Thay are getting old and teenagers kick our crutches and walkers but it wasn't always that way.
Thay used to be able to walk down the street and have mothers pull thier children off the street and duck into someplace and admonish their children, "Stay away from him! He's a VIETNAM VETERAN! He might kill you!"
They got all sorts of bad press and while many denied their service, the old attitude of 'Embrace the suck' shone through and some embraced the fear and terror they drew.
It got pretty ridiculous, actually. For a while every halfway decent act of violence or major robbery that wasn't solved right off the bat, the media would venture a guess that the perp was a disgruntled Vietnam vet. This lasted all the way up to 2002. The last time I heard the media suggest a violent act might have been caused by a disgruntled Vietnam veteran was 2002 when the DC Beltway Sniper was running around.
Actually the GIs of that era took a lot of $hit from a very ungrateful American public. It was to the point where we were told NOT to wear uniforms off post. We could only drive home and maybe stop at a convenience store to pick up something and get gasoline. Other than that, we could not wear uniforms off post.
I suppose if anyone could help our Afghanistan and Iraqi veterans it would probably be the Vietnam era guys.
I don't think the public is going to be anything but supportive of our Afghanistan/Iraq vets but the elected officials and upper flag officers have made their attitude crystal clear.
Incidentally the man that gave the military their pride back after the debacle of Vietnam was Ronald Reagan. He's also the president that started returning serviceman's salutes. If there's any interest in that story I'll post it here.
ETA Wampus Cat: Job opportunity. Some of our guys can use you. If you can, drop in on your local VA and offer to help.
Good idea, Pic. I will check into it. These guys are going to need all the help they can get.
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