Nam vets didnt deserve what they got

[Divine Wind]

A 1971 Harris poll conducted for the Veterans Administration found over 90 percent of Vietnam veterans reporting a friendly homecoming.

vietnam war statistics

9,087,000 Military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Era. Aug. 5, 1964 - May 7, 1975.

3,403,100 Personnel served in the Southeast Asia Theater

Even if we use the number of those who actually went to SEA, that leaves over 340,000 (10%) with less-than-friendly stories to tell. However, since most civilians have a hard time telling an Air Force uniform from a bus driver uniform, I doubt they could tell the difference between a serviceman who was returning from Viet Nam and one who just completed training and has never deployed so I'd go with the higher number.

I don't understand why lefties always have a conniption over this matter. Are they seriously denying that any servicemen were treated with less than a respectful attitude by war protesters of the day?

 

[9thIDdoc]

First off.......more hippies were spat on than soldiers ever were. There are actual reports from the time of hippies being spat on and beaten up

Great! Now please show us the documentation.

 

[9thIDdoc]

"A group of history students, who had organized the protest, buried a copy of the Constitution, which they claimed had been murdered when US troops were sent into Cambodia without a declaration of war by Congress."


"Twice, while the rally was in progress, passing police cruisers were hit with beer bottles"

"... and a bonfire was set in the street."

"The crowd blocked traffic for about an hour and then moved toward the center of town. Some members of the crowd began to break windows. Primarily "political targets" were attacked, including banks, loan companies, and utility companies."

"The now 2,000 marchers swarmed the hill overlooking the Commons and crossed the Commons. Then they surrounded the ROTC building, an old wooden World War II barracks that was scheduled to be demolished. Windows were broken and a few persons eventually set the building on fire."


" Firemen arrived on the scene but their actions were abandoned because some of the crowd attacked the firemen and slashed their hoses. "

'In the first two weeks of May, thirty ROTC buildings would be burned nationwide."

Seriously, does anyone really believe that they would draw the line at spitting?

 

[Ravi]

the vets who claim they were spit on...there is no proof of that....no documentation.....dont you think there would be a fight that lead to arrests.....

high what would your reaction be to someone spitting on you?

think it thru.....someone spits on you.....you lose it you do what.....get into a fist fight....and yet there were none?

do you really expect me to believe that these men would not defend themselves? that they walk with their heads down as they were spit on? really high....just think about that....

i have a higher opinion of men in general...i dont know where you are from but here that is such a disgusting act....most wont tolerate it....

Exactly.

The protestors during the Vietnam War were more about NOT sending any Americans to Vietnam to fight a pointless and deadly war. Any hatred of the military was targeted at the leaders, not the poor saps that were drafted.

But it doesn't matter. This myth will never ever die.

 

[Wicked Jester]

Not only were liberals spitting on our troops back then, they are doing it to our troops these days also.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-TBirrPiQ]Anti-War Protester Spits on Iraq War Veteran - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Againsheila]

o what bullmal and an attempt to re write a history.

the majority of vietnam vets were welcomed home...simple as that ...the spitting rumors and all are mostly that...rumors...it may have happened but not as much as people like to say now...

I was there. Both my brother and my father served in Vietnam. Our family was reviled....

I blame Jane Fonda and her ilk....

 

[Wicked Jester]

o what bullmal and an attempt to re write a history.

the majority of vietnam vets were welcomed home...simple as that ...the spitting rumors and all are mostly that...rumors...it may have happened but not as much as people like to say now...

I was there. Both my brother and my father served in Vietnam. Our family was reviled....

I blame Jane Fonda and her ilk....

Don't leave out John Kerry, and all the american blood he has on his traitorous hands.

 

[9thIDdoc]

all of these seem to be first person reports with nothing else to back them up......


he exaggerations in Smith's story are characteristic of those told by others. ''Most Vietnam veterans were spat on when we came back," he said. That's not true. A 1971 Harris poll conducted for the Veterans Administration found over 90 percent of Vietnam veterans reporting a friendly homecoming. Far from spitting on veterans, the antiwar movement welcomed them into its ranks and thousands of veterans joined the opposition to the war.

Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Opinion / Op-ed / Debunking a spitting image

sooooo all these spit upon vets returned after 1971 or what?

How silly! Even the guy that wrote that made no claim the article was anything other than opinion and conjecture. And you want to present it as some kind of fact? Nope, that won't fly.

 

[9thIDdoc]

...and the facts fall on side of truth!

 

[The Gadfly]

And so we see that de nial is more than just a river.

Actually the hate was mostly directed at anyone in uniform rather than vetrans returning from Vietnam.
A high precentage were discharged, or otherwise allowed out of uniform, immediately on return from overseas.
I went to Vietnam after being stationed in SF and never had any more direct confontations so I suspect that the vast majority of those targeted had never even had an opportunity to burn any of those babies were so fond of
It might also be remembered that the hippies rarely really showed out unless they outnumbered their targets a thousand to one or more. And many of their more serious antics were very well documented and often seen at home on the evening news programs. Being unwilling, or too lazy, to look for documentation doesn't mean it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

That was pretty much what I saw, Doc; most of the taunts, etc. were directed at anyone in a military uniform. As for some of the stuff that happened during their demonstrations, well, the language was mostly bleeped out, but throwing trash, blood, urine etc DID get caught on film and shown on the news, so I have to believe that at least the evidence of THAT is out there, somewhere.

For those who want to focus on spitting (mainly, I suspect, because it's the hardest thing for us to "prove"), all I can say is, that while it wasn't universal (and I haven't seen any vet here claim that EVERY Vietnam vet was spat on), it definitely did happen to some of us, and perhaps more than some of them would like to think. For those who aren't vets, and just refuse to believe it (some to the extent that if confronted with direct video evidence, they would probably try to deny or minimalize even THAT), all I can say, is go ahead, and believe what you want; go ahead and believe that Vietnam was all our fault, and that we lost on the battle field, and that we were all war criminals too, if it makes you feel better. You'll still be wrong, but maybe for you, ignorance really IS bliss.

For those vets who say they were welcomd with open arms, I'm happy for you, I really am; but it wasn't that way for everybody. If you had supportive civilian friends around you, and no one ever called you names, or pushed you aside, or made you feel like a leper, great; but don't assume that the experiences of those who faced a different situation are any less valid, because they don't match yours. Like I said earlier, we all experienced what happened in Vietnam differently, and we experienced what happened when we came home differently too.

 

[namvet]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-TBirrPiQ]Anti-War Protester Spits on Iraq War Veteran - YouTube[/ame]

 

[The Gadfly]

Anti-War Protester Spits on Iraq War Veteran - YouTube

Vietnam Veterans receive the homecoming they never had. - YouTube

Now, now Namvet, you know that first vid has to be a fake, right? I mean there wasn't any spitting then, and there's none now; Strollingbones says so! And see, that Marine vet didn't hit back-why, that's impossible! Any man who was spit on, would hit someone; why, he wasn't even in uniform! That would NEVER happen-Strollingbones says so! Any Vietnam vet who claims otherwise is a fake, Editec says so! Anyone whose experience coming home wasn't just fine, like his, is a fake-none of them were actually in Vietnam! Any vet who doesn't toe the liberal line on this or anything else is a fraud! Just ask the liberals in this thread-THEY KNOW IT ALL! It's all a myth; the PTSD, the name-calling, the hate,the accusations, all of it; we made it all up! None of us were ever hurt or abused; EVERYBODY LOVED US! So say the liberals! The nightmares, the flashbacks; none of that ever happened either; just our imagination!

Never mind the name-calling that's gone on right here on this board; Vietnam vets, me included, have been called "murderers" and "baby-killers" right here, but never mind those posts, we made them up-they never happened either. I'ver been asked directly, right here on this board, "How many unarmed Vietnamese did you kill?" "How many children did you kill?" "How many women did you rape?" Go look up the thread where Jose did that...but no, that never happened either; just my imagination, I'm sure!

You know, the more I go back through this thread, and read over this shit, the more disgusted I get. One lie after another, just like back then. Goddamn, some things never change, not at all. What's the matter? An op-ed piece gets quoted, "debunking" the whole mistreatment of Vietnam vets, and at the end of it, the writer worries about "people being intimidated against protesting current wars"; (no "agenda" there, I'm sure). Intimidated? Intimidated against spitting, throwing stuff, and cursing soldiers? Is THAT really what this is about? Is THAT what you're being deprived of because of something Vietnam vets supposedly "made up"? If that's what you want to be able to do, you're even worse trash than I thought! Everything is about politics with some of you, EVERYTHING, including the hate! You can't stand the thought that any Vietnam vet would disagree with you, so any who do, must be fakes! Even if someone suggests that the truth is somewhere between the extremes, you won't even acknowledge THAT-all or nothing, toe the party line or else!

Some of you need to take a long, hard look at yourselves. You won't, of course, but you damn well should! You know what; after some of what I've seen here, I don't give a rat's ass what some of you think! Everyone here knows EXACTLY which posters I'm talking to! I've tried to explain to some people here how a lot of us felt; what it was like over there, and what it was like coming home, and trying to readjust. It's pretty clear that doesn't matter to some of you. I don't care, whether you believe anything I say, or not! You're as rotten to the core, as anyone who ever called us names, kicked us to the curb, ignored us, or did all the other stuff YOU claim never happened! Therefore, you can kiss my Vietnam vet ass, and you can go to hell!

 

[JakeStarkey]

do i see anything proving this other than posters running their mouths....well no i dont.....can yall not google or what?

I see you running with bogus information.

You have had folks tell you it happened to them or it happened to folks they know, yet you dismiss first hand information. On this one, lefties have no cred.

It happened. A lot.

 

[9thIDdoc]

One should never burn more babies than can be eatten at a single sitting. They tend to spoil quickly.

 

[The Gadfly]

One should never burn more babies than can be eatten at a single sitting. They tend to spoil quickly.

True; I preferred mine medium rare, with rice and Nuoc Mam sauce on the side....

 

[strollingbones]

perhaps one should focus on the true problems of returning vets today.......instead of focusing on a past problems that nothing can be done about....

 

[Divine Wind]

perhaps one should focus on the true problems of returning vets today.......instead of focusing on a past problems that nothing can be done about....

According to Namvet's post #111, it's still a problem; anti-war protesters attacking vets on the streets of America.

Seems to be the problem remains the same now as then. Why is this? I think it's displaced aggression. Kick-the-cat syndrome. Anti-war protesters taking out their frustrations against a government at war by attacking fellow Americans who serve in the military. If the anti-war protesters really wanted to voice their displeasure directly, they'd go spit on any Congressman who voted for the war or voted to support funding for it.

 

[strollingbones]

i am not speaking of welcoming problems.....i am speaking of the more long term and far reaching problems with the returning wounded....they need much more support than they are getting.....thankfully concessions have been re classed and are being taken more seriously by the military now...so many of the wounded suffered head and spine injuries...


Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is commonly experienced by veterans and others who have survived traumatic events. It is characterized by hypervigilance, avoidance, numbing, and re-experiencing of the traumatic event (Friedman 2006). The unique nature of the OIF/OEF conflicts, which include multiple and lengthy deployments, urban warfare, terrorist attacks, and the ever present threat from roadside bombs, places special burdens on military service members. Therefore it is not surprising that PTSD is being reported in substantial numbers in returning service members (Friedman 2006; Seal et al. 2007).

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been called the "signature injury" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. TBI can cause attention, memory, and language problems as well as headaches, sleep disturbances, and personality changes (Okie 2005). Most OEF/OIF traumatic brain injuries result in what is referred to as closed injuries (no penetration of the skull) which Kevlar helmets cannot protect against (Warden 2005; Okie 2005). Closed traumatic brain injuries may not cause any outward physical signs or symptoms so if the case is mild, it may go unrecognized and untreated (President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors 2007a).

A Guide to Resources for Seriously Wounded...Veterans

 

[Sunni Man]

Completed my 2 year conscription in 1971

Never was spit on or cursed.

But I can assue you that if I was spit at.

The fight would have been on.

 

[High_Gravity]

perhaps one should focus on the true problems of returning vets today.......instead of focusing on a past problems that nothing can be done about....

According to Namvet's post #111, it's still a problem; anti-war protesters attacking vets on the streets of America.

Seems to be the problem remains the same now as then. Why is this? I think it's displaced aggression. Kick-the-cat syndrome. Anti-war protesters taking out their frustrations against a government at war by attacking fellow Americans who serve in the military. If the anti-war protesters really wanted to voice their displeasure directly, they'd go spit on any Congressman who voted for the war or voted to support funding for it.

Good point.