Posted on 04/29/2006 12:07:27 PM PDT by groanup
My daughter's history teacher made this claim in class last week: "I don't believe Viet Nam veterans were mistreated when they came back from the war. I don' know any who were."
Would any and all Viet Nam vets please tell us how you were treated when you came back from Nam? I'll print out this thread and give it to the teacher.
"I don't have stories for you, but I would like to say that I don't believe terrorists were mistreated in Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. I don't know any who were."
I wasn`t abused when I returned from VN on 4/16/71 to
Ft.Lewis Wa,but the officer that was in charge our group
told us not to wear an uniform into town as there were many GI`s
that were accosted when they went into Tacoma with their
VN medals on,Called baby killers,spat on,I never saw it,
but I believed him.
I got stuffed on some of the best steak I`ve ever eaten
in the mess hall and came back home to Tn.
Bernie might have a few words to share on this subject, LadyX.
My time was in the very early years of the war ('63-'67) and I only travelled in uniform one time ('66) with no incidents brought to mind.
Preach it Brother!
Actually, I got out of the Army in July of 1969 and finally started work for IBM in September of 1969. So we are quite similar. I actually spent time in Berkeley California in August where my brother was at school without incident. My history of looking for a job in Chicago after Nam was checkered -- some of the employers thought we Vets were OK others thought we were junkies. I didn't hit the streets of Chicago until January of 1970 because of training at IBM.
I worked fixing typewriters for IBM a job that meant I was on Michigan Avenue most days. (Michigan Avenue was the scene of protests since the DemonCrat convention in 1968.) I would say there were daily protests and as I pointed out only the Kent State day got me caught up in a riot. I got to know the local street cops on the beat and I listened to their stories. The protestors held the cops in the lowest esteem and of course the cops were "pigs".
I never trusted the "anti-war" movement since I knew that many of the street-people were professional demonstrators. These people were glorified by the media and not much was reported what scum they were. Latter in 1970 bombs started going off and then things got bad in Chicago. I think a lot was done by Puerto Ricans but the anti-war crowd did bombing too.
Again the media didn't give too many details and you won't hear about that in history books.
That sounds like some upper westside socialite who asks why GWB was elected when nobody they know voted for him. Idiot!
My husband was in a military hospital recovering from serious injuries he received in Vietnam when Traitor Kerry was protesting and telling his lies about was going on in Vietnam. My husband feels the same way you do about Traitor Kerry.
This is from wikipedia about the "days of rage".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Underground
"Days of Rage"
The opening salvo in the "Days of Rage," Weatherman's first event, came on the night of October 8 1969 in Chicago, Illinois, when they blew up a statue dedicated to police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket Riot. Although the October 8 rally failed to draw as many participants as they had anticipated, the estimated two to three hundred who did attend shocked police by leading a riot through the Gold Coast neighborhood, smashing windows and cars. That night, six people were shot and seventy were arrested. Two smaller violent conflicts with police followed the next two nights.
When I came home from Nam I bought a two-year old 409 for cash. Then I learned that no private company would insure me because I was military. I finally got insurance from the PA high risk pool for $600. a year. I was drawing $125. a month in military pay at the time. Upon my ETS, I was unemployed for awhile as I enrolled in school and was waiting for the new semester to begin. Being unemployed I was now eligible to buy insurance privately at $250. a year. I'm not calling this mistreatment per se. But it surely awakened me to how much my service was appreciated by the establishment.
"His choice of becoming a history teacher is another easy professional route."
Wow, you don't say...
The anti-war protestors at Walter Reed do it TODAY.
Coop, can you show it?
My husband was brought home seriously wounded and did not encounter protestors, he did not pass through a civilian airport, but a couple of things stick in my mind. I remember a funeral for a Marine who died in Vietnam and protestors were on the corner of an intersection the funeral procession was coming down. We just happened to pull up to the stop sign at the intersection and when my dad figured out that the protestors were there to harass the funeral party he jumped out and chased them away. This was not one nut-case family like the Phelps bunch, sad to say they were college students. A woman I know whose husband was serving had a dead rabbit put in her mail box with a note that said her husband was killing children in Vietnam. She moved and did not tell anyone in the new neighborhood her husband was in Vietnam.
I know a lot of the returning Veterans did not tell people they had served, it was harder to get jobs and places to live. TV shows and movies did portray Vietnam Veterans as drug crazed killers. My brother had drinks bought for him and he was cursed and called a baby killer, usually by college girls.
Mostly what I remember is a coolness that would come over people when they found out someone in the room had served in Vietnam. I also remember returning Veterans not being welcome at Veterans Organizations (to this day my husband won't join any of them for that reason) and they were treated differently even at Military and VA hospitals than other Veterans were. It was perceived by even many older Veterans that they had not fought in a real war, or that they had lost the war.
It was more attitude than open and vocal, the attitude of an ungreatful nation, that did not appreciate their service. I have heard from many Veterans that came back to San Francisco/Oakland that they were greeted by protestors who gathered outside the airport to throw things at them and yell obscene things. At one point it got so bad many were told to change out of uniform before leaving the airport, though many did not change clothes.
This man will believe what ever he wants to believe, I know what I know happened and I believe any Veteran that says he was mistreated or denied a job or other things because of his/her service in Vietnam.
My father-n-law is a nam vet, he was called various name, spit on and even was provoked into some fights ( upon his home coming).
Amen. God bless you and every single vet for your service to our country. Every American owes each of you gratitude completely beyond our ability to begin to express. You have that from me along with every drop of my respect.
God bless our brave troops currently in harm's way, and our vets who have done America proud.
This makes my blood boil.
Bump for Nam Vets....
I lived in the era so I know that it happened.
"TV shows and movies did portray Vietnam Veterans as drug crazed killers. My brother had drinks bought for him and he was cursed and called a baby killer, usually by college girls."
Tammy,
If you look at all of my posts on this thread you will see that that is my opinion.
Luckily, my wife never doubted me. My brothers and sister were very liberal and I was never sure that they didn't believe all the TV-BS. My nieces and nephews to this day aren't sure because of the stories about their crazy uncle.
Sadly, I don't think that most people really understand that most veterans just wanted to come home and be normal. Most people believed the hollywood story and we were guilty until proven innocent.
Thank-you for all the information. I'll keep bumping this thread for a couple of days and let Mr History Teacher see it. He can do with it what he wants but he can't hide from it.
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