My family acted like I was some kinda alien that didn’t speak English and was worried what I might do next. An uncle ask what did you do ever there “BOY”? Felt like saying boo!
I rotated back in ‘69…Chu Lai 68-69 1st MAW…and my story is the exact opposite of the one that I keep hearing about. First, I was bumped off my flight in Okinawa, so I came home with a plane full of civilians. No one said anything to me at all. When we landed in San Francisco, it was in the early hours and I don’t remember seeing much of anyone there. When I landed at Love Field, it was the early morning and while there were people around, no one there said anything to me. And yes, I was in my uniform, Nam ribbons and all. The cab driver took me home and he didn’t say much, just regular conversation. I guess I was lucky not to have the unwelcome home experience.
That's pretty much what I experienced. Returning Vietnam Vets was 'just another day' to most Americans. I gotta think that the way we got sent to 'Nam and the way we came home made a difference. Most wars it's like: 'Return of the conquering heroes', everyone returning at the same time, unless you were wounded and sent home early. Not too many fellow Americans thought much about us coming home while the war was still raging.
I'm kind of thinking they didn't know what to say, especially with what all the hippies were doing at the time, does this guy know about the hippies, does he know what they're doing, has he heard about what they're doing to his fellow soldiers, so it would be better just not to address it, plus, this soldier is home, after all he's been through, he just wants some kind of normalcy.
We may have been treated like crap when we first came home, but things sure have changed. I am an old man now and am widowed so I eat out at least two or three times a week. I was drafted into the marines in 1969 so now a wear a cap that says "U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and many times total strangers will pay for my meal. People will come up to me and thank me for my service. Since around the first Gulf War things have changed for us Vietnam veterans. USMC 1969-1971
@@StreetHierarchy or because people realize the soldiers aren’t really responsible for the actions of their government. Especially soldiers that were overwhelmingly forced into service despite being against the war.
in '72 mom was at the airport to hug me. the best homecoming ever. in 1985 Mayor Koch of NYC, himself a WWII combat veteran, gave us Vietnam Vets a ticker tape parade down the "canyon of heroes". better late than never. i'm ok.
My brother was coming home from Vietnam, they landed in San Francisco. When walking thru the airport, he said he was harrassed, and called a bunch of names. He didn't know what to think, was hurt, and embarrassed. He went into the restroom and thru away his military uniform. He was really hurt by this treatment.
@@ianoconner3051 Yeah, except these stories are fake. Every Vietnam Vet tells this story (along with the one about the little Vietnamese girl whose mother sent her to the GIs with a live grenade. Sound familiar?) Might've happened, but not to Every Nam vet who talks about their time.
@@Dr.JeremyDunks I just watched another video with a vet telling the same story. It was a lie made up during the run up too the Gulf War. Too pacify the public the lie was spread that this happened and we need too treat the soldiers better this time in a attempt to lessen the decent. No one has footage of vets being harassed.
I served a surgical residency at a VA/Army hospital during the Vietnam War. While I was in college and residency, OTHER people went in MY PLACE. Every VA doctor (who was not in our military) was and is INTENSELY AWARE that other people went in our place. Many did not come back. Of course I was honored to serve these people. But my life was never at risk. Sanjosemike (no longer in CA) Retired surgeon
in my case, when i got to ohare in Chi. i went into the first restroom changed into civvies so no one would know i was in the service, thats the way it was back then...we had heard about protests at airports, i didnt need any of that i was just glad to be home... 3rd Batt. 7th Marines ChuLai,RVN 10/65-11/66
After that comment. You fought for all of them too. They’re apart of America. You obviously hate America. Why not move to China? They think like you. Perfect match. Maybe even North Korea. You’d definitely get along with them.
@@swedhgemoni8092 you're acting like they had a choice or not if they didn't kill they would of been killed you don't understand how war is its sad how ungrateful some of you are they were fighting to stop the spread of communism
@@kingswindle6608 There were those that dodged the draft. I understand war plenty well, do you understand personal responsibility? "MUH CAWMYUNISM" - stuff it, the cold war's over. Vietnam was unified under communist rule and came out to be a stable and developing nation in south-east asia, continues to be one.
@@swedhgemoni8092 both arguments are wrong, the treatment of vietnam veterans varied a lot, not all of them were treated like that, in fact there are many stories of veterans being well received, just the same as with any war. On the other hand, Vietnam isn't communist, the ideology of Ho Chi Minh contradicted many of the principal points of marxist thought. After the Vietnam War, the vietnamese goverment distanced itself from other communist nations, as they disagreed in many points and nowadays some of the greatest vietnamese allies are countries like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
The way the Vietnam veterans where treated when they came home disgusts me being called baby-killer when they dident kill children they wouldent do that.
Triste as tropas chegaram a seu país e serem mal recebidos, só passado 50 anos , alguns deles recebem seu valor, pois a maioria já morreram e tiveram que carregar as feridas da guerra e suas consequencias familiares etc.
One month after this was filmed in Aug 1969…I returned home from Vietnam just like these soldiers a year with the 25th infantry division mos 11bravo what a great feeling that was….
There ain't no popular vote for war. If there was, we'd never go to one. They would have to strengthen their propaganda game, which is already the best in the world.
my homecoming,,,,first few hours at the SF airport waiting for a flight "home",,,Spit on by a cooze waiting tables who REFUSED to serve a black soldier with us ,,because he was "too young to drink",him wearing a purple heart,,a combat infantry badge and a first Id on his shoulder,,I more or less cleared the table on the floor,,,she no doubt was into every drug and freak lifestyle there was ,,hated us by sight ,,then the regular conservative looking bar manager came out and threatnd to have me arrested by the Local MPs,,when i finally deceided to go "home " it was 4 am,,,the coldest winter in 50 years,,and the pig i was married to finished things off for me,,i left a week early to go back to the year i had left in the army,,at least they made me feel welcome,,,no one has since
There used to be videos of them being spit on. Cant find them anymore. Id say i wonder why, but the small hats make it obvious. They wouldnt want to be further harrassed for their part.
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I just wonder where the footage went of the local news in the San Francisco Bay Area that I seen as a eight-year-old kid. I remember clearly still today the local news showing soldiers being spat on pushed and tossed around. I'll be damned if I can find that footage. We had KGO Channel 7 ABC and Kron Channel 4 that was NBC Channel 5 was CBS. Where is that footage? It's as if somebody bought the rights and threw it out.
