The heartfelt, emotional post, “Today I Met the Finest,” is a fine tribute for Veterans Day and one particular comment reminded me of one of the most important lessons learned from the Vietnam War. The author writes,

“One old Vet came up to me and said he was sorry. Sorry because he and his didn't stand up for me and mine after Viet Nam. I told him that we had stand on our own, we had our war and we had to defend it ourselves. I thanked him for the thought. He was still sorry. That doesn't matter.”

That brought a lump to my throat because that was one of the most painful aftereffects of my service in Vietnam, rejection by the vets of WWII and Korea, whom I had grown up lionizing, and whose own service and sacrifice had inspired my own willingness to volunteer. It is still painful to remember that my generation of warriors was dismissed by our own heroes as drug-addicted losers and even worse: war criminals and baby killers. That, in spite of some of us having faced combat as fierce and deadly as anything they had in their own wars. My 82d Airborne roommate at Fort Bragg in 1967, SSGT Charley Morris, (R.I.P. Charley, and Happy Veterans Day) who had won the Medal of Honor serving with the 173d Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, was every bit as much a hero to me as Audie Murphy was to them. 

But they didn’t see it that way. They believed Walter Cronkite more than they believed us. My own tentative attempts to associate with veterans organizations were quickly squelched by the hostility encountered there. Worse, the early Vietnam Veterans organizations were antiwar, led by phony heroes like John Kerry, who helped create and perpetuate the negative image of Vietnam veterans that persists to this day among Liberals. Fortunately time has mellowed and mitigated the attitudes of some of the old warriors as evidenced by the quote above. I would hope that old vet speaks for the larger number and is an indication that they have come to realize that they were misled by a dishonest, disgruntled few who were given far greater voice than they deserved by a liberal media with an ingrained antiwar, anti-military agenda.

And that is the painful lesson that I think so many of my fellow Vietnam vets have learned. Don’t let a dishonest, dishonorable and deceiving media lead you to abandon those who serve now and face the same sort of hostility we faced. Yes, I know the liberal media, for all practical purposes the promotional arm of the Democratic party, every day proclaim their support for the troops while simultaneously doing their very level best to undermine the troops’ missions. What the Dems and the media have never seemed to grasp is that undercutting a soldier’s ability to accomplish his mission is a hostile act.

From the support I see my generation giving to the current generation of warriors, I think we’ve learned our lesson well. Vietnam veterans are at the forefront in providing support for those now serving. It was largely through the brave efforts of a group of Vietnam veterans, the Swift Boat Veterans, that America was spared the disgrace of having one of those many  phony Vietnam heroes, and a traitor as well, serving as commander-in-chief. And true to form, even now, Democrats and liberal media snarl disparagingly about swiftboating, using it as a term of infamy rather than the heroic term it truly is. That in itself, should show quite clearly which side they are still on and make it easier for us to never forget, to never abandon our sons and daughters at war.

Russ Vaughn

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on November 12, 2007 at 12:10 AM in Russ Vaughn, The American Warrior, Viet Nam | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: Richard

Russ,
I was from a small rural town that was mostly various vets and my family. There was no hostility there that I saw or felt. (I did not go to Viet Nam. Close but they left the short timers and troublemakers behind and I qualified twice.) I know the press and other useful idiots did paint you black as the heart of hell and good folks who were not really paying any attention to what was going on fell for it.
Yes, the same traitors are doing the same thing again to our troops who are in harms way. And once again, a lot of good people are just not paying any attention to what is happening and I am afraid that we will have the same end result. Our troops win in the field and are betrayed at home.
I teach and try to point out the betrayal that is happening to our troops. Since it is off topic, I cannot spend near as much time on it as I would like. I am involved in our local politics and try to make a difference there as well. My church is also becoming aware of what is happening as well.
Thanks Big Guy! Thanks very much!

Posted by: Richard | Nov 18, 2007 1:09:02 PM

Posted by: Mike

I was a young Paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, present, in uniform, in Washington, D.C., in 1982 when the wall was dedicated. The 'Nam vets treated us as if we were the heroes that weekend, paying for our hotel, food and travel. Upon returning to our unit, our company, battalion and brigade CO's were inundated with calls and letetrs from the vets we had met that weekend, praising two lowly 18-year-old PFC's. I've shared stories with many a combat veteran in my life, but none compare to the class and quality of our Vietnam-era veterans. Welcome home, indeed.

Posted by: Mike | Jan 13, 2008 9:01:40 PM