Need Some Input

[lcpd24]

Hey's guys need your help on this one, my niece is doing an advanced college class this fall and she has to do summer work which includes a paper on the

?how and why the American people reacted so badly to the American soldiers being in Vietnam?
She's wants to interview me, but I don't think me alone can give a full accountting of how we all felt, we all had different views an thoughts, backs grounds. Thanks aplenty

[Packo]

Dennis,

I think one of the reasons was they were exposed to the war every night on TV when other wars were fought in relative obscurity. They saw war as a dirty business and related us to the dirt. Every night the media ran pictures of what we were doing to the "poor" Vietnamese and made us look like a bunch of murderers, not soldiers doing our jobs. Sort of like all the pictures of Lebanon but very few of the hell the Israelies were going through from the rockets. Selective reporting. It wasn't until Saving Private Ryan that most people got to see what kind of hell those men went through on D-Day. Movies never portrayed the horror like that. Right after the movie came out...WWII generation became "The Greatest Generation". People realized that their war was dirty also....just they were in a good one.

Just a thought.

Pack

[Robert Ryan]

Make sure she knows that the protesters against the War in Vietnam, were mostly upper class white kids who's parents paid enough money so that their kids wouldn't be drafted. Let her know that the media also portrayed us as a bunch of dopers, and mad killers. Then tell her to watch the movie We were Soldiers and see what soldiers in Vietnam also did, tell her to watch Hamburger Hill also. Make sure she knows that indeed war crimes happened in Vietnam just like any other war. Like Paco said it's the first time every night that the American public got to see just how ruthless war was, and how ruthless the soldiers fighting a war can be.

[Stick]

Dateline, 1968: and the American free press: "If it ain't unusual it ain't news so we ain't gonna report it."
Dateline, 2006: there are enough of us Vietnam Veterans out there to see through all of the hype and BS that the American free press puts out and we will only buy what's real. We're in Iraq and Afganistan today for the same reason that we were in Vietnam in the '60's and that is and was to give the people the freedom to control their own lives and choose the government that will represent them the best. Today in Iraq there are 50 Muslim Iraqis killed for every soldier. When's the last time you heard that statistic reported on the news but todays American people still support our troops and to a large part, it's because of the baby boomers that saw what happened to the returning Vietnam veteran. Twenty minutes after I started back on the assembly line at the car company a guy from accross the line says to me, "hey, your a Vietnam vet, huh? and I answer "yeh." The next thing he said to me was "So, how many kids did you kill?"
Sorry 'bout the flashback but when I see a troop the first thing that I do is walk up to him or her, offer my hand and give him or her my thanks.

[Packo]

That's because your a rightous human being and a proud Veteran, Stick. Had almost the same thing happen at a few of my jobs. One of the reasons I didn't mention my Vietnam Service much. No "Ruptured Duck" congratulations and thanks for us.

Robert...I also agree with you. Only a couple of my graduating class served. In WWII you had draft dodgers also. The difference was, they were not the good guys. I remember asking my mom if she dated guys in college. She said, "Hell no. Most were 4Fers and draft dodgers". She had a real man in the Pacific.

Pack

[39mto39g]

L24
Its pretty hard for anyone that was in VN to answer your Niece's question
?how and why the American people reacted so badly to the American soldiers being in Vietnam?
Except maybe, 'We didn't'

But I'll take a guess on why the public that stayed home or went to Canada might have felt.
The media and the Hollywood stars had such a negative reaction to the whole war. The Media had control of what people see and read and when the media said somthing back then it was correct (or assumed to be)
Hollywood played a big roll in helping WW2 and were kinda puched back when Korea happened, when the media started to bash the government and the troops who went to VN because they were sent, The Hollywood stars jumped on board, After all being on the same side as the media can't be bad?
people back then were more Gulable and believed in the media and there government.
I guess it might be best discribed as something your parents would tell you, What ever it was , you just believed it.

Ron

ps
Packo, way to go MOM.

[Boats]

If I had to make a guess at why we got the bad rap I'd have to say that VN was the longest war - ever. WWII went 4-5 years, Korea I'm not sure but VN went on from 65 to 75 now that's not saying we weren't unofficially in there earlier.

VN was a long procrastinated and heavily televised conflict it seemed to go on forever - every night. It was was an ugly war and many men gave their lives for that piece real-estate..

We were pawns on a table while others played chess moving us from here to there. The enemy was different - they were good - and had resolve - and they sure as hell didn't want in there.

We knew the French got their asses kicked before us and we had a good idea of what to expect. Yet our government didn't plan or support the feedback from the field officers.

But why did the people dislike VN vets I don't think they know? Poor words for sure but today you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with a negative thought against a VN soldier.

Why? I think they finally grew up. I think society today finally recognizes what all the troops had to go through. This is depressing to reflect on - but those days the people (back then), those at home, were like they were wild animals - out of control - on drug's and other promiscuous concepts were going on. They showed very little family values of which our kids today would frown on - especially if they knew their parents were part of it.

I was more disappointed in them - then they were of us. I am proud of our American Soldier's in all branches that served during this VN era Because we had a resolved - we had lost so many of our friends and relatives - we had seen the enemy - we had seen the carniage up close and personal.

We have nothing to be ashamed of - we are the backbone of this country and we've given our all like many of those before us.

Many still suffer today from the scars of long ago. Many still suffer from exposure to elements not disclosed until many years later. Don't tell us we don't understand.

No I'd say we did our job. And we were disappointed in our people moreso than they were us. They let us down - they did not support us - they went off on another tangent of which they - have to carry those scars all their lives. As for us who are still living - will never let them forget.

[WateringHole]

One of the biggest misconception about WWII is that Eisenhower only put to death only one American Soldier, and that was for desertion. That's not true. Eisenhower put to death over 300 American Soldiers for rape, fragging, kidnapping, etc. Plus, he had a number of Soldiers sentenced to 20 to 30 years hard labor at Ft Levenworth. (got that information from the book Stolen Valor)
In those days of WWII, there wasn't news reporters on the battle fields with a camera crew every day filming the war and asking so many goofy questions. In those days, when you read something in the paper or listen to the radio about the war, every lamon person could understand what the reporters was talking about. Not like today where allege reporters just rattle on and on and on about things that don't have the slightest thing to do with the war.

[Boats]

WateringHole - I draw your attention to this thread for more details relating to WWII and other conflicts:

http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/dp...il.exec.us.gis

[VIETNAM 1968]

WateringHole was correct that more then 300 military members were executed during World War II. However their crimes would have been Capital Offenses if committed by civilians during the same time period. The fact that the United States was at war had nothing to do with their sentences. In fact the Uniform Code of Military Justice still has provisions for Capital Punishment today, for military members that commit Rape, Kidnapping and Fragging which is just another name for Murder.

The one military member that was executed for purely a MILITARTY CRIME, was put to death for Desertion In The Face of an Armed Enemy, and was the ONLY MILITARY MEMBER so sentenced since the CIVIL WAR. No military member during the Spanish American War and World War I was executed although there were several cases of the same military crime during both previous wars.

I remember reading a book about the incident several years ago and public opinion, in both the Military and on the Home Front, did not support the execution. In fact right up to the time that the sentence was carried out, most Military Members thought that General Eisenhower would commute the sentence to a term of Hard Labor.

To all of my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters I again wish you a big WELCOME HOME:


VIETNAM 1968