Spitting on Vietnam Soldiers

Agreed. If you feel the need to spit on a vet...get the F out of our country. You don't deserve to be here.

 

some people may not have spit on a vet but sneezed and the wet spray flew indadvertently on a vet, i don't think those people should be held accountable for a wet sneeze even though their sneezing may have been mistaken for spitting

 

I remember getting a few jeers back in '70 when I came home on leave, but here in the mid-west, I'd say my feedback was nearly 100% positive. Different era, different part of the country. Also, I was #5 in the lottery draft...trying to go to school and hold down a part time job...had to enlist...didn't hurt me a bit. Reminds me of a quote...



War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
--John Stewart Mill--

 

Nice quote.

Hi Chief

 

I feel bad too that the soldiers were spit on. Most of those men were drafted and didn't want to fight. Even if you don't support war you should support the men and women who fought and put their lives on the line. They didn't want to be there, but yet they went and they fought with pride to serve our country. And people should respect them, even though they were fighting for all the wrong causes...they had to see and do things no one should do. If it were up to me I'd rather kill a human being than to ever hurt any animal. People have such hatred towards one another, I wouldn't think twice about shooting a rapist. I can't believe you guys are arguing about all this. Yes War is bad but without war, Hitler would've lived to kill 1,000s more innocent lives, without Vietnam, communists would've killed 1,000s more innocent as well. Yeah, there were times when innocent lives were killed by our soldiers but these men had to do what they were told. It's not like they enjoyed killing. When going into Vietnam we thought we'd only be there for awhile, just like the war in Iraq, but it lasted years. That wasn't the soldiers fault. Never spit on soldiers!!! Shake their hands and thank them. They help make our country what it is today. I am totally against war, but I would NEVER disrespect a man or woman who chose to leave their families and friends to go to war and fight to protect us back home.

 

My Uncle David went to Vietnam a proud soldier ready to serve his country, he came back a pot smoking, war protesting hippie that is the person I look up to most... That war was bad, but if you think about it, it made some damn good people.

 

I remember being stationed at a school command in Vallejo California and taking a weekend trip to Oregon. In the SF Airport, I was spit on and called, "Baby Killer" while in Medford the red carpet was rolled out for me so to speak. I was against the Vietnam War but enlisted to avoid getting drafted and chose the Navy. I also was able to get some advanced schools and while on active Duty for six years, I spent 3 years of that time in Advanced Technical Schools. I chose to serve on Submarines figuring that it would be safer underwater than dodging bullets in the jungle. I remember the stress in high school of worrying about being drafted and sent to battle. My freshman year 3 former students came home KIA in Vietnam.

The freedoms we have today were bought with the price of many many lives of men who believe in the freedoms we have and considered fighting to get them and keep them worth the cost.

Thank a VET.

 

Amen
Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground.

Another Vet

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

My tour in Vietnam was over in 1972 ( tour ) strange thing to call it a tour is something you take for pleasure, not the case this tour, we came back in small groups so no big welcome home, one day you were in the war the next you are back in Pittsburgh, for me anyway, no ceremony not so much as a thank's, we were shunned, it was like we were being punished for being drafted, most of us did not want to be there but we had no choice, and once there it was kill or be killed. I was never spit on but got called alot of bad thing's, and it was like everyone hated me. Some of the very people I protested the war with would have nothing to do with me. Just a bad scene. It was a shame the way we were treated we were kids, I was 19 when I was drafted right out of high school I was not ready to fight someone elses war but that is how it was back then. we are still looked down on. Thats enough don't want to talk about it anymore. For anyone like me out there like me let me say to you welcome home brother.

Peace

 

Silverhippy, hello and thanks for the welcome back. I was thrown down by airport security at metro for grabbing a guy who called a jarhead babykiller, he was in uniform I was in civies, the rent-a-cops turned me lose when they saw my military ID. I had been on leave and was heading back to base. We had been required to travel in uniform until the airport protests started after that it was optional. Military personnel being spit on was mentioned in the directive. I will never forget the hurt I saw on that marines face. The guy that attacked him had long hair but I wouldn't call him a hippie. I met more hippies in the service than out of it and they were mostly good guys.

 

Hello to you, when in the states I traveled in uniform also it was because we got a cheaper rate, something called military stand by, I can't even remember what that means now, I never had much trouble got a lot of nasty looks but no trouble. The only thing that stands out in memory about the Airports was all of the Hare Krishnas, as soon as they saw me they would come over and dance around me, I thought they were kinda funny, whatever happened to them ? And yeah the service was full of us Hippies, met alot of good people there.

Peace

 

Military stand by, as I remember it, if the airline had un-sold seats & we were traveling in uniform, we got 1/2 off the regular price.
And yeah, met a lot of good folks, hippie & otherwise. That was one of the (few) good things. After I was drafted I went ahead and enlisted for 3 years & then the Army sent me to Germany for 2 1/2 years. Yeah, Europe for the last 2 1/2 years of the 60s. Left there Oct. 1970. But I still had the problems & hassels everyone else had, extra so in Europe. When not on duty, we would pass ourselves off as Canadian. Flag on backpack, everything.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Did you see any of the Hare Krishnas at the Airports they were a trip? thanks for remembering stand by, I just forgot what it was, I never made it to Europe, just Southeast Asia, but inspite of the war and everything it is a beautiful place, being a door gunner in helicopters the triple canopy made it hard to do my job but it sure was nice to look at. My chick grows all of are vegrtables is that the same as organic.

Peace

 

a

 

As an American who never served in the military, protested the war in Vietnam and believes getting into Iraq was a huge mistake from the get-go, I just want to say to all veterans past and present:


Thank you!

Whether you served in peacetime or in war, and whether that war needed to be fought or proved to be futile, thank you for your service and sacrifice. And to hell with anyone who would look down on you or spit on you for it. Just remember, one of the things you fought for was to guarantee freedom of speech for everyone, including idiots.

 

You are right, it was not the true hippies that were doing the spitting or name calling, it was the want to be's, the plastic hippies, we knew who they were they stood out, so we would not acknowledge them, just laugh and consider the source, again we knew them for what they were just plastic hippies, by the way hippy is an establishment tag, if we had to call ourselves anything we would refer to ourselves as heads, you are right on in your way of thinking, stay cool.

Peace

 

Thank you Newo, I served during that time and volunteered to avoid being drafted. I served in the Navy on Nuclear Submarines and had a few encounters with Russian Subs that kept us wondering if we would survive the encounter. The nightmares continue and are very real. I remember those events like they are happening right this moment.

If our nation gets into a conflict where our national security is threatened, I would do it all over again in a heart beat. Everyone who serves on a submarine is a volunteer and we are well aware of the risks of being under water. I had to watch the CBS REPORTS about the sinking of the USS Thresher SSN 593 because I managed the documentation for systems subjected to sea pressure, oxygen and High Pressure Air.

One BIG difference between Vietnam and Iraq is most of the soldiers in Vietnam were drafted while ALL who are in Iraq are volunteers in the service and not drafted.

For me, I figured I was safer underwater than dodging bullets in a Jungle.

My rate: MM2(SS) 4245

 

Skoolie7, I was a top water sailor and give you credit for being able to ride a sub. As an STG2, I rode a fast attack for 3 days on a crew swap during ASW exercises. I came away knowing two things, surface ships didn't stand a chance against subs, and I never wanted to do that again. Take 10 attaboys for a job well done. In Norfolk there were signs that said "sailors and dogs keep off the grass", respect for guys/gals in uniform was rare. I pray the vets coming back now have a better reception. The media was at fault (IMO) for how the Viet Nam vets were viewed upon returning. According to the press we were all a heartbeat away from killing our families in their sleep. It made it acceptable to mistreat someone in uniform. The people calling them selves Christians who protest at the servicemans funerals give real Christians a bad name. Its now against the law to disturb a funeral service, the one good thing to come out of it.
~Peaceatriot:

 

i feel that it doesnt matter what war that men and woman faught in , our soldiers of Nam were Drafted those ppl most tryied to leave but went to jail . some went aginst there will , i learned as a child gowing up in a very Hippy home that yes suport the troops, but dont spit on them . i for one know that i love my late father and that what he did was of the Goverments' doing . i know he was not proud of it . i got his pics from Nam and i look at those a man in pain the poems he wrote . I feel that spitting on the troops goes aginst Peace and Harmony of the Hippy ways we should love them for the Men and Woman they are for the are HUMANS . they are sorry for hurtting innocent ppl . i hope that hippys som matter what age or race or religon can understand dont condone them it is the Goverment the same goverment that sent troops to other wars and failed and i feel still are i dont want to start a debate. but in my heart my father preached to me to stand up for those things that are valuble and priceless and to me those troops still need love and to me Love is so inportant for with out it peace and all the things we hippys stand for mean nothing , and in love is COMPASSION some thing else that i was taught yet another thing of the movement that my mom and dad taught .
tho my Dad faught for 3 Tours he still didnt hold things aginst any one he helped any one he could
so in his memory i leave this post dont hate the soilders , show them compassion so they know that someone loves them even their family if the soilder had passed in war , show them peace so they may find it and know there is still peace to be faught for in there minds after the stuff they had seen ,, and show them all the things that are of Harmony .
i hope that some one understands this i shead tears for all POWS , VFWs , and current soilders for they all need somebody to love them .
::::::tears of love ::::

 

You have brought a tear to my eye Megumi, your father would be so proud of you and where your head is, he must have been one of the good ones. You are right we had no choice other than to go and do what we had to do to get through, and some blamed us for the whole dirty little war, just not right. But to know there are people like you still out there does my heart good. Stay as cool as you are, we need more like you so bad.

Peace