People did "support the troops" during Vietnam, they just differed on the issue of the justification for the war. Maybe I am not seeing the entire picture here, and only what my stepfather, a Vietnam vet, has told me. And even though its 50 years overdue. Of all the tropes about the Vietnam War, one stands out far above the rest in American memory: It was the baby boomers war. WebUS personnel were in Thailand for 10 years, so closed to 300,000 served there, not just 3-5000. also, according to DCAS-Vietnam Conflict Extract File, dated April 29, 2008, the American service members did not suffer defeat, even though most of us felt defeated. WebIn some instances, antiwar protesters reportedly spit on returning veterans and called them baby-killers. Zippo, burning down people's homes in small towns (villages). Sharing this post with your friends through social media is a way of sending "kudos" to the Veterans Radio team and their guests. As time went by, other conflicts and wars involving America took place, and young men and women from those battles and hostilities began returning home. We salute you youre with your own So, welcome home from Vietnam yeah, welcome home !! For meand I think most others returningwe transported in a civilian airplane, that landed on a military base, which would have greatly restricted civilians from being where they could protest against us. In 1968, the chant from protesters was Hey, hey, L.B.J. Often when in public, they are thanked by individuals for their service. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. He has served the U.S. around the world including multiple assignments in support of ministering to Special Forces troops in three Special Forces Groups. It is not uncommon for Vietnam Veterans to hear from the younger generations that wore the American military uniform after our service, Thank you, you and other Vietnam Veterans paved the way for us. Those are powerful words and make one very humble coming from this younger generation of patriotic, strong and ALL-VOLUNTEER FORCE of Americans. This along with the use of napalm that probably also pushed the negative public image.Compare that with the heavily directed media coverage of the Gulf war 1991. Fatima Jaghoori is an Afghan refugee, a former U.S. Army medic who fought in Iraq, a Gold Star wife, and is now a student at Kansas State University. When Richard M. Nixon was sworn in as the 37th President Of The United States on January 20th, 1969 troop withdrawal from the Vietnam War would start in August of that same year. He recalled, For Americans who did not come of age in the early 1960s, it may be hard to grasp what those years were like the pride and overpowering self-assurance that prevailed. When they marched across rice paddies, he said, they carried, along with our packs and rifles, the implicit convictions that the Vietcong would be quickly beaten and that we were doing something altogether noble and good.. ", "The perception was that you were either mentally unstable, or you were on some kind of a drug," Louis Vlahakes, NJ Vietnam Veterans Memorial Trustee recounted, "and that was the beginning of the acknowledgment of what society had expected when we came home.". Before VT Nuclear Education: The Beirut Nuclear Coverup, The Hidden History of the Incredibly Evil Khazarian Mafia. I joined the Air Force in 76 and was stationed just outside San Francisco. The biggest factor, as far as I can tell, was television. "Homecoming: When the Soldiers Returned From Vietnam is a book of selected correspondence published in 1989. Purcell said that for some veterans, this disrupted their sense of identity, making it difficult for them to see themselves as good. In popular memory, the boomers quickly turned against the war. In the Korean War and earlier, western governments were effective at controlling film reels and showing only the message that they wanted to promote back home. And we pray that those who left us and flew up to meet Their King thought we had no business being in to start with. In the episode, the former service members recount harrowing scenes that stayed with them from their time abroad, but it was the return home for many of them that left them feeling wounded and betrayed. On Wednesdays Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy broadcast on Nashvilles Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am the duo took a call from a Vietnam era veteran named Ben, who clarified the statement made by Nathan Phillips regarding his service as Vietnam veteran times was The myth is also wielded as a cudgel to browbeat anti-war public opinion with shouts of "support the troops!" Most veterans said that killing was the most challenging war experience to talk about, but it was the topic they were asked about most frequently by others. Was the baby killer thing widespread or was it only a couple incidents? Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Salute Heroes & Veterans Benefits February 2023. Did they not also kill women and children? Made us question why we ever joined the fight But we took it out on you, and now its time to make things right V1: On the TV, in the papers, you were treated so unfair You got blamed for Vietnam instead of the ones who sent you there Some folks called you baby killers, called you monsters and worse They were soldiers and marines, sailors and airmen, doctors and nurses, who learned about survival, about protecting buddies, about cruel death. It was the echo of that call, just a few years later, that motivated hundreds of thousands of young men to enlist for Vietnam, for the chance to ensure the success of liberty and many others back home, at least at the outset, to support the fighting. It was about walking through jungles and rice paddies and elephant grass, and about being wet, infected and dirty. Soldiers called Baby Killers during the Vietnam war? The anti-war movement had extensive outreach programs towards veterans and active duty personnel which would be impossible if they were as hostile as commonly believed. VT RADIO: Alternative Foreign Policy Talk, Khazarian Mafia at War: The Jewish Oligarch Who Planned the Terror, Russias Future Predicted by Well-Known Christian Saints, Most Front-Line Ukrainian Soldiers Killed Within 4 Hours, How Russia managed to survive Western sanctions, How War Began The Genesis of NATOs Coup in Ukraine , From Global Warming Denial to Holocaust Denial, On this day in 1940, Woody Guthrie writes This Land Is, Former U.S. President Carter to Hospice, Will Pariah Trump Attend State, Dr. Fauci Admits COVID Shots Didnt Have A Chance Of Controlling. This is a somewhat more serious subreddit compared to many others. One major drawback for the returning Vietnam Veteran, most of them came home alone, not with their units, and were easy targets of hostility, disdain, and disrespect for the groups of war protesters gathering at our Nations airports and other areas returning Veterans dis-embarked. These WANNABES did not want to be Vietnam Veterans when we went off to war and turned our homecoming into a lifes event that will never leave us. Welcome back where you belong.you know there shoulda been a ticker tape parade You look at WW2 for example they French wanted to be liberated from German control and helped where they could, I am sure in Germany bad stuff happend especially when the Soviets invaded. With no idea of what was waiting for you back in your home town Many veterans feared that, if they talked about killing, they would be judged or mischaracterized by other peoples notions of what it means to be a combat veteran, Purcell said. Because they had to endure so much pain and even felt abandoned by the their own people and country, more than 100,000 Vietnam veterans (the actual number would be even much higher) committed suicide after the war, which is nearly two times the number of soldiers had died in Vietnam. Vikings, Thielen talking through contract and role with cap decisions looming, Gophers beat top-ranked Ohio State 3-1 to win WCHA Final Faceoff, One of state's richest families feuds over $1 billion estate. For More Information: www.OperationSong.org. In Minnesota and across the nation, executives are grappling with alarming operating losses. "Corporate America wouldn't hire us. For many of these veteranssome of whom may already suffer from post-traumatic stress (PTSD)the guilt, shame, anger and isolation they suffer compound psychological trauma related to their war experiences. My car (with a military base sticker) was "egged." Mr. Schultz and Mr. Noyes both said they were called baby killers when they came back from Vietnam. My dad was a vet during the war, but was always stationed in the US. And David Sirota is wrong about the history and policies of that war and about the treatment of returning military men and women ("The myth of the spat-upon war veteran," June 8). The journalist Philip Caputo was a young Marine officer who went ashore with the first American combat units in Vietnam, in 1965. Thanks! Veterans Radio: Thank you David for your service to our veteran community. Do Sleep Medications Increase Your Chances of Dementia. Reviled by the draft dodgers and war protesters even up until the mid-1980s, Vietnam Veterans endured the disrespect but still stood tall, but life was not easy being a Vietnam Veteran. The author couldn't find a single reported incident of homecoming veterans being spat upon by anti-war protestors (the only Vietnam veterans spat upon that he could find were ones who were anti-war protestors). 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. I do not wish to have my record of service dishonored again. Although the history of the past 50 years is complex, it's fair to observe that the spread of communism has been contained. These brothers/sisters did not live to see the attitudes in this country about Vietnam Veterans change, and personally, a WANNABE is showing disrespect, dishonor and trying to steal the valor ofthese brave men and women when the WANNABE claims to be a Vietnam Veteran! David Maxwell is a senior fellow at FDD. That was a good, well documented reply. So when President Kennedy proclaimed at his inauguration that the torch had passed to a new generation, his World War II generation, it was a torch that few held very long. There was more civilian anger directed at Vietnam Vets than any other conflict in our history, hence the name calling, Primarily due to it being the first televised war. On the other hand, what remains a common trait of veterans of both wars is their desire to help those left behind. This changed as the numbers of troops grew, their casualties increased, as draftees made up more of the units, and as the rationale for the war and its conduct were more broadly challenged and unpersuasively defended. Joshua Smith, 82nd Airborne Divisions 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, talks to group of Afghan children during a combined patrol clearing operation in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, April 28, 2012. There were controversies about the memorial, but the disagreed upon concerns were addressed then settled, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most visited sites in our Nations Capitol today. We were not honored, but were treated as the face of an unpopular war. As Americans became disillusioned by the war, some of their sons and daughters, siblings and friends continued to go to Vietnam. WebAs one Vietnam veteran writes: Vietnam vets were a bit crushed coming home. McCloughan is credited with saving the lives of members of his platoon nearly 50 years ago in the Battle of Nui Yon Hill in Vietnam. Another event portraying Vietnam Veterans in a positive manner happened on Veterans Day, November 11th, 1982 when the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial took place in Washington, DC. U.S. Navy Mistake? The only reason to not accuse a person of a misdeed is lack of evidence that person committed that misdeed. The Vietnam Veterans wanted to make sure no Americans returning home from fighting for their country ever received the negative treatment as they did during the Vietnam War. ", President Donald Trump bestows the nation's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor to retired Army medic James McCloughan during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 31, 2017. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. There are myriad veteran organizations committed to helping refugees just as their Vietnam veteran brothers and sisters did and continue to do today. Its clear thathelping veterans work through their experiences calls for tremendous sensitivity, empathy and patience, said Purcell, assistant adjunct professor of social and behavioral sciences in the UCSF School of Nursing. As a matter of fact, the most successful songs I have written outside of Operation Song In other words for the country music market, have been based on real life stories that happened to me or people I know, so when every song that you write, as in the Operation Song program, is based on a real life story, there is always meat on the bone, and substance to work with. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, I've always suspected that the spitting and the "baby killer" insult (re: the movie 'Rambo', for instance) were largely myth, although I would guess that a few incidents must have occurred. At the age of nearly two and three Lan-Dinh and Danielle Ngo experienced the fall of Saigon with their family. They were among the last to make it to Tan Son Nhat air base for evacuation. Greene believed the tale was an urban legend. Vietnam Veterans always felt we did the right thing when we answered the call to stop communism in South Vietnam, the biggest threat to global democracy in the latter half of the 20th century. Only this time, the young people of the same age as the returning Veterans were not protesting their generation of warriors but were showing them respect and thanking these brave patriots. Nick Wilson, Chief Revenue Officer , for Legion Logistics talks with host Jim Fausone about the company, its veteran owner and why NVBDC certification as a veteran owned business was so important to Legion and the power of NVBDC networking. Below is an area where you can rate this program on a 5-star rating system. WebAnother myth is that anti-war protesters attacked returning soldiers. Crime: The unmistakable driver of Chicago's election results, Something isn't right just ask the kids, Readers Write: Dakota language, student debt, Minnesota's 'trifecta' state government, Supreme Court conservatives would block student loan forgiveness but have hit a snag, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve: Ruling is a powerful lift for transgender rights, Tom Emmer: The era of woke government is over, The demise of 'Dilbert': Scott Adams merely said what white America has long done. The politicians lied, and sixty-thousand died You grabbed your things and left the transport, hit your knees and kissed the ground Kissinger measured how we were winning by body count in an unconventional war. Since then a thank you for your service culture has arisen that has all but eliminated public displays of disdain and disrespect.
why were vietnam veterans called baby killers