"The myth of the spat-upon Vietnam veteran refuses to die"
The above is a lie. This happened many, many times outside of and within the terminals at SFO, albeit only with individual Vets or very small (2 or 3) groups of them. Larger numbers of Vets were not overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of freaks sometimes gathered during their heydays. Not just spit....blood, feces/urine, and some other unsavory substances.
He showed up, in his dress uniform (don't remember what branch he was in), and was confronted in the main hallway by a bunch of students who began taunting and shouting at him. I don't remember if any spitting occurred, but they made quite a commotion nonetheless.
I remember being flush with shame and anger at these idiots. I felt so bad for the guy. These kids, my classmates, didn't even really know all that much about Vietnam...they were just parroting what they'd seen on TV. To be cool, I guess...
The Vet handled himself pretty well, as I recall...