For my Sixties in America humanities class, I have to do a project comparing the treatment of veterans coming home from Vietnam and veterans coming home from Iraq. I wanted to know if there was anyone out there that could shed some light on this? I am looking for academic information pertaining to benefits, such as the GI Bill was after WWII, along with the opinions of the public regarding the veterans returning home. Any appropriate links would be appreciated! Thank you!
2007-11-19 05:55:17 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
The GI Bill was still in effect when the Vietnam veterans came back to the U.S.; it did not go away until the 1980's early when it was replaced buy the first Montgomery Bill; sorry don't remember the exact year. The returning Iraqi vet's are still being well treated by the public at large and that is a lot different then the treatment received by many Vietnam Veterans; most of the time it was indifference "Who cares" and the rest was very regional whether it was extremely hostile or more friendly. Vietnam veterans were discriminated against in getting jobs, the "preference" for veterans was passed accidental, the bill was supposed to protect the people given amnesty by Jimmy Carter who returned form Canada but wording also protected the veterans. The psychological and emotional side of help was basically non-existent after Vietnam; you left country, flew to Okinawa or another base to change transportation usually and then t the States, most instances less then a week from leaving Vietnam to getting back to the States, then you usually got leave and went home then returned to the base you had been transferred too. Probably one reason for the stereotype of Vietnam veterans being more violent was simply they were thrown back into the civilian world without having time to adjust to the change.
2007-11-19 06:25:48 · answer #1 · answered by GunnyC 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well obviously the "support our troops" movement is a direct consequence of our treatment of Vietnam vets....Americans in the 60s didn't support the war, so when the vets returned home, they were spat upon and generally degraded. We realized we cannot treat our people like that, especially if they're fighting in a war they didn't have a choice in, and as a result there's been sort of an "overcompensation" to support the troops (in theory, if not in practice). Basically, we no longer spit on our troops when they come home....we slap bumper stickers on the back of our cars and shout catchy slogans, but at the end of the day, they're still neglected.
2007-11-19 06:15:10 · answer #2 · answered by Lauren 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When I came home from Desert Storm in 1991, there was about three months of thanking and giving military discounts on everything. Only one person said something stupid to me about "killing babies."
This girl in the Air Force actually called me a baby killer. I laughed at her and said that their are no babies on tanks that we shot at and blew up. Get you facts straight.
Then I found out she works on planes and informed her that we see what we are about to kill where you send plane off to bomb buildings and areas. There is a better chance of a pilot being a baby killer than we were shooting tanks.
Other than that. No one really seemed to care about Desert Shield/Storm, or any other operation.
I am going to college on the VA's dime. they are paying for everything so I may become a productive member of society.
2007-11-19 06:41:45 · answer #3 · answered by Rawbert 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋