Posted on 11/10/2004 3:35:05 PM PST by mykdsmom
WINSTON-SALEM -- Last week voters went to the polls to select a vision for the future. Now Americans must find a way forward together. This week, as we honor service and sacrifice on Veterans Day, an image from this political season must be put to rest.
The presidential campaign featured the resurgence of a myth from the early 1990s. That myth is that soldiers returning from Vietnam were spit upon by citizens or war protesters. That claim has been used to turn honest differences of opinion about the war into toxic indictments.
As a scholar of urban legends I am usually involved with accounts of vanishing hitchhikers and involuntary kidney donors. These stories are folklore that harmlessly reveals the public imagination. However, accounts of citizens spitting on returning soldiers -- any nation's soldiers -- are not harmless stories. These tales evoke an emotional firestorm.
I have studied urban legends for nearly 20 years and have been certified as an expert on the subject in the federal courts. Nonetheless, it dawned on me only recently that the spitting story was a rumor that has grown into an urban legend. I never wanted to believe the story but I was afraid to investigate it for fear that it could be true.
Why could I not identify this fiction sooner? The power of the story and the passion of its advocates offer a powerful alchemy of guilt and fear -- emotions not associated with clearheadedness.
Labeling the spitting story an urban legend does not mean that something of this sort did not happen to someone somewhere. You cannot prove the negative -- that something never happened. However, most accounts of spitting emerged in the mid-1980s only after a newspaper columnist asked his readers who were Vietnam vets if they had been spit upon after the war (an odd and leading question to ask a decade after the war's end). The framing of the question seemed to beg for an affirmative answer.
• • •
In 1998 sociologist and Vietnam veteran Jerry Lembcke published "The Spitting Image: Myth, Media and the Legacy of Viet Nam." He recounts a study of 495 news stories on returning veterans published from 1965 to 1971. That study shows only a handful (32) of instances were presented as in any way antagonistic to the soldiers. There were no instances of spitting on soldiers; what spitting was reported was done by citizens expressing displeasure with protesters.
Opinion polls of the time show no animosity between soldiers and opponents of the war. Only 3 percent of returning soldiers recounted any unfriendly experiences upon their return.
So records from that era offer no support for the spitting stories. Lembcke's research does show that similar spitting rumors arose in Germany after World War I and in France after its Indochina war. One of the persistent markers of urban legends is the re-emergence of certain themes across time and space.
There is also a common-sense method for debunking this urban legend. One frequent test is the story's plausibility: how likely is it that the incident could have happened as described? Do we really believe that a "dirty hippie" would spit upon a fit and trained soldier? If such a confrontation had occurred, would that combat-hardened soldier have just ignored the insult? Would there not be pictures, arrest reports, a trial record or a coroner's report after such an event? Years of research have produced no such records.
Lembcke underscores the enduring significance of the spitting story for this Veterans Day. He observes that as a society we are what we remember. The meaning of Vietnam and any other war is not static but is created through the stories we tell one another. To reinforce the principle that policy disagreements are not personal vendettas we must put this story to rest.
Our first step forward is to recognize that we are not a society that disrespects the sacrifices of our servicemembers. We should ignore anyone who tries to tell us otherwise. Whatever our aspirations for America, those hopes must begin with a clear awareness of who we are not.
(John Llewellyn is an associate professor of communication at Wake Forest University.)
This is our mission. To tell the truth to those who will listen. To call to account those who would rewrite history and to prosecute their motives for doing so.
I was just a bit too young for Vietnam, but in college you couldn't find any vets who would speak about their experiences, and it wasn't definitely poor form to ask. It was pretty clear to me that the average vet was treated like fecal matter.
Here's his email address -
Have at Him folks!!!
llewelly@wfu.edu
I expect this attempt at writing an op-ed will generate a LOT of e-mail to the local liberal rag in the next few days. I will post them to the thread as I find them.
MKM
This is a new liberal revision of history. This started a few years ago where the liebrals started saying that NO Vietnam Vets were ever spat on. It happened. I spoke to Vietnam Vets who were spat on. This mainly happened thanks to Kerry calling all Vietnam Vets babykillers in 1971.
I am a sickened Bush voter now that I have found out George is selling us out to Mexico.
This kind of stuff has really taken its toll. Case in point. The nation is currently at war. It may not be a popular war among the liberal elites, but the people support it. And more importantly, the people support the men who fight it.
How many servicemen have any of you seen in uniform off a military base? Some? A few? One? Any?
I rest my case.
Who says the lessons of history are lost on the young?
It must have depended on where you were in the US. I traveled from Ft Sill to Houston and San Antonio, in uniform, 2 or 3 times a month all of 1971, and from Houston to Germany, round trip, 3 times in 72 and 73 and never had any trouble at all. Well unless you count two Southwest Airlines stewardesses (the hotpants days at Southwest) getting pissed that I could not join them for dinner in San Antonio.</
Not to worry. It's all O.K. Bush is a Republican.
/sarcasm
And no Jews died in the Holocaust, which never happened. (You know that is dripping with sarcasm.)
The best approach to counter this sort of propaganda is gather up all the anecdotal evidence, the photographs, the memorabilia, the diaries...&etc...and establish some sort of Museum...a central collection of Vietnam Vets in a single Spitoon-o-rama...
Make movies...like 'Colonel Schindler's List' about some person who protected returning Vets--in any way--from the onslaught of Liberal vile...
Make documentaries...like 'Sgt. Frank's Diary'...
I remember...March 1971...the Oakland, CA Induction Center...the whistling to the tune of...
You can get anything you want...
at Alice's Restaurant...
Exceptin' Alice...
The military who worked there each day came to work in 'civies', changing into uniforms only after they were safe inside the building. Oh, how I bet they wished those stories weren't Out There.
But they are...
Keep reminding them. Don't let them forget...
Even after they're gone...and all that remains is the putrid aroma of self-righteous, Liberal-Fascist scum...
However, most accounts of spitting emerged in the mid-1980s only after a newspaper columnist asked his readers who were Vietnam vets if they had been spit upon after the war (an odd and leading question to ask a decade after the war's end). The framing of the question seemed to beg for an affirmative answer.
WHAT A LOAD i was born in 1960 i was hearing of our men being spit on from my father who wanted to kick hippie ass over it in 1967 when i was 7 it was the first time i ever seen my dad get realy mad so i know this guy is full of bovine excrament !!!
It seems like yesterday...
Hillary Apologized for Convention Spitters
Politics/Elections News
Source: NewsMax.com
Published: 6/02/00 Author: Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff
First Lady Hillary Clinton has apologized to two Albany officials for delegates who spit on an Albany police honor guard at the May 16th convention that nominated her for U.S. Senate, NewsMax.com has learned.
The first lady's previously unreported apologies were revealed by Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings in a Thursday interview.
On Saturday The New York Times quoted Clinton spokesperson Karen Dunn, who said that Mrs. Clinton called Mayor Jennings on May 19th to say she was "appalled by what was reported" about the spitting attacks. But the Times made no mention of any Clinton apology and quoted one official who said that "no apologies are necessary."
Mayor Jennings told NewsMax.com, however, that Mrs. Clinton did indeed apologize for the ugly incident during her phone call.
"She called me at home," said Jennings. "She was appalled. She expressed serious concern and she did apologize, yes."
The mayor said he told Mrs. Clinton, "Well, our police are certainly criticized when they do something wrong. They handled this situation as seasoned professionals and did not react and continued on with their mission. People should recognize that as well."
Mrs. Clinton's call to Jennings came one day after Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson demanded that Mrs. Clinton issue the apology.
"At an event that was for all intents and purposes Hillary Clinton's nomination party, she owes the Albany Police and police officers around the state an immediate apology," Nicholson said in an RNC press release.
The mayor revealed that Mrs. Clinton also wrote a letter of apology to Albany Police Chief John Neilsen. NewsMax.com has a request for a copy of the letter pending with Neilsen's office.
Chief Neilsen told the Times on Saturday that "no apologies are necessary" from the state Democratic leadership, though by that time he had received a letter of apology from state Democratic Chairwoman Judith Hope.
Mayor Jennings said he gave directions to Chief Neilsen to try to identify who was involved in the spitting attack. But that would be "very difficult to do," he added.
In her letter to Chief Neilsen, a copy of which was obtained by NewsMax.com on Tuesday, Hope wrote, "we will make every effort to identify those involved in the incident."
Asked whether Mrs. Clinton made a similar pledge to investigate, Mayor Jennings said, "I told Hillary that I didn't think it was appropriate for her to undertake any investigation. I mean, that's up to us."
"We'll deal with this locally," the mayor added. "It shouldn't be a national issue or a statewide issue."
Albany's City Hall is a traditional bastion of Democratic politics, noted the Times in its Saturday report.
Why the secrecy about Mrs. Clinton's now two week old apologies? Perhaps her campaign didn't want to attract attention to the original delegate-spitting reports, a story which most of the press has ignored.
The first lady's Manhattan campaign headquarters has failed to return repeated calls about the convention spitting episode.
I believe this... just like I believe John Kerry was a war hero or that oral sex isn't sex.
As you noted, once inland to Atlanta, St Louis and beyond, it was a different story.
College campuses were also a real pain.
I wondered what that was that had made John Kerry's teeth
so whacky looking. Now I know - the rest of the story - -
I was in college towards the end of the Viet Nam war. I strongly remember meeting returning soldiers at parties on campus where no one would talk to them. So I did. They were still haunted by what they had been through over there but they were filled with hope as they attended college courses and tried to build a new life for themselves.
After a few months, some of them just couldn't take the ostracism and ended up in institutions. How do I know? I continued to be friends and wrote to them in those institutions! And they wrote to me. I swore that they would not be mistreated around me.
As I saw the Kerry campaign go down exactly the same pathway now toward the Iraq war, I was furious. They all said they supported the troops but they didn't. Talk is cheap. Instead of suffering with our boys, they complained that they were the ones under attack for their lack of patriotism.
I worked for President Bush to be re-elected because our current soldiers do not deserve the treatment they got after Viet Nam. I am so grateful that the Swiftboat Vets gave us their memories. And fought the battles again. This country was truly damaged by the violence those 'peace' protestors perpetrated on our soldiers. I saw it. This author is a liar.
The idea of countering this propaganda by gathering evidence from veterans themselves is a great idea. When the WWII Memorial was dedicated, I added my uncle's name to the list of those who died in the war. At that time, I noticed there was an oral history project in progress which was set up to record histories of veterans of WWII - packets could be requested by veterans to record their histories. It would be great if such a project could be started for Viet Nam veterans, and possibly it could be something that Texas Tech University could be involved in, as the Viet Nam archives are there. Just a thought, and maybe there already is one, but it would be great to have veterans own personal histories recorded and stored for history to counter this propaganda.
I am very sorry for your loss. I hope that the passage of time has eased your grief.
This is an outright lie. If you believe it, I've got a really nice bridge for sale in Fallujah, Iraq.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.