Those that have served will always be held in high regard. Especially those serving during a war imho. Vietnam Vets are no exception. They will always have my respect.

I could not disagree with j123x's post more.

I took my physical in a big brick building downtown LA known as White Hall in 1966. I was rejected cause I lost all hearing in one ear at the age of 14 while I had the mumps. I sighed a huge sigh of relief. A year later I tried joining the Air Force and they told me to go take my physical again and come back. There is no way I could ever pass a physical, so I never served, but I thought the way servicemen were treated when they came back was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in this country. Thank god servicemen are no longer treated that way.

By good old conservative Americans.....with respect and honor. By liberal democrats.....with disdain and considered war mongers.

In 1975 I turned 18 and just missed going by about 4 years. My father spent too much time there and was injured twice. My self and 2 of my brothers joined the military and partly to honor our father for his service. My dad retired after 30 plus years as a CSM and is an absolute hero in my books based what he went through. There were still a lot of guys who were in Vietnam when I went to the 82nd Med Detachment at Ft. Riley and a CW3 Huey pilot was a true hero as he was featured in Time magazine because of a battle he was in and only a couple survived. RIP Mr. Holmes.

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
By good old conservative Americans.....with respect and honor. By liberal democrats.....with disdain and considered war mongers.

Yep, pretty much my answer as well.

I was an 80s-90s Army guy so they were our mentors

I will always have respect for them

----------------------------

A few months ago I spent a lot of time in Hanoi and Saigon (I refuse to call it Ho Chi Minh...). While there, I visited the Hoa Lo prison (or what's left of it) and the Paul Doumer Bridge ("Hanoi Hilton, and the Long Bien bridge). I took with me a young millennial who had never heard of the vietnam conflict, let alone the places we visited.

So, there was a war? Was that the one on MASH? You mean there was more than one? How come these guys didn't like us? Why were we here? What were we fighting for? So, this place was like some kind of prison, huh? Look at that letter. Sounds like they were treated pretty good. Hey there's a picture with a Christmas tree and presents. Doesn't look so bad. What are those holes for in the bridge?

No clue.

Old timers wearing worn NVA piths with red stars stared after us with a tired suspicion. Young guards at military facilities smiled and nodded. Most were entirely indifferent, and many of the young may have been just as removed. Hard to tell, because if they bore any malice, it never showed.

I was disappointed, history so soon forgotten. Plenty of evidence around the country. I put my fist through holes made by cannon fire and MK82's in original sections of the bridge. I walked its length both ways and the city, which still has much of the original electrical hanging in thick, tangled masses everywhere, new strung by the hundreds atop. I ate the food, closed my eyes and heard the ghosts of A4's and F4's and 105's as they punched off and banked for Thud Ridge. I stayed next to Truk Bak lake, the very same where John McCain splashed down not really that long ago. I even stayed in the actual Hilton in Hanoi, though I have to say, I'd never, repeat never, have named a hotel in Hanoi, the Hilton.

Now, I find it hard to believe that Saigon fell 45 years ago. The country doesn't look grainy or hazy like old photos now, and it's not in black and white. I have to admit that I carried a deep prejudice all these years, up until these last stays. Now I can just say it's let go, and that's all I'll say about it.

For those who came and went, and those who never left, I'm saddened that the new generation has no memories or knowledge to fade. Some, it seems, aren't even aware of the plethora of movies that seem to define what Vietnam was, at least to Hollywood. My former boss is 70 something now, once a young Marine with a purple heart and repeat citations, wounded several times, in a land of tunnels and action.

In the intervening years, I've been to deserts and jungles and mountain areas and parts and places of hostility and unrest, more than a few times now. I don't know how history will remember those who served in Vietnam, but to me every one is a mythical soul that should never have to explain the wet, the heat, the dysentery, the fear, the lonliness, the confusion, the haze in lack of sleep, the smell of another man's bowels and blood, and the scent of canvas and cosmoline and rubber. Burning shit. Kerosine and the stacatto sound of an AK. Whistles. Rain. Loss. Those who stayed, and those who came back, with ghosts. Nobody needs explain it, and God knows it's been written and recorded enough, but those are the parts that present and future generations will never understand unless they've been, and to whom can never really be explained.

That's who I remember each one. People who went there and did that, and should never have to explain. Heroes, for having survived. Heroes for having not.

Vietnam was an era which defined us, and many of us don't even know what it was.

I'm a Vietnam vet and I think most of us gave up caring what other people think a long time ago. But occasionally, I'll see another old man (Yeah, I guess I'm considered old now!) walking towards me, we look each other in the eye, and give a slight nod & a crooked smile, because we both know that there went another VN vet. You can just tell. And nobody else matters.

Welcome home RVN Vets....Semper Fi.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
Vietnam was an era which defined us, and many of us don't even know what it was.

Many were defined by the era, others not. But that was partly what prompted my question.

I have given much thought to how wars have shaped our culture and society, and often think about attitudes toward veterans of military service, and especially veterans of the wars. World War II is rapidly becoming a mythos—even among the small fraction of us who have studied it to any degree and know whether the Germans or Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or even that Pearl Harbor was attacked. Things like the “greatest generation” label have increased the myth-making to the point that those who weren’t part of it often believe that everyone of that era was at least an uncomplaining contributor to the effort, if not an actual hero of the sort who waded ashore on Omaha beach on 6 June.

At that time and for the years after those who were adults during WWII gave no sign (that I ever saw) that they considered themselves in the same light. My father had voluntarily enlisted in the Army prior to Pearl Harbor, and my mother traveled from the Midwest to the west coast to become a welder in a shipyard after the war started. Their level of contribution to the war effort was therefore at a small minority level and yet I never heard them express the opinion that what they did made them worthy of special praise. The same was true of the other war and wartime veterans. The reason for that was probably because such a large percentage of the population had served, and everyone had endured the effects of the war to some degree.

Some time ago I read about the current attitudes of most Israelis to their military veterans. The author pointed out that no one is ever told, “Thank you for your service,” because such thanks are meaningless when a large enough percentage of the population serves in the armed forces.

Then we have the current cohort of military veterans. I don’t know much about what it’s like to serve in war zones or in the armed forces in general today, and that’s undoubtedly true of most people. Because casualty figures are low and there is no threat of conscription, the vast majority of Americans are untouched by military operations except indirectly by taxation. Some of us realize and understand how important our continuing operations are, but most people’s understanding and appreciation are based on teevee dramas or the fact that they know someone who knows someone who’s serving. That’s enough to give them a general feeling of gratitude for what others are doing (and for not having to do any of it themselves) without understanding why, but not much more.

So thinking about all that led me to pose my question about how Vietnam veterans will be viewed when a large percentage of us have died and first hand knowledge and memories of the war and its era are mostly gone. My personal belief is that the myths will continue and grow that the war was a horrible mistake, if not outrage, and that its participants were indelibly marked by the experience—but not in any good ways.
Does anyone believe the same, or otherwise?

"Old soldiers never die, they simply fade away."

I'm fading fast.

I think the way things are now and the way education is headed most won't even know about Viet Nam let alone form an opinion.

Most of us will be dead 20 years from now. All but 1 person in my high school graduating class was in the military. Almost all of our fathers were in WWII & younger uncles were in Korea. I feel strange when someone thanks me for my service as all the adult males I knew until the 1970's had been in in the military. I often wonder about how younger men consider the military & wars in general.

I was in Viet Nam in 1965/1966, 1970/1971, and 1972/1973. I didn't care what people back then thought of me, I don't care now, and I won't care in the future.

Jane Fonda and John Kerry should have been tried for treason and executed.

Short story : I was at the Marine Corps Museum near Quantico and after one of my many trips to visit I was browsing in the gift shop and an older gentleman in a wheel chair was shopping for a hat (cover) the younger lady that was with him would hand the hat to him as he pointed to one. He would
check it out then look at the tag to see where it was made, most were made in Vietnam that I checked (this surprised me) after no less than 10 hats he told the young lady " To Hell With It, I not buying from them, they had tried on many occasions to kill him" .

I hope with the upmost respect and dignity.

I enlisted in '77, those vets were my petty officers and Marine non-comms, trainers, officers and mentors in my early days. I remember standing in a formation about four months into my enlistment as a World War II, Korea, Vietnam vet was rendered honors as he retired wondering what he'd seen. My wish is the same as the SSgt said, with the upmost dignity and respect.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by Broadside:
Probably about the same as Korean War veterans are regarded today.

Unfortunately, this. Most Americans never saw it as a justified war, or even a war unlike WWII. So they don't give the veterans the respect that they deserve.

IIRC, the Korean "Police Action" was our first conflict that had not been declared a "War" by Congress.

flashguy

I know the Vietnam vets that I worked with made good cops. Guys as young as me with experiences I could never imagine. Proud, dedicated, squared away and followed orders. Great friends. They didn't talk about what they experienced and I didn't ask.

It was disgraceful what they went through when they came home.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
IIRC, the Korean "Police Action" was our first conflict that had not been declared a "War" by Congress.

There have been a number of conflicts that U.S. forces have been in that were not declared “wars.” Most were minor as compared with Korea, but military conflicts they were. An early one was the 1798 “Quasi-War” with France (one most people, even amateur military historians, have never heard of). The first undeclared war that U.S. forces were involved in, however, was the War of Independence.

When I was thinking of examples of how veterans are viewed in my first post I forgot myself about Korea. It’s justifiably called the “forgotten war,” and I suspect that among other reasons it was because the actual serious combat was for a relatively limited period. In addition, there was nothing to celebrate about the conflict, and was widely viewed in this country as a defeat for the U.S. despite the fact that the North Koreans and Chinese were the aggressors whose goals were defeated. I clearly remember one of my high school teachers’ saying “[The Communists] fought us to a standstill,” when in fact the exact opposite was the truth.

There was also not a lot that the Left in this country could vociferously object to. Unlike Vietnam they couldn’t very well claim that defending the South was unjustified and that the war was somehow a popular uprising against a corrupt regime.

In any case, I am still interested in answers to the topic question, so thanks to those who have actually offered their opinions and predictions about the future.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

quote:

It was disgraceful what they went through when they came home.

Imagine, if you can, going off to a foreign land to serve your country. Seeing your buddies die and saving your own bacon leaves one with unforgettable memories. Once your tour was done, you looked forward to just coming home. The reception in the early 70s upon arrival was a shock and the respect non-existent.

People were already discrediting the heroes then. In the future, that discredit will swell to the point of "it never happened"! God bless our VN vets!!!