Some questions for Vietnam Vets?

Question

First of all, can somebody please explain the draft to me? How did it work, etc.

Secondly, I know you were treated badly when you came home from Vietnam...how do people treat you now?

And lastly, what are your feelings about the war in Iraq?

And I hope my questions do not offend anybody. I know this is STILL such a sensitive subject.

Answer 1

Some questions for Vietnam Vets?
First of all, can somebody please explain the draft to me? How did it work, etc.

ON YOUR 18TH BIRTHDAY, YOU HAD TO SIGN UP WITH THE DRAFT BOARD. THEN IF REINFORCEMENTS ARE NEEDED FOR A WAR OR SOMETHING, YOU MIGHT BE CALLED. THE DRAFT IS FOR ONLY TWO YEARS, BUT IT CAN BE EXTENDED UNTIL YOU ARE NO LONGER NEEDED. IT APPEARED THAT ONLY THE POOR WHITES AND BLACKS WERE DRAFTED, THERE WERE TOO MANY WAYS TO GET DEFERRMENTS

Secondly, I know you were treated badly when you came home from Vietnam...how do people treat you now?

TREATED BADLY! I, LIKE SO MANY LIKE ME, WAS SPAT UPON BY A LADY IN HER 50S WHILE WAITING FOR THE BUS TO TAKE ME HOME. UPON ENTERING UNIVERSITY, MY FIRST PROFESSOR ON MWF RIDICULED ME EVERY CLASS UNTIL I HAD TO STAND UP AND TAKE OVER THE PODIUM, FORCING HIM TO SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP, THEN I BLESSED THE BASTARD OUT. HE NEVER BOTHERED ME ANY MORE. THAT WENT ON FOR WEEKS. THE NAVY BOOTCAMP BUILT ME UP. I WENT IN AT 144 POUNDS AND CAME OUT OF BOOTCAMP AT 180, SAME WAIST SIZE, BUT COAT SIZE CHANGED FOR A 36 TO A 40. I WOULD WALK INTO A BUZZ SAW JUST TO COUNT THE TEETH WHEN I GOT OUT OF BOOTCAMP. PEOPLE DON'T BOTHER ME NOW BECAUSE I HAVE A STRONG "DON'T GET IN MY WAY" LOOK TO ME.

And lastly, what are your feelings about the war in Iraq?

IF KILLING BOYS IS WHAT OLD MEN IN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENTCY WANT TO DO, THEY ARE DOING A GOOD JOB OF IT NOW. WE HAVE ONLY BEEN IN IRAQ FOR LESS THAN FOUR YEARS, BUT THE DEATH COUNT THERE IS NOW HIGHER THAN THE FIRST FOUR YEARS IN VIETNAM.

And I hope my questions do not offend anybody. I know this is STILL such a sensitive subject.

I AM NOT OFFENDED IN ANY WAY. WAR CHANGES PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN IN IT.

PARDON THE CAPS, BUT I USED THEM ONLY TO SEPARATE YOUR QUESTIONS FROM WHAT I WAS WRITING.

Answer 2

Being born in January i had to register even before i was out of high school and that draft call came a week after i graduated so what chance did i have. I was gone sent into combat before i was 19 don't want to talk about it cause it still hurts. As far as Iraq i think we need to get out because no matter what we do we can't win over Allah. I love my country and would defend it too the death but this is a slaughter and they all look the same just like the dink's no uniforms. Never seen the NVA there

Answer 3

1. The draft. A federally mandated program where every 18 to 28 year old male was subject to call for active duty. It was subsequently modified so that in the end it was mostly poor kids going in. The term of service was two years and the basic training was abbreviated to accommodate this short term of service.
2. When I returned from Viet Nam, I basically went underground in order to try and avoid the contempt around me. When I returned from Desert Storm, I was called a hero and met at the airport by people I had never seen before.
3. I have the same feelings about all wars. They are the last resort of desperate men. I have served in several and survived.

Answer 4

I'll let combat guys answer you.

But, I think you'll find this interesting: There is a group of veterans that go around exposing PHONEY Vietnam War Heroes.
Many of them were draft-dogers like Clinton, and never even served in the military.
Some of the dirty little rich hippies, now go around lying about the battles they fought in Nam.
I find this very interesting.

Dan Rather is another phony. For years he bragged about being a Marine. He was never a Marine.
You have to complete boot camp to be a Marine.
Dan Rather went running and crying home to mommy, and never completed boot camp.

Answer 5

My husband is a vietnam vet,....At the time that war was going on they were drafting men and you had no choice but to go.My husband enlisted so he could work on aircraft,he was told that if he volinteered that he could have a choice as to what he could do,so he joined the air force and was to work on aircraft...So as soon as he joined they sent him straight to vietnam...He said they were in the jungle for days and days at a time in mud and grim and they tossed food to them out of an airplane...Ther were days and days they went without food and only had water to drink...He said it was a useless war.and so many people were killed.He was walking through the jungle with some buddies and one of his buddies got shot in the head and all his brains flew up into my husbands face...He was there at christmas time and they were in the jungle and they found an old bush and decorated with old cans or whatever they could find,and that was their tree..He said they threw food that day from a plane and shouted out Merry christmas mother *******.when he returned home he weighed almost 100 lbs..They offered them no therpy for what all they had been through.At that time the Veterans Administration would not give them any care,they do now but not then.He changed from a out going person into a introvert,he still has many problems,also he had OTSD,and will never be the same....It is a very senistive subject with him still..He sometimes wakes up in the night forgetting he,s home and thats been a very long time ago...He said that when he came home that everybody treated them like they were dirt,but people has become more generous now...He don,t like to even think about war..I ask him about this Iraq war,he said they attact us first and they are not through yet,he thinks they are going to attack other US cities...The big cities,like New York or Houston tex....He said Bush is retaliating aganist them for what they done to us.....Everytime you meation a vietnam vet,people always say"Oh my god those vets are crazy.....But my husband is sweet and has a big heart and he could not hardly stand the sights he had to see and hes allways nervous...He is now on medication and has lots of diseases because they also sprayed them with agent Orange...I think these men should be respected for what they had to do,and it was not their choice,they had to do as they were told.To this day some of the vets,most of them still have mental conditions....Im telling you all this from what I know and what I have seen with my husband...

Answer 6

Wow... I'll answer part of this first, then I'll just post a blog I've written...

As males that turn 18 now have to do, when one turned 18, they had to file with the Selective Service. The draft was a 'lottery' and in 1967, one of my brothers' was picked as number 438 in the draft. This meant there was no question that he'd be drafted. So, usually, if you joined, you had a little more say, at least they said this, so he went down and joined the army.

He went straight to boot camp at Fort Ord, and from there right to Viet Nam. Now, most people nowadays are used to seeing the name, Vietnam, together, but it was originally Viet Nam - two words. (Saigon was Sai Gon.) If a boy went to Viet Nam, another brother in his family did not have to go, but my other brother joined and went to Nam as well. One was there in 1967-1968, the other in 1970-1971. Anyone that knows the conflict knows these were bad times to be there, but heck, there wasn't really a good time. (By the way, were were actually there much earlier than the politicians really wanted us to know; as far back as the late 1950's.)

How were they treated when they came back? I'll leave that to my blog (which is on Myspace.) How did my brother feel about Iraq; that's kind of covered in the blog, as well. Great question. Thanks for giving me a chance to honor my brothers...

My blog:
Many of my friends are deemed famous. Some are idolized, even worshiped, called 'hero' by their fans... While I adore my friends,I have a problem with the word hero.

Ben Stein, who once wrote a biweekly column for the e-online website called "Monday Night At Mortons," seems to have the same problem.

In his last article, which you can locate by searching on your favorite search engine on the web, (search for Ben Stein, last article) he says, "How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails. They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.

A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world. A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him. A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad."

We have among our community heroes forgotten, most never celebrated for their heroism. That old feeling overcame me once again last year, as I watched the Huey helicopter in the Citrus Heights Parade, filled with Vietnam Pilots, cruise past me. It is understandable that todays heroes get the attention, fully deserved, in my opinion, but I could not help feeling a blast from the past and felt compelled to, in some way, thank those soldiers that were once called baby-killers instead of getting the welcome back they deserved.

Henry Kissinger once made the statement: "Vietnam is still with us. It has created doubt about American judgment, about American credibility, about American power. Not only at home but also throughout the world, it has poisoned our domestic debate. So we paid an exorbitant price for the decisions that were made in good faith and for good purpose."

Over 700,000 vets came home from Vietnam suffering from various forms of "post traumatic stress disorder," called "shell shock" after WW II, and "battle fatigue" from WW I. Vietnam caused more cases than any previous conflicts, including the Korean War. Its symptoms, which can occur from ten to fifteen years later, range from panic and rage, to anxiety, depression, and emotional paralysis. My own two brothers fought their personal battles for many years after coming home.

I often questioned what it was that caused this war to be so much more distinctive from other wars. Why were these soldiers seemingly affected more than their fathers who went to war before them? In Vietnam, a soldier could be assigned to an office job in Saigon, a seemingly safe task. He could then be killed any moment by communist rockets. An infantryman climbing through the bush was in combat continually, harassed by mines, traps, snipers, or involved in direct combat. There was no logic in the Viet Congs maneuvers; no location was safe.

The United States Marine Unit had been celebrated for their exploits against the Japanese in the Pacific Campaign. While also deserving of praise, they fought no longer than six to eight weeks during ALL of World War II. The average Vietnam tour of duty was 13 months. Additionally, the average age of the American soldier in Vietnam was 19 years, 7 years younger than his father who fought in WW II.

I have yet to look at Sacramento's Vietnam monument and walk away without sobbing. My brothers, one deceased now (kidney failure from Agent Orange) could hardly bare to read the names, yet find the memorial compelling. Before my brother died 4 years ago, I pushed him in his wheelchair through the Memorial, it took every bit of strength and energy to not completely lose my composure, and eventually, our mother had to take over, as I had to get away.

The V for Valor, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, nor the Big Red One stitched to the shoulders of my brothers sleeves, these did little for my brothers. If I can say that I have learned anything since this undeclared war ended, it would be that I learned monuments are not enough, and never will be. The Vietnam vets seemed to be seeking some respect and justice, the debt that no doubt, nations truly owe their warriors. I do not think they have been given their due respect yet.

I admire any man or woman that serves their country, and while I may not agree with why we send our soldiers to another country, I feel we do owe any soldier the status they deserve. Rather than our young choosing an actor or athlete as their mentor, perhaps we can, within our communities, help our youth understand the true meaning of the word hero.

Bob, my oldest brother, said before he died that there would never be another Vietnam. I hope he is right.