Reply #6: Good points all. When Vietnam ended, I was barely in my teens [View All]

[blondeatlast]

but I still vividly remember the battlefields being broadcast, the caskets being sent home, and the protestors.

Before I continue, I have to say this: the person depicted in your avatar was no Mother Theresa--he used violence to achieve his ends, rightly or wrongly.

Sadly, the political machines on both sides are going to spin Vietnam into something it wasn't. A great many people on DU did not actually experience it, either in battle or at home, so both the war and the protests are being sugar-coated, or facts completely obliviated.

I think Vietnam was probably the first war that we truly witnessed from our living rooms. WW2 was on the radio, but we didn't have the visuals, and few would consider our involvement in it unjustified. The press had a spine then and no government chaperones.

OTOH, I think for most of us it isn't that Kerry served, it is that *43* used his power and privilege to hide under mom and dad's coats. It points to a larger issue that we don't seem to want to address, which is the original "affirmative action."