Heartbreak in HiDef

[mickeym]

I'm watching the 'Vietnam in HD' special on History Channel, and it's breaking my heart right now. They've got two guys who served over there talking about when they came home, and people's reactions/responses to them. The one guy was saying how he came home in his uniform, with his medals on his chest, and he was proud of himself, full of patriotism... and people were staring at him, whispering, moving away from him. He was in a bus terminal (or airport), and the seats were full... except for the one to his left and the one to his right, and how people would rather stand or sit on the floor than sit beside him. The other guy was telling how protesters surrounded the car he was getting into, banging their signs on the hood and roof, and hitting the windows, shouting and calling him names.

40 years later, and these guys still get choked up trying to talk about it.

Matthew and I talked about some of this last night. He didn't know that our soldiers returning from Vietnam were...attacked, yelled at, called names, spit on, had garbage thrown at them. He was pretty shocked.

Comments

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

When my dad came back from Vietnam he was treated pretty badly. Not to the extent that he was ever spat on, but from what I understand it was more than just a few unkind words. He's dead now so I can't ask him to clarify.

I would never suggest that the atrocities committed by our own army (during various wars) be overlooked, but it breaks my heart that these boys, who were pawns in the grand scheme of things, were treated so harshly by their own friends and neighbors. My dad was nineteen years old at the time, much younger than I am now, and when I think about what a gentle, mild guy he was it makes my blood boil. My mother is convinced that his shame and embarrassment contributed to his later drinking problems though I'm not sure I agree. I was recently contacted by a bunch of his old war buddies - they promised him they'd check up on me - and his best friend told me that neighbors had congregated outside his mother's house at night for months shouting that he was a baby killer, etc. He was also pushed to the ground and kicked while passing through midtown Manhattan, of all places.

I'm not sure if this is still on topic, but I read the other day that suicide rates for returning soldiers are skyrocketing.