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The War on Veterans
Townhall.com ^ | September 27, 2021 | David McGrath

Posted on 09/27/2021 5:10:16 AM PDT by Kaslin

Somewhere in the late- 1960’s a totally false, entirely made-up narrative began to crop up in the United States. This narrative is now almost totally and universally thought of as factual on college campuses and amongst socialist/Marxist movements in the United States. The narrative was that the United States had no business fighting the war in Vietnam, and the American soldiers fighting it were an instrument of U.S. imperialism. American troopers coming back from the killing fields of Saigon and the Ho Chi Minh were spit upon and called ‘’Baby Killers’’ Gi’s returning home were made to feel ashamed of their service, and American communist movements within the United States seized upon that shame and capitalized on it.

Let’s be clear here, American soldiers are a beacon of hope for all oppressed groups worldwide. We have a duty as the most powerful nation that the world has ever known. Look no further than the pictures that came out of Kabul last month. Afghan women were throwing their babies over barbed wire fences into the arms of American service men and women. That was their only hope. I laced up those boots my entire adult life. Trust me I know. After the American communists and their propaganda shamed U.S. forces out of Vietnam, Communist leaders immediately came in to Vietnam and slaughtered 2.5 million Indo-Chinese peasants, whose only hope of survival was United States presence in the region.

The left never mentions that however. In fact, most of what happened in the region after American forces pulled out is mostly lost to history. What came after is also not so well-known. The all -out assault on the American veteran not because of what they are, but because of what they represent. I often talk to Vietnam-era vets because of my intense interest in the time period. The stories are quite galling. They were made to feel ashamed of their service. Some mentally and physically wounded Vietnam veterans I have gotten to know did not seek medical care in the aftermath of their service due to shame. Most of you reading this know the statistic that 22 veterans a day commit suicide. Most of you probably don’t know that the overwhelming majority of those 22 a day are actually Vietnam- era veterans.

I can trace the lineage back to the late 1960’s, but what about present day? Brown University, the prestigious Ivy-League college in Rhode Island, has an ROTC corps on campus, but they are not allowed actually on campus. You read that right. For whatever reason the future officers of America that come from Brown are not allowed to actually be on campus. How about the town of Medford, Massachusetts? The Socialist mayor of the large town north of Boston, Breanna Luengo-Koehn is putting forth legislation to stop war veterans ‘’5-point preference’’ for civil jobs like Police departments and fire departments. Luengo-Koehn is giving the 5-point preference to people of color citing ‘’The preference for veterans is not compatible with our social justice agenda’’ When the veterans service officer for the town spoke up, he was removed from City Hall by police escort and is now on leave pending an ordered ‘’Psychological evaluation’’

Oh yes, the crazy veteran narrative. In 2009 and 2021, United States veterans were classified as a threat to national security by the Department of Homeland Security. A leaked document from DHS in 2009 outlined veterans as ‘’Susceptible to recruitment from right-wing extremist groups’’ It caused so much outrage that DHS Security Janet Napolitano had to apologize to veteran groups in a press conference from the White house. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi have gone to great pains to point out that 30 of the members of the January 6 trespassing event were veterans and government needs to do more to ‘’Root out extremists in the ranks’’

So where is this all going? Let me make one thing clear. The communists that are in total control of every aspect of government, intensely dislike men in women in uniform. First off, we are not their constituents. Democrats have not won the military vote since the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy. Even Rep. Steve Cohen openly questioned the loyalty of National Guard troops before Joe Bidens inauguration calling them ‘’Overwhelming white’’ and ‘’Trump voters’’ ‘’One of them might try and do something’’ Cohen said the quiet part out loud. These people do not vote for us, so why bother trying to placate them.

This is what leaders really think of their men and women in uniform. The final nail in the coffin is forthcoming. Whether it is a complete overhaul of the benefits veterans receive when coming off active-duty, or a complete disbanding and remaking of the armed forces. All of it is plausible to me, none of it is too crazy. The left fights dirty, they are the guy in the bar that will bite your nose off to win. This current climate will give the left opportunity to do the one thing they have been trying to do for decades: Demonize and ultimately crush the military and make veterans totally submit. It’s nothing personal. They are just so damn offended by what they wear on their right shoulder.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: military; nancypiglosi; veterans
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1 posted on 09/27/2021 5:10:16 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
What're you sayin' Dave ?

You begin begin with,

" Somewhere in the late- 1960’s a totally false, entirely made-up narrative began to crop up in the United States. ,

and then go on to describe the factual truth of soldier shaming, that you say in the beginning was totally false.

2 posted on 09/27/2021 5:30:55 AM PDT by knarf
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To: Kaslin
Here's a small aside of what vets who served during that period have endured. After WWII, vet benefits were sky high ; after Korea, they were slightly lowered.

After Nam, they were slashed to almost nothing : education benefit for EMs were $1500 - just enough for one trade school ; VA hosing loans were cut far below the down payment on the average home ; medical treatment in VA hospitals was a near death sentence. Basically, there were no usable benefits.

Public sentiment seemed to be : the only good vet is a dead one. Spit on, derided, ostracized, none of that helped us recover from the traumas we endured.

The Solitary World of a Vet by Ray Starmann
https://cherrieswriter.com/2017/11/21/the-solitary-world-of-a-vet-guest-post/

3 posted on 09/27/2021 5:36:14 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: Kaslin

“We have a duty as the most powerful nation that the world has ever known.”

The only duty we have is to the United States of America and the lawful citizens thereof. We don’t owe the rest of the world a damned thing.

L


4 posted on 09/27/2021 5:39:24 AM PDT by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is. )
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To: Kaslin
I was in the middle of all of the Vietnam-era insanity: I signed up for the Marines in June 1965 when all of the magazine articles at the time favored US intervention in Vietnam but I also saw the beginnings of the leftist organization of an "antiwar" movement that was really a pro-enemy cheering section.

I arrived in Vietnam in January 1966 and after a brief and unsucessful stint as a truck driver for an artillery battery, I migrated from being a howitzer cannoneer to an artillery scout observer for a rifle company. The Marines I served with were good, solid young American men and we treated the Vietnamese as we had been taught to, as people who we were protecting from the terrorist communist forces, even when it risked our own lives.

In May 1967, I was shot and ended up going through multiple nodes on the long road to recovery. When I could finally be released from the hospital, I began to run into the hostility and meanness that our country exhibited towards us. I was refused service in a restaurant with my parents because I was in uniform, I was told to "get out" of a car on the freeway when my driver heard that I had served in Vietnam, I was spat upon and jeered.

The left had so saturated the narrative in the media, that those of us returning were forced into our own shell, staying with fellow veterans and isolating ourselves. Anybody remember the movies and TV programs we had at the time? Vietnam veterans were always the crazies who would suddenly go nuts and start spraying gunfire - or display superhuman combat skills and wreck whole communities (Billie Jack, Rambo, et al)

It was shameful - so when the Marine Corps sent me a form letter asking if I wanted to return to the Corps, I jumped on it, just to get back to the people I believed in and to get away from the crazies at home.

5 posted on 09/27/2021 5:39:46 AM PDT by Chainmail (Frater magnus te spectat)
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To: knarf
Maybe Dave overestimated some people's ability to connect the dots.

I remember the days when I was reluctant to be seen in my military haircut stateside as it led to being hassled by hippies and ignored by girls.

Would never go off base in uniform.

6 posted on 09/27/2021 5:39:47 AM PDT by Aevery_Freeman (My favorite musical instrument is the BAN JOE!)
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To: Kaslin

I’ve experienced it. I’ve been spit on when in uniform.

All I can say is that God’s hand was on my shoulder which kept me from beating the SNOT out of that punk kid. ;)


7 posted on 09/27/2021 5:40:35 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set. )
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To: Kaslin
This guy takes too long to say little. John Hanoi Kerry started the baby killer movement against Viet Nam Veterans and later current Veterans. Jane Fonda attacked Veterans verbally with Kerry. Many Veterans had to deny they were Veterans to get jobs. This and more was all true and not false like the writer implies.
8 posted on 09/27/2021 5:42:05 AM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: knarf

What’re you sayin’ Dave ?

He is saying : the narrative was false, and then describes what the narrative is. (Many people have no idea how badly vets were treated during and after Nam, imagining they got the same treatment today’s vets enjoy.) He must state the nature of the narrative (true/false) and describe the detail of that narrative to allow others to understand what he is writing. There is no contradiction.


9 posted on 09/27/2021 5:44:29 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: Lurker
We don’t owe the rest of the world a damned thing.

And judging from our track record over the last fifty years, we would do less damage nuking them than trying to help them.

10 posted on 09/27/2021 5:45:25 AM PDT by hopespringseternal
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To: Kaslin

Sometimes liberals like to play dress-up as “patriotic” by telling veterans “thanks for your service.” But what they say and do among their own kind is something totally different. Liberals despise the military, veterans and all those associated with them.


11 posted on 09/27/2021 5:46:14 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Enough. Divide the country.. now. )
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

My uncle, upon returning from service as a Navy SEABEE in Vietnam, had fecal matter thrown at him by leftist punkasses at the SF Airport in 1969. Leftists are the lowest of subhuman scum.


12 posted on 09/27/2021 5:48:18 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Enough. Divide the country.. now. )
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To: hopespringseternal

“we would do less damage nuking them than trying to help them.”

Indeed. NATO went from being a mutual defense organization to a crutch for Leftist governments in Europe costing us hundreds of billions of dollars. It’s welfare with guns anymore.

The only thing the US military should be about is turning anyone who attempts to harm us into clouds of pink mist scattered over square miles of rubble.

Then we leave and give them nothing.

THAT is the lesson we should teach the world.

**** with us and you die and not one penny of “aid” to rebuild.

Not one single penny.

L


13 posted on 09/27/2021 5:49:43 AM PDT by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is. )
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To: PIF
I have similar military history, Army 65-67 and I read his article twice.

I know what he means, but he didn't make it clear to those that don't know ..................

imo

14 posted on 09/27/2021 5:56:40 AM PDT by knarf
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To: Aevery_Freeman
Army 65-67, returned CONUS Nov 67 from Korea (did not go in country) and I was treated as a non entity.

I didn't get the spit and such ... but girls would not talk to a 20 year old in uniform and most others barely communicated ... yes and no if that was all that was needed.

15 posted on 09/27/2021 5:59:41 AM PDT by knarf
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To: Lurker

Especially the enemIES crossing into our nation


16 posted on 09/27/2021 6:01:03 AM PDT by knarf
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To: Lurker

“...**** with us and you die and not one penny of “aid” to rebuild.
Not one single penny....”

^THIS^


17 posted on 09/27/2021 6:09:22 AM PDT by lgjhn23 (Pray for America....)
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To: Chainmail

I enlisted in ‘77..
I met a guy in the late ‘80’s, big guy.
His name was Al.
We were talking, and he let it slip he was in nam.
So, I asked him if was in Vietnam.
His head sunk, he lowered his shoulders and meekly said Yeah.
I extended my hand to him, and when he took it, I said “ Thank you”.
His head came up, he squared his shoulders, straightened his back, increase his grip on my hand and said, “ You.... are welcome”.
He was my friend for years after that. This was before all the hype about thanking a vet.
This is all any vet ever wants to hear.
Thank you.
It doesn’t matter where you were, or what you did.
Every veteran gave something to this country that they can never get back.
Time


18 posted on 09/27/2021 6:20:35 AM PDT by joe fonebone (bush league chamber of commerce worshiping republiCAN'Ts are the enemy)
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To: joe fonebone
"Every veteran gave something to this country that they can never get back. Time"

Agreed. But many of us gave up parts of our bodies, suffered from diseases, the intense heat, the long hard walks with heavy loads and constant fear. The sleeplessness of hard slogging all day under heavy loads then long nights fighting to stay awake on Listening Post or Outpost or ambush duty. The shocks and sorrows of seeing good young men mangled and dead and the end of innocence when you shot other men dead yourself.

Veterans of combat are in their own difficult class and no one, ever can repay what they have given.

19 posted on 09/27/2021 6:39:19 AM PDT by Chainmail (Frater magnus te spectat)
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To: knarf
Did you not read this far?

The narrative was that the United States had no business fighting the war in Vietnam, and the American soldiers fighting it were an instrument of U.S. imperialism.

20 posted on 09/27/2021 9:05:18 AM PDT by pfflier
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