I was actually stationed in the Far East, but security restrictions prohibited me from approaching within 100 miles from any war zone (Vietnam) or communist country (no Hong Kong vacations for my unit...)
I definitely do not consider myself a "Vietnam War Veteran" -- and refuse to identify myself as such.
That doesn't mean that I'm not (justifiably) proud of my [classified] service!
TXnMA
I did two [and about half of a third] tours in Vietnam/ Southeast Asia, and have very little problem with those who were in during the Vietnam War and thereby identify themselves as Vietnam War veterans, just as those stationed stateside during WWII are not identified as *WWII-era veterans*. God knows we were all insulted and many/most spat upon/at back in those days, and we need no additional word games to further divide us now.
Personally, I figure those who served in Korea had it worse than I ever did. No matter: once you get in, you go where they send you. I had specific skills and training that was of particular use in-country, and found it interesting to put them to use. Had that not been the case and I had been a *Joe Draftee Grunt* conscript, I might well have not preferred to be elsewhere.
But my first line unit was in Europe, and, trained as a tank gunner and reasonably good at it, I really wanted to get back to where that would be the business of the day once my *advanced postgraduate training* in Southeast Asia was concluded. Thankfully, circumstances did not work out that way.
You deserve all the pride you've got. You guys in the Quartermaster Underwater Special Messkit Repair Detachments had it rough.