“What greater patriotism does any man have than a man who will fight for his country regardless of the politics? I plan to go back eventually as I now have many new friends and experiences to enjoy. The war is truly over for me now, and I owe it to the many Veterans of that war to tell of my return visit there and to hopefully help them in their recovery as well. To tell them that almost all the people that I met in Vietnam have put the war behind them and forgiven everyone who fought on their land. Now it is time to forgive ourselves as well!”

In Comradeship, Andrew Alday "A" co, 3rd/22nd Infantry Reg., 25th Infantry Division Vietnam, III Corps, '68 & '69 http://www.22ndinfantry.org/vietnam2.htm

Vietnam was taxing on the mind, will, emotions, and physical wellbeing of American troops. What they experienced there could never prepare them for the reception that awaited them on their return home however. The patriotism that was so strong in the early years of the war had long since disappeared. Some Veterans have never recovered from the horrible way that they were treated.

Larry Burke one veteran relates, “I think if a lot of Vietnam Veteran’s have trouble adjusting and have problems underneath because ther’s still that seething resentment of the fact that here I was going to do something heroic and these other people made me out to be the bad guy. They were the ones that didn’t have the guts to go and do their job.” Mr. Burke reflects the feelings of many returning veterans. They went to Vietnam at the call of their country and never received the heroes welcome that all U.S. troops that serve in combat deserve.

This is also the opinion of another veteran Arthur Varanelli who states, “I think if ther’s bitterness among Vietnam War Veterans it’s not toward the Vietcong and the NVA some just as it is toward the people back home who turned their heroic image of themselves into something else” (Varanelli).

Many vets received harsh treatment by anti-war protestors that were taking out their frustrations out on the veterans. This was often the result of miscommunications between the front lines and the news media. The Vietnam War was the first war to be seen on television and the images that people viewed on the news were often skewed which turned public opinion away from the cause of the troops.

One veteran John Ratliff believes that part of the problem was a failure by the government to support the troops on the home front. He tells us, “I think the Nixon administration did much for the GIs in the field but was extremely negligent in explaining their actions at home; at times they lied to the American public about the actions occurring in Vietnam, and this really turned the public off concerning their feelings about returning GIs” (Ratliff).

In response to a questionnaire by a student earlier this year one veteran Richard Coogan from Philadelphia shed some light on what power the newsmen had in Vietnam. He stated, “I also became more aware of the power the press had, specifically Walter Cronkite who reported that the North Vietnamese 1968 Tet offensive was a catastrophe for the USA. Tet 1968 was a catastrophic defeat for the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese. There were (40,000 wounded and 80,000 killed)but America did not know this at the time and as a result of this demonstrators nad bogus information to further fuel their rhetoric (protest speeches) (Coogan).

How many other news broadcasts and newspaper reports from the war were bogus? This is a question that will probably never be answered. It does however shed some light on the reasons for the vehement protests that occurred in such fury on returning veterans.

The anti-war movement had been growing for a few years already. This was something that not all veterans where exposed to. The story of one veteran Donald Frederick is proof of this. He comments, “Having been out of the country and not keeping up on the news and shutting out news of the war I had not been exposed to the Anti- War Movement” (Frederick).

Understanding that the reactions of some of the protestors and anti-war demonstrators were ignorant of the truth there was still much injustice committed at the end of the war on returning veterans that was uncalled for. The veterans that experienced combat in Vietnam were changed for life emotionally and physically. The experiences that they received at the hand of the anti-war crowd are something that still affects many veterans today. For example one veterans recalls “There was an organized attempt to demonstrate these feelings against GI’s at airports and terminals…” (Ratliff). Their bitterness and hate ran deep and in most cases was well justified.

One veteran named John Mendenhall recalls his shocking experience. He relates, “I wasn't a protestor. I remember, though, getting off a plane at Seattle, drunk in a dress uniform they'd given me that morning at Nha Trang, and being splattered by hot melted plastic from a baby doll being burned with a Bernz-O-Matic hand torch by a girl with braces and a screaming face red as a baby's in tantrum. She shook the burning doll at me. I have the little round scars still. This was because, I assume, the girl wanted to teach me a lesson about burning babies that would make me think twice before I burned any more. I am completely to my core contemptuous of that girl, whoever she grew up to be, as well as her compatriots, whoever they grew up to be…” (Mendenhall).

A direct result of the anti-war effort in the United States was that most returning veterans found a deaf ear turned to the stories they wanted to tell. The general public had created an image of Vietnam and nothing would change this. One civilian relates his experiences with this. He tells us, “I hitchhiked around a lot in the late 60’s and ‘70’s. Went across country quite a few times. By far the biggest chunk of people who picked me up were Vietnam vets. The story was always the same – no one at home wanted to hear what they had to say.” (Rosenburg).

His reasoning supports the claims of many veterans that were convinced that the government was at fault in the failure of the Vietnam War. He continues, “More often than not it was precisely because what they had to say was how horrible and senseless the war was. The people at home KNEW that, of course, but they didn’t want to have to confront it – for then they would have to confront that THEIR government was responsible, and since this is SUPPOSED to be a democracy, that would mean that THEY were responsible” (Rosenburg).

Another bitter veteran expounds further on the governments reasons for the war and why many people didn’t want to hear the other side. It is his belief that the economy of the United States depended on big business. A comfortable life was not something many wanted to give up. He explains, “Some of us did this, only to find out that politics and booming industries back home, and their CEO’s and friends, just had us all there, to the extent of giving our life, so their economics could continue to boom: THAT GREAT MILITARY MACHINE; that great money producing machine” (Betrayed).

These are very interesting commentaries. I am sure that they do not speak for all of the American public in the 1970’s but it does explain why there was so much violence and hate toward the returning veterans. Know one likes to be caught being in the wrong.

As a result of this mentality many returning vets did not receive the typical heroes welcome that so many veterans have received in the history of this country. They left heroes and returned failures. On veteran describes the effect that this had on them. An emotional Larry Burke tells us, “I think if a lot of Vietnam Veteran’s have trouble adjusting and have problems underneath because ther’s still that seething resentment of the fact that here I was going to do something heroic and these other people made me out to be the bad guy. They were the ones that didn’t have the guts to go and do their job.” (Burke).

The importance of receiving a proud patriotic welcome is cited by Mr. Burke who relates, “Psychologically when a soldier comes back from war ther’s got to be something very soothing very healing about a parade where he walks down that street and gets the acclaim for his heroic sacrifice. As Vietnam Veteran’s we never got that. I think it’s a factor. I get emotional when I talk about that.” (Burke).

Not all veterans received the violent treatment that a lot of their fellows were subjected to. Although they didn’t receive a hero’s welcome they were spared the violence that left such deep scars on so many veterans. Larry Burke recalls, “You know when I hear about that stuff about guys getting spit at I don’t understand that. Because if somebody spit at me I would have just knocked the living shit out of him” (Burke).

America definitely did not effectively support its veterans on their return from the battlefield. These men laid their lives on the line for their country. I received an email a few days ago from Craig Hawley a Vietnam Veteran from Belding, Michigan. He doesn’t recall a major adverse reaction on his return from Vietnam. He does however remember that many veterans’ organizations discouraged returning vets to join. He recalls that at the time many of the veterans in charge were World War II veterans and they felt that the Vietnam Vet was not worthy of joining. This was a sad day in American history.

Not all veterans were mistreated on their return home. One veteran recalls, “This country was nothing but swell to me when I returned.” (Coleman). This was not the rule however. Although not all veterans experienced physical violence almost all of them felt the negative feeling of the American public and the pressure that this failure was their fault.