Treatment of Veterans

Craig,

 

I appreciated your article on the support of our veterans. However, I want to point out an urban myth you repeated:

“…Honor is one of them, and Candopoulos and Manternach are old enough to remember the dishonor with which returning Vietnam veterans were treated. They remember how the men ordered to go do a dirty job in the jungles of Southeast Asia came home to be spat upon and called murderers…”

I understand no one has ever documented Vietnam vets being spat upon. It is just one of those stories that refuses to die because it gets repeated so often. As a Vietnam-era vet and a college student (on the GI Bill) in the ‘70’s, I think people mostly just felt sorry for the poor guys who got caught up in our county’s last great misadventure overseas.

Not that you would do it, but it appears some people repeat it to somehow dishonor those who protested the Vietnam War. As if stopping the war after 55,000+ US deaths could be criticized.

Jon Lockert, US Army (1970-1973), President, Veterans for Peace, Ernest Gruening Chapter (Southcentral AK)

Jon4Paz@AcsAlaska.net

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