[CS-FSLUG] P-Info: View from the Viet Nam vet's side

[Fred Miller]

View from the Viet Nam vet's side

excerpt>
Over 30 years ago they put away their medals and their uniforms. They buried
their anger and bitterness and moved on with their lives -- and they waited.

Revisionists are trying to change history, claiming the returning Viet Nam
veterans didn't suffer all that much when they returned home. All that talk of
being labeled animals has been exaggerated over the years. But the veterans 
know better. They were there.

On the radio last week, one man related that he had unpacked the uniform that 
he wore home from Viet Nam all those years ago. It had not seen the light of 
day for over 30 years.

He showed it to his children and grandchildren and, for the first time, spoke 
of the day that he returned home from war and was spat on, cursed at, and 
literally had to run a gauntlet of protesters who threw human waste and 
rotten fruit on him and his fellow vets.

With the words "baby killers" ringing in his ears he was warned by laughing
policemen not to retaliate or he would be arrested. So he ran. The able-bodied
helped the wounded as they do on any battlefield because those on crutches or 
in wheelchairs were not spared the profanity and bags full of feces that were
thrown at them by the raging anti-war protesters.

This now middle-aged vet went on to tell his family that he had hid in the
bathroom at the airport for over two hours, bewildered and afraid.
He wondered if he had landed in some foreign land where Americans were hated.
Finally, he cleaned up the uniform he was still proud to wear as best he could
and made his way to his plane, where he suffered more insults from the
passengers.

When he got home, he packed up his medals and his dirty uniform, just as it 
was, and he knew that one day, he would take it out again and he would have 
his say. That day has come.

One POW stated that he had never put a face to the name until he heard the 
words "Genghis Khan" pronounced only as John Kerry does and suffered his 
first flashback to the time he was being tormented by Kerry's words in a 
North Vietnamese prison camp.

They buried their anger and the bitterness --and they waited. Most of them
didn't know who or what would be the signal to make their move, but they knew
they would recognize it when it happened.

On July 29, 2004, it happened. John Forbes Kerry came to the podium at the
Democratic Convention and uttered three words that made many Viet Nam vets 
skin crawl: "Reporting for Duty!" At last the time had come for these 
long-suffering veterans.

The past was staring back at these wrongly disgraced vets from their 
television sets. The face it bore was that of John Kerry, the man who had 
shredded their honor without a thought and climbed over the bodies of their 
fallen friends to launch a political career.

Kerry had stripped them of their dignity the day he sat before Congress in his
fatigues and portrayed them as "baby killers" and "murderers" Kerry did the
unspeakable. He had publicly turned on his fellow vets while they were still 
in harm's way and American prisoners were still in the hands of the enemy.

Kerry accused them all of being out-of-control animals, killing, raping, and
pillaging Viet Nam at will. The anti-war movement -- the protesters -- had 
their hero and he was a Viet Nam War veteran, an officer, a medal winner, a 
wounded warrior: John Forbes Kerry.

Many Viet Nam vets buried the memories of their less-than-welcome homecoming,
and John Kerry moved off the national scene. The feelings of betrayal had 
faded, but they were never resolved. The unprecedented injustice inflicted on 
the Viet Nam vets has always lain just under the surface, waiting for a 
chance to be uncovered. The war had stolen their youth and innocence and John 
Kerry stole their dignity and rightful place of honor in history.

Like an unlanced boil, the anger festered but there was nothing that could 
ease the pain. These vets didn't ask for "forgiveness" because they had done 
nothing wrong in serving their country. They never asked to be treated as 
heroes, just good soldiers. All they have ever wanted was the respect due all 
the men and women who have worn the uniform of this country.

Being allowed to march in a few parades wasn't enough. A long over-due 
memorial was not enough. The Viet Nam Veterans moveable wall only brought 
back the suffering as they searched for the names of their fallen friends 
whose memory had been defiled and disgraced by people who considered them 
rampaging killers instead of men who died with honor for their country.

Now before them stands this man who would be president -- this man who holds 
his service in Viet Nam up as a badge of honor now that it suits his 
purposes. This man Kerry brags about his medals and his tiny wounds and 
demands the respect they were denied, yet he offers no apologies for what he 
did to them.

"I will be a great leader!" Kerry proclaims, because of his brief and
self-proclaimed valiant service while wearing a uniform -- the very same 
uniform that they wore and were spat upon because of it.

All across America, soiled uniforms and memories of being shamed and 
humiliated have resurfaced and Vietnam vets demand their rightful place in 
history. John Kerry seems bewildered by the reaction of his "fellow vets." He 
has become defensive and angry because now his service and honor are being 
questioned. Kerry seems oblivious to the pain he caused three decades ago 
when he stole all honor and dignity from those same "fellow vets" for 
personal gain. Now he wants to use them again, for the same reason.

All across America, Viet Nam vets are smiling. At last, perhaps they can bury
their demons. These angry vets are demanding that this man who sentenced them 
to being shunned as criminals, tell the world that he was wrong and that he 
is sorry for what he did to them. Kerry must admit that he lied about them.

For many, it would still not be enough Satisfaction and hopefully peace will
come when Viet Nam vets see and hear John F. Kerry give his concession speech
the night of November 2, 2004 with the knowledge that it was their votes that
helped defeat him. There are approximately 2.5 million Viet Nam veterans in
America and they have not forgotten.

Kerry denied them their rightful place as heroes and they will deny him his
dream of the presidency.

Angry Viet Nam veterans, silent for so long, will finally have their say.
Payment in full will be delivered to John Kerry on November 2, 2004. 

Revenge is indeed a dish best served cold.

-- 
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to 
have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the
vote." - Benjamin Franklin 1759