To the OP: You are stating the attitude many people in the country came to have during the Viet Nam war when returning soldiers were vilified upon return. My late husband was a medivac (Dustoff) helicopter pilot who rescued 1,000 combatants and non-combatants, and he was called a baby-killer when he came back in 1967. That was the mood of the country for years.
It changed during the first gulf war when the military came back into favor. Respect for the military has held since then. I hope we’re not headed backwards again.
For what it’s worth, most of the bile was directed at politicians, not at rank and file. People understood that the majority of military in that war were conscripted, not volunteers. There were demonstrations at ROTC centers on campuses, and of course there were the marches and street confrontations between protesters and people who supported the war. I walked a lot of streets and through a lot of airports in my dress uniform and was never confronted, and that was the experience of probably 99.99% of returning vets.
None of the stories of being spat at have been authenticated, and most of the stories of being called a baby killer have been adopted from apocryphal stories by others (not that I’m accusing your late hubby of such) by those who were in 'Nam . It came up once in a conversation I had with a woman on an Amtrak train, long after the war was over. She alluded to the bombing of villages and the “killing of all those babies”. I told her I only killed as many as I could eat, which ended our brief relationship.
By the way, my hat’s off to your late husband for what he was doing over there. That was an extremely dangerous job to have; those pilots risked their lives every single time they went in for a dust-off.
Part of the ethos of being in the military is that you can’t just bail when you’re sent on a mission that is illegitimate.
Putting your life on the line defend the country you love is an amazing thing.
Those who send these brave men and women into harm’s way to fight illegitimate wars (Vietnam, Iraq) should burn in hell and be considered traitors to America.
Some volunteered, but the citizen-soldiers of WWII were also conscripted in the US and UK (dunno about America, but in Britain this also included mandatory work essential for the war effort; mining, factory work and suchlike).
Naturally those in the USSR who paid most of the butcher’s bill were also conscripted, sometimes at gunpoint.
Technically, yes. But a lot of us joined the military back then to avoid being drafted into the infantry. A lot of Army types joined in order to get guaranteed training, so they’d have a skill other than charging and dying. Most of the admin and support types I knew had volunteered, knowing that their number was up. I knew I would be drafted if I didn’t join, so ended up in Naval Construction. I still wound up in 'Nam, but I wasn’t slogging through rice paddies.
“I was just following orders” is no defense. Nor does it raise the dead, un-torture the tortured, or un-bomb buildings.
It’s not amazing, it’s common throughout history. And American soldiers haven’t been doing that since WWII.
The people who have been putting their lives on the line to defend their country have been the people that American soldiers have been killing. You’re basically making an argument for the veneration of the enemies of those American soldiers, not the soldiers.
I’m grateful to everyone in public service who has a potentially dangerous job – cops, firefighters, linemen, highway patrol, even snowplow drivers. The military gets more thanks because, for the most part, they don’t get to go home every day. The fact that the mission isn’t always clear makes it harder for them. Why they’re still volunteering after years of horror stories about PTSD, suicides, etc. is amazing to me.
Its common for the troop to risk their life for their country. It is after all the culture in which they reside. It is most uncommon for civies to have the same drive or desire, that is why they are civies.
A military man does not have the right (or even sufficient information) to question the legitimacy of the war he is engaged in, without possibly facing prosecution for treason.
It’s an entirely different matter when it comes to actions that are clearly illegal and contrary to the UCMJ and the laws of our country. It is every serviceman’s right to refuse to obey an unlawful order and to report the unlawful actions of others, including those of superiors.
Essentially what Oakminster said, but with a few clarifications.
The thanks aren’t for actually going to Afghanistan, Vietnam, Iraq, Germany, etc…
The thanks are for volunteering to be the people who go in harm’s way when me or mine are threatened, be it by terrorists, foreign nations, natural disasters, civil unrest, etc… and in large part, willing to do it on behalf of our nation’s allies and friends as well.
Even if they didn’t deploy at all or simply served in a support capacity, they’re still deserving of some measure of gratitude simply for being willing to do these things if the need arises.
Like George Orwell said, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf”,
I disagree with this. Everyone who served was taking the same risks. In most cases, the only difference between who lived and who died was a matter of luck. Those who survived their service did just as much as those who died in service.
I joined for many reasons, and being thought a hero certainly wasn’t one of them. A lot of it was the feeling of obligation to serve, some of it was because I was homeless and needed somewhere to sleep and thought that regular food would be a good thing. It certainly was the best life choice I could have made at the time. No wanabe hero here.
I was service and support. I knew that going in, and thats all I did. No danger of a 17 year old girl going into combat 18 years ago. I do get embarrassed when people look at my vest and thank me for my service.
I have to wear at least one little, tiny pin because I ride with Marines. Most of those guys love it when random strangers come up and shake their hands…but they had it harder than me. Everytime I’ve gone up to someone older than me and thanked them for their service, they have happily accepted my gratitude. Its the young ones who look embarrassed. Its probably because they are only kids who don’t know how to gracefully accept praise.
