Chief Bones
Forums Grumpy Old Man
You mention that the United States was blemished in the eyes of the world ... how about the GI's that came home only to have their own government and their fellow citizens spit on everything they had fought and died for? What about the hard feelings that were created when President Ford signed a blanket amnesty for all of the draft dodgers that had fled to Canada instead of answering their country's call to arms?
As one of those who faced condemnation from my neighbors and former friends when I returned home, I didn't give a damn what the rest of the world thought about Vietnam. All I knew was that our politicians and our citizens had let us down ... part of that anger exists even today and my return from Nam lies over thirty years in my past.
We have a 16 year old young man on a local forum who is a devotee of conspiracies ... he hinted that he was going to post declassified documents from the "Gulf of Tonkin" fiasco. I told him that it would NOT be a very good idea as I would cut him to pieces and that I was NOT the only Vietnam veteran that would respond in that manner. The angers from that era have not diminished just because of the passage of time. To demonstrate just how remonstrative I would be (even after thirty years), I told him that even today I would throw Hanoi Jane over the pier side of any ship I was on IF she were to come aboard and to hell with the consequences.
SORRY FOR THE RANT GUYS ...this is one issue I can NOT be calm, cool and collected about.
As one of those who faced condemnation from my neighbors and former friends when I returned home, I didn't give a damn what the rest of the world thought about Vietnam. All I knew was that our politicians and our citizens had let us down ... part of that anger exists even today and my return from Nam lies over thirty years in my past.
We have a 16 year old young man on a local forum who is a devotee of conspiracies ... he hinted that he was going to post declassified documents from the "Gulf of Tonkin" fiasco. I told him that it would NOT be a very good idea as I would cut him to pieces and that I was NOT the only Vietnam veteran that would respond in that manner. The angers from that era have not diminished just because of the passage of time. To demonstrate just how remonstrative I would be (even after thirty years), I told him that even today I would throw Hanoi Jane over the pier side of any ship I was on IF she were to come aboard and to hell with the consequences.
SORRY FOR THE RANT GUYS ...this is one issue I can NOT be calm, cool and collected about.