When Vietnam vets came home (Soldiers being spit on is just an urban myth)

News and Observer ^ | Nov 10, 2004 | JOHN LLEWELLYN

[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.)

[jec41]

These actions were contrived by the antiwar protesters. Normally they hung around airports and bus stations in groups of 15-20. The objective was to provoke the vets. to violence or retaliation and prove we were criminal. There was always a liberal reporter to report any misdeeds by Vets in the vicinity. Soldiers were also under orders not to respond or they would be court marshaled. When I went on leave our routes had to be approved. You could not even go through a collage town unless you lived there and you had to travel in civvies unless it was a station change. And yes there were newscasts of this, and Kerry's testimony, protest rallies, Fonda and Kerry, pictures of celbs in Nam. and protesters confronting Vets. Somehow over the last thirty years these things have been sanitized just like Kerry's book. Try to find a copy. The one thing that couldn't be sanitized is us but there was success in brainwashing you. You seek to prove your point with evidence from other liberals to no avail. You refuse the truth you have just witnessed. A traitor and leader of one of these groups has just been defeated on this very issue. Do you really think the American people would have stood by and let this self proclaimed hero go down in flames if he was legit. Americans love their heroes and stick by them. Kerry did not pass the test because of the activity he incited and condoned. Nothing, not Bush, not any party could have brought all the Swiftboat Vets. and Vets together to defeat Kerry except that we remember the spitting, the protesters and the lies. It is you who lie unknowing or not, destroy the evidence, and twist the truth. Vets fought for this country so that you, yes even you have the right to spew your lies and hate. A religious person might forgive you but I am not religious and I and other Vets. will never compromise. I now see the hate rising that I experience then and it is being pushed by people like you. I am 63 and one day when my son returnes from Iraq I will be at the airport to meet him as a father and a civilian. In the event of vile protests from the left no quarter will be ask and none will be given. Screaming Eagle

[82Marine89]

I think this b@astard needs to be tied face down on a rack at Folsom. Then we could see if he's a spitter.

[68 grunt]

Liar llewellyn. I wasn't spat upon, I was spat at. Police separated us. Had I been spat upon there would have been a dead hippie. Even so, these hippie scum made my last wearing of my uniform a sad experience.

They warned us about the 'protesters' at El Toro, and advised us against wearing the uniform. Heck with that, I wanted to show it off, the whole E-Ticket ride. What should have been joyous was depressing and painful. communist vermin!

[Chieftain]

This academic, like John Kerry, continues the lies and dishonours brave soldiers. to do that is not just political drival....To do that is a crime against the soul. Call me, Dr. LLewellyn. I'd be glad to "communicate" with you.

Thank you for your wonderful post. For sure that is not just political drivel, it is INDEED a crime against the soul. Many vets are starting to feel some relief from the scourge of Kerry, hopefully many will be able to seek and receive the thing they need the most: a warm welcome from the American public and recognition of their sacrifices.

Oh yeah, Dr. LLewellyn: You can kiss this veteran's rosey red ass!

[cibco]

I'm watching it now for the first time. It's good to see the 'ol 1/7th in action. 68-69 Garry Owen!!!

[68 grunt]

... Either way I love Marine, even though I don't know if I could ever marry one ...

I think the Marine Corps will still issue you a bride, if they feel you need one ;^>

[82Marine89]

15-20 of them. Sounds fair to me.

[marmar]

I'm a girl.......don't need a bride.

[MistyCA]

I would say the News and Observer needs some enlightening letters as well!

[Isabelle]

I guess the idiots are trying to rewrite history again. My Viet Nam veteran brother was spit on at Los Angeles airpot by those scum sucking "cowardly" a@@holes.
The only urban myth about this article is that the person who wrote it may think he/she has a brain.

[mykdsmom]

Very enlightening post, thanks for this info. This will help me compose my letter to the N & O.

[68 grunt]

What the Marines issue are brides, not grooms. They got plenty of grooms.

[cyborg]

I was about to ping you to this thread, but nevermind. I'd like to spit on him in your honor!

[Petes Sandy Girl]

Here's a link for a petition to investigate Kerry's actions for 'nam.

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JOHN LLEWELLYN'S information:
Dr. John Llewellyn
(336) 759-7229
Mail Me!

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[MistyCA]

Whoa....this is going to cause a stir! Good thing I got my computer (read "pinger") fixed!

[marmar]

I know this......just know how they act when they aren't home. As much as I enjoy their company, well you know. I know that not all of them are the same but I can tell some intresting stories.....I wasn't part of the story just an observer.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Get used to it.

The left will come out of the woodwork.

And ZERO in on Viet Nam Vets.

[misharu]

I can still remember when my brother came back from his tour in 'Nam in 1973. We were walking through the airport and some hippies yelled some vulgarities at him as we passed. I will never forget that and will NEVER let anyone else forget it either!

[68 grunt]

Shhhh, what goes on in uniform, stays in uniform ... oh-ooh |:~)

Difference between a fairy tell and a war story, the war story begins, 'this is no $hit'.

[SLB]

When I returned from Vietnam in August 1971, we were forewarned at Oakland Army Depot that the protesters would throw condoms filled with human waste at us if we ventured too close to the exterior fence. Believe me, being called a baby killer was the least of our concerns at that time.