Here's my comment on your article "Support The Troops. Bring Them Home."
On the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) website, in "Spitting on
the Troops: Old Myth, New Rumors," sociologist Jerry Lembcke, author
of "The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam," wrote:
"Stories of spat-upon Vietnam veterans are bogus. Born out of accusations
made by the Nixon administration, they were enlivened in popular culture
(recall Rambo saying he was spat on by those maggots at the airport) and
enhanced in the imaginations of Vietnam-generation men — some veterans,
some not. The stories besmirch the reputation of the anti-war movement
and help construct an alibi for why we lost the war: had it not been for
the betrayal by liberals in Washington and radicals in the street, we
could have defeated the Vietnamese. The stories also erase from public
memory the image, discomforting to some Americans, of Vietnam veterans
who helped end the carnage they had been part of."
Both of my elder brothers served in the Marine Corps in Viet Nam, and one
of them became an antiwar activist when he returned home. I was an anti-
war activist throughout the Viet Nam War, and I attended many anti-war
rallies. Many of our fellow protesters were Viet Nam vets, and I never
saw or heard of anyone spitting on any veterans.
Gregory F.
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