Friday, August 24, 2007

Interview Vietnam/Desert Storm/OEF I Vets: Never Again

While we were at the VFW convention, we met and spoke with many veterans of wars from WWII to our current conflicts. We interviewed several of these men and asked them about their service and what support from home meant to them while they were deployed.

I noted on my previous post that there was a recurring theme among the vets: many of them had family who were serving in the military today. The second theme? Vietnam era treatment of our troops: never again.

Not long ago, I read an article stating that some of the treatment the vets received, like being spit on or called "baby killer" did not happen. It was a myth or occurred on an extremely limited basis. The person that wrote the article allegedly based this assumption on known police reports or other non-fiction stories that they could reference on the internet. A faulty premise to base such an assumption on and then write an article for a re-known paper in which to try to change history or assuage some guilt for politicians who were actively anti-war during the period and may have participated in protests against the war. They want to show that they are "anti-war" not "anti-military". A fine line to walk during a war that is unpopular and where protesters attempted all sorts of acts that are similar to the "old school", but often mere caricatures.

So, in rejection of any mythology theory on the "spitting, baby killer" meme, I bring you this video of a vet talking about his experiences on returning from Vietnam and the importance of support to the men and women on the front lines.

Never Again



If I had, had enough memory and tape, I could have recorded hundreds of these stories. There is no myth. They remember the day and the place. These gentleman and ladies just don't care to write it down to be researched on the web.

2 comments:

  1. I've seen those articles too, Kat, alleging that it's all a big righ-wing myth that Vietnam vets were spat on. Glad to see you knock it out of the park.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous7:04 AM

    November 10, 1970, the SFO airport bar about 2pm.

    If you want corroboration, look for a guy with a limp and busted nose. Ask him if he still thought he impressed his girlfriend by spitting in the beer of the "baby-burner" in khakis and then sucker-punching him.

    The barkeep that day was a witness, too, and he's the only reason the cops didn't haul *me* off.

    That was just the first time. Shoot me an e-gram if you want me to expound a bit -- you know where I live and you know I can expound...

    ReplyDelete