Ah, Viet Nam. Lived through it. Learned a lot. Moving on.
You know...people tolerate, even celebrate, when Grandpa, Dad, Brother, Son, Husband..or even, Sister, Mom, Wife,
reminisce about their time in the military...some of them talk about the "bad times", some don't (like my husband)...but most will talk about the good times..the men they bunked with, fought beside...maybe lost.
And that is great...and even if you hear the same story told, over and over, you still listen because you love them..and they love to tell the tales.
HOWEVER...when veterans USE their military service for political gain in a way that is insulting to the ones that didn't (for whatever reason, except running, perhaps), and INSIST on being "respected"...and won't accept any criticism for anything..without pulling out the WAR card...
it begins to colors people's views of veterans...to a certain extent. I don't have nearly as much respect as I should, for a lot of the politicians that are veterans...because they have a tendency, some of them, Webb, Murtha, Kerry ---as a hammer to keep the debate on a level where "THEY" are the superior ones..regardless of the other person's qualifications.