Well, I wasn't born until 1967 and don't remember ANY of the Vietnam war. All I know is the stereotype of it not being very popular and people not liking the vets because they allegedly did attrocious things. I've never looked down on a single vet (cept Kerry), but I feel I'm owed the true story as is my whole generation. Enough of these Berkley liberal history prof revisionistic potheads. Lets hear the truth!
"Well, I wasn't born until 1967 and don't remember ANY of the Vietnam war. All I know is the stereotype of it not being very popular and people not liking the vets because they allegedly did attrocious things."
You've been fed revisionist history. If the war was "not very popular" then why did Nixon bury McGovern in 1972?
The Truth is that a majority of American views have been lost to decades of media hype, of retelling a myth about Vietnam being unpopular.
The Truth is while perhaps many had grown weary of years of war, they were nowhere near joining the loud, roudy minority of anti-war types. Proof is Nixon's landslide victory in 72.
People like Kerry in 1971, wearing fatigues with ribbons (not correct uniform) were seen as street protesters, like 1968 Chicago democrat convention trouble makers.
That is the correct light to see him in, today.
There are some real good books about all the civil disorder during that time. The way the vets were treated by the anti-war crowd was really bad. A vet often hit US soil, changed into civilian clothing and never dared look back or talk about his service. It was that bad. Undeserved, for sure. Much of the anti-war movement was led by Communist influence. The VVAW was associated with the VVAWAI (anti-imperialists) who are still active today. Scott Camil, a friend of Kerry's from that time and someone who is currently helping him gather Vets for Kerry, is a member of VVAWAI. Bill Burkett and Scott Camil both signed a letter to the soldiers in Iraq trying to encourage them to refuse to serve. You can find it by googling up Call to Conscience. Conscientious objector stuff. It's all pretty ugly. It was then and it is now.