The History Channel

[monmouth]

just showed a portion of a "Welcome Home" event that was held in Branson, MO for Vietnam Vets. It's called Vietnam: Homecoming. If this is a repeat or if you have seen this already, I apologize. I was thinking earlier about the kids that will be coming home eventually from Iraq. Many will be physically broken, most of them mentally fragile if not broken also. HC followed two vets from Nam and they each told a little of what has been going on with them for the last thirty years. Not a good picture at all; alcoholism, multiple marriages, kids who walked on egg shells for fear of upsetting dad, bad dreams, psychiatrists, narcotic meds,the list just goes on and on.

What our government asks of our kids is too much. Back in the early 70's when many of them were coming home, we owned a bar and restaurant at the Jersey Shore. You could immediately tell who was just home. At first they tried to fit in and make up time with their old friends from school, etc. After a while, they would become quiet and just observe. They couldn't possibly mix in with these old friends who had been spared the horrors they had seen and been a part of. Their old friends had gone on to college, gotten good jobs and were living the life the vets were entitled to also. Many of the "old friends" were of the upper middle-class, go figure.

An extra 20,000 troops is an exercise in futility. Sending our children off to become either maimed or killed is an insanity of a different kind. Where is our outrage, why are we allowing this? Because we're not feeling any of the sacrifice; plenty of food, plenty of gas and oil, life goes on daily and if it wasn't for the media, who'd know a war was going on?

The Vietnam vets in tonight's show are now in their 60s and my heart goes out to them. Their lives will never be the way they want it to be, too much damage has been inflicted on them. One of the daughters said that the wives and kids had their own Vietnam, and I believed her.

Even after this nightmare comes to an end this country will be paying dearly through its children for a very long time.

[rusty_parts2001]

1. Very sad

Do you think Bush spends one second thinking about this? His party-animal daughters are cavorting in Argentina. What a crime!

[Suich]

2. I couldn't agree with you more.

You can't activate these Nat'l. Guard people, send them to Iraq to kill, then expect them to be able to resume their lives, like the last year or two never happened. The price they pay is HUGE!

:cry:

[babylonsister]

3. Recommend your post (not watching program)! And welcome to DU,

monmouth.

What our government asks of our kids and our National Guard is too much. The contractors get richer, the enlisted possibly die. And don't get me started on the Iraqis.
"An extra 20,000 troops is an exercise in futility" is also true. This picture stinks.

[monmouth]

4. Thanks for the welcome and rec babylon.

[knowbody0]

5. watching and weeping, monmouth

[WiseButAngrySara]

6. Wonderful post; it's sad that history is repeating itself in this

manner. :kick: and R, and Welcome to DU! :hi:

And thanks for the thoughtful post.

Peace!

[ThingsGottaChange]

7. My husband was watching this today

I sat down to watch too but, they were talking to kids. These were just kids over there. One minute they were trying to find someone to buy them beer and wondering if they were ever gonna into Susie's pants, and the next minute they were watching their buddies blown to pieces and being ordered to kill women and children. And it's happening all over again in Iraq. How can anyone be sane after that?

I could only watch for about 10 minutes.

[WiseButAngrySara]

8. An insane war (and I could easily argue that all war is insane)

produces insanity.

[SeattleGirl]

9. Missed the first half hour, but catching the rest of it now.

One thing that really struck me was the difference between the the large homecoming parades for the WWII and Desert Storm veterans, and the smallness of the ceremony in Branson for the Vietnam veterans. When they originally came home, there was not much at all for the Vietnam vets; certainly nothing like WWII and DS.

[jwirr]

10. You are correct. The Vietnam vets often faced hostility and

a form of culture shock. It took years for the protesters and the soldiers to understand that it was Washington that needed their ass kicked and never the soldiers. One thing that came out of that era is that when this mess in Iraq started and we started our protests many of us leaned over backwards to make sure that everyone knew that we were not protesting the troops - just the liars in DC. We are trying in every way we can find to support the troops until we can bring them home.

I think that will help the troops as they come home this time.

[SeattleGirl]

11. It was a difficult and painful lesson that we learned from that era.

I was in 9th and 10th grade during the worst of Vietnam, and I remember some of the negative things that were said against the men and women in the military. But I also remember a lot of the returning vets joining in the protests -- who better to know what hell it was than those who had been there. I am glad that the protesters today DO make a point of showing that they are NOT against the people in the military who are over in Iraq; however, the right wing still doesn't want to let go of the Vietnam era, and keep trying to paint the protesters of today with the taint of the Vietnam era. I think, though, that many of the enlisted personnel DO know that it's different today.

And I agree, I think that will help the troops as they return home.