You are right. A Vietnam war veteran is not the same as being a Vietnam era veteran.
Democrats wanted to turn the Catholic kids video into a big deal by claiming that the ‘victim’ was a Vietnam veteran. In any case, veteran or not, the American Indian was the bully, and an embarrassment to fellow Marines all over, including me, who actually served in the Marines in Vietnam, 1967-1968 (over a year) in the Da-Nang and Chu-Lai areas.
I was there late 1968-1969 with 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines (southern I Corps (Da Nang, An Hoa, Hill 55) and northern II Corps (Batangas Peninsula)).