I believe in all the sentiments expressed above - but do not understand why there has to be a separate veterans day for Vietnam. We have a Veteran's Day already for all veterans.
I'll take a shot at answering your question. First, a qualifier. I was never
in Vietnam, though I was commissioned in the USAF before the war ended and watched everything going on around me.
Vietnam was one of the most senseless wars we've ever been in...and that's saying something. I'd read about how our guys took hill #XXXX...and then a week later they had to move off that same hill that men (boys by age), lost their lives to take. Then two weeks later someone would decide we needed it again. That scenario was repeated over and over again.
Kissinger is quoted as saying, "Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy." And he probably said it sitting at home comfortably in an easy chair with his favorite drink in his hand. And later slept in a nice comfy bed.
Guys came back and were met by people spitting on them. There were no Veteran's Parking spaces at Lowe's or Home Depot. The feeling was not just anti-war, but anti anyone who was involved in the military. Guys came back with horrifying images of what they'd seen or been forced to do...and there was no one welcoming them back. They were screamed at, cursed and spit on. Deal with it was the attitude, but no one is made to deal with what they went through.
After Vietnam, some of the locations people were assigned to...in the USA...the guys were told they could commute home in their civilian clothes. The reaction was that bad.
And the ironic thing of it all is that the reason we do what we do, is to preserve the freedoms of not just people who appreciate what we've done, but those who actively demonstrate against what we've done.
We need to never forget what those who have come before us have gone through. The WWI guys are probably not around still. The same with many of those who fought for us in WWII and the Korean War. I never want us to forget what they gave. They are gone, but we live with what we have for freedoms only because they did their part.
Vietnam to me was something different. I don't need to park in that Veteran's parking slot at Lowe's or Home Depot, but I do it...just to show that it gets used. That it is continued. There's some guys who even today can use even that small bit of positive feedback that what they've done is appreciated.
Chris
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