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In reply to the discussion: Obama says Vietnam veterans too often 'denigrated' [View all]upaloopa
(11,417 posts)those who call us liars say we are trying to discredit the anti war movement. I always felt that I was a part of the anti war movement. I after six months in country it was clear to my superiors that I did not support the war. I was assigned a permanent duty building a barbed wire fence around Long Binh. Basically they left me alone.
When I got to SFO I saw a guy and girl coming toward me. I remember telling myself that I was just like them and was only wearing this uniform so I could fly stand-by.
So when the guy came up to my face and spat on me I was really confused. I had no idea what to expect and was only interested in going home to Ohio. I did not react because of being told that we were subject to the UCMJ for 72 hours. This was in March of 1968. What I felt bad about was not because I was spat on, it was because they did see me as one of their own. I felt no animosity toward them.
I never told anyone about that incident because I forgot about it. I was only reminded when I heard the author of the book saying spitting was myth on KPFK. That was over 30 years after it happened. I had no idea that others were saying it happened to them. I never heard anyone (not even Rambo, I hated those movies) talk about it. I could not have made up a story like that because it would never have occurred to me. I would have to be very original to think up something like that. And most of all I saw myself a part of the anti war movement when I got home. I had nothing against the hippies! To this day I wished I had stayed in San Francisco in 1968.
So even though they call me a liar, none of their supporting reasons really apply to me. I never talked about being spit on because I forgot about it. I didn't know others were talking about it until 30 years later. I had nothing against the anti war movement. When I got my draft notice I had lots of friends telling me I should go to Canada. I spent some time thinking about what I should do. I decided to put in my two years and hoped that I would survive to live in the USA and not in Canada as a alien.