I came home from Nam in ‘68 and had older WW2 and Korea Vets tell me ‘we’ (the soldiers and sailors of Nam) ‘Lost’ the war. I told him we had won the war, but politicians, (bending to the public pressure of protestors), changed the rules in a game without rules, and it killed a lot of good kids!
I told him that instead of bitching at us, he and his ilk ought to have been there seeing that those same politician had stayed out of the war and let the military control the war like they did in ‘their’ war. they could see what was happening and they let their own sons and grandsons die while they sat on their fat backsides and complained about our performance! They knew what we were facing, and they did nothing to see that we got the support we needed!
Then we came home to a nation that hated us, wouldn’t hire us, and shut us out. I’ve had a few folks say thanks for my service, but none who said I was wrong to make you a pariah in your own country. After 40 years, one can still feel that way, just try to deal with the VA!
Sorry for the rant, old wounds do not necessarily heal.
Your country thanks you for your service.
I’m sorry that I was too much of a kid to stand up for you. My youngest brother served during the VietNam war.
We did not know how to protest the protesters at that time.