April 8, 2004 -- Several non-fans of WinterSoldier.com have written in to decry what they call the "myth" that returning Vietnam veterans were spat upon by leftist protestors. This claim appears to come from an article called The Spitting Image by a Holy Cross sociologist named Jerry Lembcke. The book version features a photo of the Dewey Canyon III medal toss on the cover -- Mr. Lembcke, it turns out, was a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He also seems to be a fan of the Communist Manifesto, and the co-author of a history of the Communist Party USA endorsed by that organization. Perhaps he wasn't really looking all that hard for spitting incidents.
Chicago Tribune writer Bob Greene documented several dozen such events in his 1990 book Homecoming, but Lembcke finds those accounts unpersuasive. His larger purpose, of course, is to obscure the fact that Vietnam veterans were treated with contempt largely because of the atrocity propaganda he himself helped create.
Very enlightening post, thanks for this info. This will help me compose my letter to the N & O.