Dear Shortimer Sam, anti-war demonstrations

[camille]

Dear Shortimer Sam,

Hi,
I am a college student who is interested in learning about the affect anti-war demonstrations had on American troops in Vietnam.
Did it bother the troops that a lot of people in the US didn't want them fighting? What happened when they got home? I know they didn't get The Heroes' Welcome, but I wonder whether vets actually were harassed (as I've heard).
I am torn between not wanting a war that could kill my generation and wanting to support "the boys overseas." I look to my country's past for help in sorting this conundrum within myself.
Thank you for your responses.

Regards,
~"Camille"

[Rolando Salazar]

Hello Camille,

I was there early in the war, 1966-1967. It bothered us greatly, although we didn't worry about it too much. The majority of the troops had been drafted and really didn't want to be there, but it was a duty we felt we had to perform. I think most of us did it with a sense of pride and honestly felt we were fighting for a just cause. It hurt when people like Jane Fonda supported North Vietnam, guys were evading the draft by leaving the country and friends and fellow students we knew were demonstrating and blaming the troops, as if they had any control.

When I returned, my family and friends were there to support me, but I remember the cool reception I would receive from people I hardly knew when they found out I had been to Vietnam. People would always ask me if I had killed anyone! I ran into a guy who had gone to high school with me at work one day and he became very aggressive and insulting when we talked of Vietnam, as if I was the villan because I had "let" myself be drafted.

For many years, I would only acknowledge that I had been to Vietnam and would talk of my experiences only with people I knew or who appeared to be genuinely interested in knowing about my experiences.

I don't think there is anything wrong with peacefully voicing dissent against a war, just don't let it damage those who are fighting to give you the right to have that differing opinion.

[dinkydow]

I was in Country from 4-`70 thru 6-71,the answer to your question is yes. however i was drafted, but i left i had a job to do so i did it the best i could..i tried not to think about it but it was all over the news and the ( stars and stripes ). i left that we all had the right to say what we thought about the war,it hit me when i came home and was at the airport, and someone asked if i was a baby killer, there was about 30 or so people standing around, i said that indeed i was ,and that what we did over there might some day keep some one you hold dear from having to go thru what we did, at that point i let this guy read what i had engraved on my lighter.. ( killing is my business, and lately business has been good.at which point they parted and let me pass.
i`m ( dinkydow )

[roadrat]

hi my name is mike i went over to vietnam from 71-72 i was with the 2/501st inf 101st airborne phu-bai and hue city i drove trucks there from front to rear every day 18hours i did my job most of my friends i grew up with all died over there when i came home i was not the same and i still feel like a part of me died over there i got e-vaced out ended up in guam after that i was shipped back to vietnam into saigon to drove for the 110th transport co after i came home it took 23years before someone to come up to me and welcome me home inmagen that iserved for my country and what did i get out of it it was like a slap in the face i even had a neighber come up to me and say how come i made it home and not her son bye mike by the way do you know what the word dinkydow means i do

[Cat]

Were you B-2/501st, Mike? If so, we have a website and we are LOOKING FOR YOU! You can find us at www.b2501airborne.com

[Ussery]

The protesting also bothered the surviving families of Vietnam casualties. Finding myself a widow and rebuilding my life at age 20 was enough to deal with at the time...the protestors and our media's continuous obsessed focus on them...instead of concern for our soldiers and their families... made things even more painful.

I am truly thankful that the soldiers and their families have so much support today. We didn't receive that courtesy.

[Rolando Salazar]

I can only imagine how Ussery and other families of fallen soldiers must have felt about the protests that were going on. It especially hurt because they were not just directed at government policy, but at the servicemen themselves.

I, too, am glad that the people are supporting our troops and their families wholeheartedly. What is ironic is that many of the servicemen today must be children or grandchildren of the protesters of the 60s and 70s. I wonder if they have any regrets.

[tcoop]

To respond to your query, as others, I also had the support of my family. My father was a WWII vet. To object to anything American, especially publicly was unheard of. When I did hear of protests, it really didn't effect me over there. It wasn't until I took public transportation home in uniform that I realized the feelings. A woman sat beside me on an L-train and asked if I had been to Vietnam because she had a brother there. When I replied, she said, "Oh, I am so sorry". Peoples' moods back home were either pity, shame, or apathy. I, like so many others, refrained from discussing the war in conversations with newly met persons. It probably wasn't until the 80s and 90s that I openly talked to family and friends. The stress and tension possibly contributed to a failing first marriage. All is well now, I have been tempered by fire (both in battle and in the years returning home).

[Tyree505]

To the question that you pose I have but one answer for you.
You have the right as a american to protest anything and everything you so desire in anyway you feel like you want to.
That is your right and that is what a soldier swares to up hold when he takes the oath when they enter in to the military. The only thing that I ask of any and all protester is the compassion to refrain for dumping on and blameing the soildiers for doing thier jobs.
I served in Vietnam from January 1968 to Febuary 1970.
In Feb 70 before we left to board we were give a Direct Order by Maj. Crow (our Bn. XO) "To not touch anyone for any action done to us at any Place until we reached our home towns. It was hard to keep from hurting people that were throwing thing at you and spitting at you.
Home coming wasn't pretty.
So please remember, Go a head and protest what you will
be always support the troops they have no chose.
Thanks Tyree