A side benefit that many may not be aware was that the Swift Boat Veterans helped thousands of Viet Nam veterans, like me, finally emerge proud for our service to our country.
Like so many others, I spent 3-1/2 years in the service, including three tours to the Tonkin Gulf, just off the coast of Viet Nam. When I was discharged in 1971, Viet Nam veterans were generally dispised. I put my seabag away and almost never discussed this period of my life. Since 2004, I have spoken to many veterans who told me they felt the same.
My own children, by 2004 in their early 30's, at some point asked me why I never spoke about Viet Nam. Through tears held back for over three decades, I told them how when I came home, the media depicted soldiers and servicemen as war mongers and baby killers. The charge was repeated again and again on the nightly news.
I told them that I just closed that chapter of my life and moved on, though deep inside this hurt more than anyone could know.
Through the 70's the Viet Nam conflict was continually depicted as a mistake by the U.S., even while millions were being killed by the communists in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Loas. John Kerry, a veteran himself, testified that few people would be harmed by our leaving. He could not have been more wrong. His words probably caused more pain and suffering to captured soldiers and sailors than Jane Fonda's, because he had worn the uniform.
Kerry lied about details of his service, and to this very day has refused to sign form 180 and release his service record, which would immediately clear up any misunderstandigs. To call off the Swift Boat Veterans, he promised to sign the form in 2004. He still has not done so. Four years later he is still hiding from his record.
Related, but as an aside, I have always resented Bill Clinton for the way he ridiculed the war effort ...on foreign soil. I have long held that he was a traitor to the very country that elected him President. Seeing his media darling status decline in the past few months gives me hope that his trechery and cowardice in the late 60's and early 70's will yet be openly revealed by those in the media who have protected him all these years. All I can do is hope.
Sorry for the rant. This thread seemed appropriate.
Swift Boat Veterans were boycotted by the news media until their best-selling book, “Unfit for Command,” created a stir the media could no longer ignore. The Swift Boat Veterans not only represented their immediate comrades, dead and alive, they spoke for the majority of all Vietnam veterans. Their courage and tenacity in the face of a viciously partisan and hostile press helped unite millions of veterans into a decisive voting bloc. God bless them all.
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