Treatment Of Vietnam Veterans By the Public
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StarrySkyWaltz — 15 years ago(December 28, 2010 08:36 AM)
I assume (so I could be wrong) that it was because people didn't separate the soldiers from the war like they do today. These days demonstrators and opponents of the war will say "We support the soldiers, not the war" unlike war opponents of the past. Some Vietnam war opponents lumped the war and soldiers together as a single guilty villain, so they spat on them.
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jandrbailey — 13 years ago(April 21, 2012 12:09 PM)
And pray tell how do you document such a thing in that era? That this never happened has itself become a myth. Perhaps it was not as widespread as some believe, who can really say. But over two and half million US military personnel served in Vietnam during the war, and many say this kind of thing happened to them when they came home. Are they all lying? You can't write it off as some kind of urban myth, ask anyone who was alive during that time, or the many of us who have family members and friends who were spat upon or cursed in some fashion after they got home. It DID happen, sorry to say. Most war protesters were good people who just wanted to see and end to the carnage. But there were some very bad people back then as well.
As the movie notes, Vietnam vets also got some terrible treatment from the right, from veterans of WWII. They were condemned for losing the war as if they had any say in policy made in Washington DC. They took a lot of garbage for the drug use and break down of morale as someone close to more than a few Vietnam vets, I can tell you they took abuse from every side "tragic" doesn't even begin to cover it -
isundling — 13 years ago(June 10, 2012 02:45 PM)
I remember as a teenager asking my Grandfather, who was a commander at the local VFW and American Legion, why Vietnam vets couldn't join?he said because it was not a declared warwhich I scoffed and said a bad word, and got sent homebut they did change the ruling years later
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michaeluk26 — 13 years ago(September 07, 2012 10:34 PM)
I am not sure but the way they were treated compared to vets before and after is utterly deplorable. The young men had just been through pure hell, many not even wanting to fight. They did so because they believed in their country or they HAD to and its kill or be killed. Vietnam being the first TV war had a HUGE affect on normal citizens, as they were able to see the carnage of war but not really WHAT the soldiers were experiencing, but rather the aftermath.
Anyone who did that is a pathetic piece of trash, spit on them or insulted them.
Haters gonna hate but trolls are pathetic -
LovingBooks — 13 years ago(October 03, 2012 12:55 PM)
Well, firstly, all the abuse and disrespect DID happen, and I saw that with my own eyes. As to the why it happened, I think there were a few reasons. One was that, during the other wars, we had a definite role to play, we were there fighting against direct threats to our own way of life and freedom, and there wre other countries in the effort with us it all meant something, to be involved as a whole country.
But in Vietnam, it was so nebulous, our reason for being there. Yes, the political reasons were to quash Communism, fight for the underdog, etc., but it wasn't as clear cut as the other wars. And in no other war were children taught to throw grenades, or their strollers used to hide a gun or bomb. The same for the old women and children. Our Men were understaffed, fighting a cause they didn't understand, and fighting enemies they couldn't define.
As a result of social tensions in the counterculture, the images being broadcast daily of babies and women getting shot, the abuse of the military seemed bound to happen. Add to that the high incidence of alcoholism and drug abuse by the soldiers, which led to some bad behavior on their part, it all was one huge beep of social turmoil.
These aren't new ideas, but just a bit of what veterans will talk to you about, if they will talk at all. Unfortunately, many suffer from PTSD, depression and substance abuse and havent found many
willing audiences. -
saint_pat — 13 years ago(October 29, 2012 02:23 PM)
No, soldiers were never spat upon or abused by protesters. In fact, many joined the anti-war movement. War protesters however WERE abused, including anti-war veterans.
It's a bit like the "November criminals" urban legend in Germany after WW1. The purpose of these things is to silence war critics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spitting_Image -
linop90 — 13 years ago(November 04, 2012 02:31 AM)
Now its gone too much the other way. America has this creepy military worship.
Where people go up and thank anyone in a uniform Seems the country is one goosestep away from being a 2 bit military dictatorship, especially when the tright is in power.
Eat the Neocons. -
michaeluk26 — 13 years ago(January 09, 2013 05:17 AM)
Yeah we should have let our allies be wiped off the map and let the war progress another 4 years and have deaths in the millions. Good call
A waste is you mentioning Grenada, and Panama.
If you dont like it here then go see how free you are somewhere else. Just sayin
Yeah Vietnam was a mistake. Hindsight is 20/20. It was a different time then in the cold war and the threat to the world was nuclear war. We thought the Vietnamese were puppets of China wanting to expand communism when in fact them and China HATE each other. The Vietnamese were fighting for nationalism, not communism
Haters gonna hate -
EastCoastMariner — 12 years ago(October 05, 2013 06:59 AM)
Only the Pacific, you say?
Germany declared war on the U.S. on 11 December 1941 and was sinking American merchant ships before and especially after this declaration, let alone murdering millions in Europe. The assertion you're making that we only had business in one theater is extremely unintelligent. Wherever you got your education, you should ask for a refund. -
linop90 — 12 years ago(October 05, 2013 07:38 AM)
Yeah so?
How many innocent people has Amerika killed all over the globe?
All the right wing dictators propped up and regime changes.
Yes Hitler declared war on the us, he was an idiot, without his stupid decisions we would have won.
How many merchaant ships were sunk i wonder? they were probably supplying England, which they were warned not to do.
piss off you yid.
Eat the Neocons.