. Every vet had a different return. Some times, you get fake veterans making these statements.
For those who call themselves a Veteran and are not a vet, they are now open to a federal crime for lieing.
I arrived home from Vietnam in February 1971. One of my neighborhood friends, who I went to grammar school with, asked me how many babies did I have to kill, while living and serving in a Vietnamese peasant village. This friend was not trying to be political in anyway, and he wasn't trying to be funny. He just heard it in the news from John Kerry (And his supporters) and thought all Vietnam Vets had to kill babies.
That same weekend, I wore my Marine uniform for the first time wearing my ribbons (Including a Purple Heart). When I got on a New York City bus, the driver told me that I could get on the bus for free, if I promised to sit in the back of his bus. He told me he was not political, but he just didn't want any trouble on his bus. (It was the first and last time that I wore my Marine uniform. At the time, military officers were telling their troops not to wear their uniforms in public, because of what was going on in the American News Media.)
As posters from various points on the political spectrum have alluded to above, the meme that soldiers returning from Vietnam were spat upon by war protesters is a myth, one propagated by those whose only motivation is to vilify the left. Truth content is not a consideration. As was noted, there were sporadic confrontations over those years between groups of pro-war and anti-war demonstrators (with vets likely included on both sides) during which incivilities such as spitting did occur. This was no general pattern. In any accurate accounting, there would have been more incidents of Wallace Democrat blue-collar and hard-hat types wading into crowds of anti-war protesters and simply beating on them. Wallace Democrats, for those who may have missed it, were at the head of a line that would lead through the Silent Majority, then to Reagan Democrats, and then to the Neocons.
It will probably help to realize that soldiers did not come home 'after' Viet Nam. Drafted in large numbers, they did their basic and specialist training, then did their 13 months in-country, and if they survived that, they came home. In ones and twos. Now and then. Here and there. No thank you, no fanfare. You just got off a plane at your hometown airport and had to make your way home. Some were in uniform, some not, but there were always soldiers in uniform at the airport, so telling a returning soldier from any other would have been a very difficult thing to do.
There was an actual indignity that was commonly shown to Vietnam vets upon their return, and that was in the attitude of groups such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, who too often wanted nothing to do with these long-haired, dope-smoking, hippies who never fought in any real war and only brought disgrace to the nation in whatever it was they did participate in. That was very hard for many to take.
As for those who were on the left in those days, it ought to be remembered that those kids coming home from Nam were our long-time buddies. We'd gone to school with them, played sports with them, hung out at the bowling alley with them. There was no reason to spit on them over the eerily Bush-like actions of those who were in charge at that time. And most of them were damaged. Some a little bit and some a lot. You'd give them a hug and buy them a beer, but mostly you would listen. And comfort. And console. And let them know how sorry you were that they'd had to go through something like that, whatever it might have been. One of my roommates had to put a bullet into the back of the head of a ten-year old Vietnamese boy. Didn't hesitate. Would have done it again in a heartbeat. But that kind of thing leaves a mark inside. It just doesn't heal up right away. Not exactly the type of guy I would have thought to spit on.
So, that's one more tale from that time. To those of us who lived through it, the crude caricature that is presented by pop media is all but unrecognizable. Many things were not at all the way they have been portrayed in made-for-TV movies...
There is a great deal of information on the internet about what happened to Vietnam vets. Every vet had a different return. Some times, you get fake veterans making these statements.
For those who call themselves a Veteran and are not a vet, they are now open to a federal crime for lieing.
I arrived home from Vietnam in February 1971. One of my neighborhood friends, who I went to grammar school with, asked me how many babies did I have to kill, while living and serving in a Vietnamese peasant village. This friend was not trying to be political in anyway, and he wasn't trying to be funny. He just heard it in the news from John Kerry (And his supporters) and thought all Vietnam Vets had to kill babies.
That same weekend, I wore my Marine uniform for the first time wearing my ribbons (Including a Purple Heart). When I got on a New York City bus, the driver told me that I could get on the bus for free, if I promised to sit in the back of his bus. He told me he was not political, but he just didn't want any trouble on his bus. (It was the first and last time that I wore my Marine uniform. At the time, military officers were telling their troops not to wear their uniforms in public, because of what was going on in the American News Media.)
ProudCap:
Thank you for your service. The Marines I met in Nam were courageous, stand-up guys.
I'm sorry that you had some bad experiences when you got back to the World.
John Kerry Was Behind The Image Destruction of America's Vietnam Veterans
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrsengle
After going through thread after thread about the war in Iraq, and seeing them quickly decline into the usual liberal versus conservative commentary, I started to think about the 'spitting on the soldiers' that took place after the Vietnam War. I've heard about it, but I wasn't born until 1975 - and I would like to know what really happened. Were there a few isolated incidents? Was it a common occurence? If it was commonplace, was it concentrated in a few cities or regions? What group(s) of people frequently engaged in this, and were they punished?
Honestly, I can't think of a more degrading thing to do to a human being that served in the military and suffered what they did- I don't care how heavily the war (or 'conflict') was protested.
Many Vietnam Veterans had it a lot worse than I when they came home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeledaf
ProudCap:
Thank you for your service. The Marines I met in Nam were courageous, stand-up guys.
I'm sorry that you had some bad experiences when you got back to the World.
Welcome home, brother.
Thank you very much! Many veterans had it a lot worse than I, when they came home.
Back in those days, America was a different America than it is today. Americans are a lot smarter today because of the internet. We no longer rely on the American News Media as our only source for information.
The internet drives the Lefties crazy.
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Every vet had a different return.
