Among the many half baked lies about America's war against Viet Nam is the "they spit on us" myth that has served so well to deter many from any actual examination of the War. In the article "Viet Nam Veterans Now Get Warm Welcome" , Aug 17, Im now told I had bottles and eggs thrown at me.

 

Never happened.

 

You know, after seeing what my country was up to in Viet Nam, the LAST thing I cared about was getting a parade. Im hardly alone in this.

 

Oh, we were "spit on", all right- by the Veterans hospitals, foul dungeons where many died from medical neglect, by a VA which stonewalled any investigations into Agent Orange, and had but one bed, nationally, for heroin addiction. We were spit on by a series of thuggish Saigon regimes, the last of which- Thieu/Ky, got rich off traffiking in that heroin.

 

We were spit on by our own Services, when returning vets, denied health care, PTSD counseling, or drug treatment were given bad paper discharges for speaking out- just like todays returning vets!

 

Who could forget the hosing we got from the VFW and Legion, who used their political weight to limit the new crop of veterans from geting the benefits they enjoyed- shades of John McCain, voting down every VA bill that expanded veterans rights & benefits. When anti War Viet vets joined VFW & Legion posts, those posts were dropped from the rolls.

Then we were spit on by the political generals of the Pentagon, Hackworths' "Perfumed Princes"- who put thier careers ahead of what was good for the country as well as the troops. And we were spit on by pro war flag waving nonothings, who reacted in rage & sometimes violence against Viet Nam vets who dared speak the obvious about that unspeakable war.

 

People who opposed that war stood behind us, and with us. They were on OUR side. Anti War vets, like Viet Nam Veterans Against the War fought all those forces to bring to light the realities of Agent Orange, PTSD, going so far as to seize unused wings of VA hospitals, setting up our own PTSD treatment centers, and forcing the military to upgrade thousands of bad discharges.

A parade? - tell you what. You want to honor my voluntary tour in Viet Nam, derail these latest public wars for private profit, devote however many billions it will take to do right by our wounded, and the damage we inflicted, and have those responsible for these disasters brought to trial.

Anything less is an insult

"Mutt", NCOIC Comms, VVAW-SD.