S'funny- 'member when we were young ('67. .. .) ??

[eileen from OH]

I remember being totally engaged and knowing exactly what was happening in the world. And I protested against Johnson over the Vietnam War and didn't give a fried fart which party he was from. I knew Vietnam was wrong - shit, we ALL did. And I don't regret a second, not even a nano-second, what I did.

Now, I find myself, in my 50's, raging against the same damn things.

They condemn Kerry over the "Winter Soldier" thing. I remember being uplifted and TRUSTING the gov't again. BECAUSE of it.

They can say what they want about the bitterness it engendered. Kerry was fucking RIGHT and he was a hero and, like a lot of us (who protested, and demonstrated, etc.), he helped to END it.

The wall in D.C. would have been a lot longer if it hadn't been for patriots like John Kerry.

And that's the bloody truth.

eileen from OH

[Technowitch]

1. I'm only 41, but I'm still with you, Eileen

And I am 100% behind Kerry now, especially after seeing "Going Upriver".

That man is exactly who we need right now.

hugs,
Technowitch

[demwing]

4. Im 41 also, my favorite uncle served in the Navy during Viet Nam

I DO remember the protests, because it was a constant discussion in my home.

In many ways, America has not yet gotten over that war, or that era. Its as if we are emotionally chained to that stage of our national developement. Kerry, as a frontline war hero and a frontline war protestor, is uniquely qualified to help heal the wounds of Viet Nam. Unfortunately, as that generation ages, he may be the last man able to do so, and we may lose an excellent opportunity.

Elect Kerry, close the book on Viet Nam, and let's grow up as a country.

[dscret_2001]

6. YUP!

To quote Rush Limbaugh "Ditto!"

[newyawker99]

11. Hi dscret_2001!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[grace0418]

2. Thank you Eileen

I needed to hear that perspective.

[Zen Democrat]

3. Absolutely! John Kerry and Bobby Muller are true heroes of our generation

What they did was the height of courage. Kerry was a highly decorated officer, and Bobby Muller was paralyzed from the chest down from Vietnam and they combined to form the VVAW that was the strongest force in getting the attention of the people who previously thought that only the hippies and commies were against the war. They saved countless numbers of lives. They were the catalyst for ending the draft. They had courage and patriotism far beyond anything liars like John O'Neill can even conceive of. John Kerry was a hero to his generation then and now.

I knew lots of guys who came back from Vietnam, and some who died there, and not one of the returning veterans had any use for Johnson or Nixon. They hated the government for sending them there. Some were confused, unable to adjust to coming home, some were addicted to drugs, and all of them hated the politicians who sent them there. Two guys I knew committed suicide within a year of returning from Vietnam. Strange how we now have all these gung-ho Republican vets who are outraged that John Kerry protested the war when he came home -- most of them were officers in Vietnam and they have very selective memories. There's some big-time revisionist history being written here and it's an outrage.

[dscret_2001]

5. HERO

I once heard this explanation of why someone is a hero, the quote was attributed to a medal of honor winner, not sure if that is true, but...

"well, I guess I was just too dumb and too scared to do anything different"

I remember my own "heroic" experience, I always thought it stupid, but dad made a big deal about it. I had gone sailing in a little sunfish boat with my dad and we wound up flipping the little thing. Dad wound up snared in the rigging underwater. I would say I was just too scared and stupid to know diving under and freeing him wasn't a normal thing.

John Kerry, fighting the fight he chose was indeed heroic. He was indeed young, stupid and certainly scared. He had gone to Vietnam expecting an easy ride in the country club Swift boat units, no action, just some time; then Elmo Zumalt, changed the "Mission." He came back scared. That is a good thing.

Unfortunately, there are many who cling to the ideal that Vietnam was right and justified, that all their toil was not in vain. This is one of the problems with the current upper command in the Armed Forces, they desperately want to make up for Vietnam, the war they learned about in all their training, the war that could of been won if only for the lousy American people. This is indeed the nature of the swift boat vets; desperate clinging belief in a failed cause.

I remember when also! This generation will have its Vietnam and its here now in Iraq, can we old farts make a change before it becomes the social, political a

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. There are many quiet heroes and some noisy ones. At any age.

The kind of mental fortitude that makes a hero is persistent and a life-long pattern.

It doesn't have anything to do with being stupid or smart. Some people are too clever by half and calculate their own self-interest all the time. They are likely not to take a risk to help another person. There is however an intelligence that just gets the job done, that quickly sizes up the situation and acts. To the person it might feel as if they were too stupid to think, but in fact they thought very quickly from a deep inner source.

One never knows when one may be called, but one hopes that at the appropriate time, when it will do the most good, we say, like Kerry, "Send me!"

[xxqqqzme]

8. the same in my 50's space

The first Iraqi invasion protest I attended, it struck me hard - jeebus I'm doing it AGAIN! I never thought, after Vietnam, never, ever would I have to protest an insane war again...but here we R, same greedy old rich white men sending young, probably economically strapped, kids 2 die so their dividend checks and stock portfolios get fatter.

[retread]

9. Then and now they use the same, tired, old argument. Those

who protest their crimes against humanity give "aid and comfort" to the "enemy".

[Road Scholar]

10. They were fighting the "boogy man" back then too. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. It's deja vu all over again.

Even the bullshit looks the same. "If you're not for us you're against us." It's not patriotic to criticize the president during wartime. Yada yada yada. I never thought we'd have to be going through this again, but here we are.

[ewagner]

13. We're quite similar

in backgrounds.........

It's sad that we have to fight this again....and the really weird part is, that we're fighting against the SAME PEOPLE:Rummy and Cheney.

Somebody said once that the price of freedom is constant vigilance....they were right...and I will pass that along to my son.

[Road Scholar]

14. I can relate to that Eileen. I was 24 in '67.

Nobody could give a clear answer as to why we were in Viet Nam either. Just Bullshit, same as now. Kerry was courageous then. He Will be as our new president.George bush is a spoiled brat, and has been given everything he ever had, including the presidency.

[DancingBear]

15. Eileen, one of my first posts ever on DU

was something I wrote called "I knew I would march again."

I remember the draft lotteries, and the hatred for those of us that didn't buy into the Silent Majority. I remember those who fought with us to end the carnage, and I remember, foolishly in hindsight, blaming those kids who went to war. When they came back, I remember Washington D.C. and those same kids, now much wiser men, screaming out the truth. I thank John Kerry for being one of them.

We thought it could not happen again. We were wrong.

We will not let it happen again, for we both know that now, even in our 50's, the passion still holds sway.

Thank goodness.

[Nay]

16. I'm in my 50's, too, Eileen, and I agree completely. After all this

time, we are STILL fighting the same bastards we fought back then. It can be disheartening, that's for sure.

I blame the media -- not because they are RW -- but because they surround us with stupid shit that literally makes us stupid by appealing only to base instincts. We are losing the ability to think and to care about things that matter.

[Dzimbowicz]

17. I was twelve in 1967

and was quite aware of what was going on. I have only sisters and my next door neighbor was the closest person I had to a brother while growing up. On 15 November 1967 he was KIA in Vietnam. I can still remember (quite vividly) playing in the front yard when the green Army sedan pulled up to my neighbor's house to break the news to his family.

At this very young age I realized what was going on and it has affected me to this day. My dilemma is this: My neighbor was the type of person who actively worked to help the less fortunate and he actually believed that he was doing the correct thing by volunteering to go to Vietnam and help the South Vietnamese resist a "bully". This was how he explained it to me. In hindsight, I feel that his efforts were wasted and that we (and my neighbor/brother) as a nation, were lied to. This is what tears me up inside to this day.

I see it happening all over again.

[Jade Fox]

18. Yes, yes, yes......

Thank you Eileen.

[against all enemies]

19. We were young then, where are the young now?

We are still leading the fight, where are our replacements?

[AnnInLa]

20. Yeah, I remember having the same reaction, and

remember the Civil Rights protests too. On both of those issues, you just KNEW what was right, and what was wrong. This current admin reminds me alot of the Nixon admin. Sometimes I wonder if it will take massive protests in the streets to Take Back America. The 60s and the 70s proved one thing...it can be done. Even if we lose this election (shudder), we can still Take Back America, but it will require some pretty heavy activism, like in the 60s and 70s. It is a war, and this election is only one of the battles.