But he'll remember, with advantages ...
If the defining youthful experience of the 1960s were the civil-rights and antiwar movements, what is today's? Robert Kaplan writing in the LA Times thinks he knows.
If you want to meet the future political leaders of the United States, go to Iraq. I am not referring to the generals, or even the colonels. I mean the junior officers and enlistees in their 20s and 30s. In the decades ahead, they will represent something uncommon in U.S. military history: war veterans with practical experience in democratic governance, learned under the most challenging of conditions. For several weeks, I observed these young officers working behind the scenes to organize the election in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. ... Throughout Iraq, young Army and Marine captains have become veritable mayors of micro-regions, meeting with local sheiks, setting up waste-removal programs to employ young men, dealing with complaints about cuts in electricity and so on. They have learned to arbitrate tribal politics, to speak articulately and to sit through endless speeches without losing patience.
I watched Lt. John Turner of Indianapolis get up on his knees from a carpet while sipping tea with a former neighborhood mukhtar and plead softly: "Sir, I am willing to die for a country that is not my own. So will you resume your position as mukhtar? Brave men must stand forward. Iraq's wealth is not oil but its civilization. Trust me by the projects I bring, not by my words." Turner, a D student in high school, got straightened out as an enlisted man in the Coast Guard before earning a degree from Purdue and becoming an Army officer. He is one of what Col. Michael Shields, commander of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Mosul, calls his "young soldier-statesmen."
Commentary
The third thread of 1960s youth experience was service in Vietnam; but it had to go underground. Hollywood took a long time to make a movie about the Vietnam experience and then only from the perspective of outsiders looking in, as in the Deer Hunter. Cultural historians would have called it the losing thread -- or the odd threat at least -- in this sense: whereas in veterans of World War 2 were universally asked 'Daddy, what did you do during the war?', more people were willing to talk about watching Grace Slick at Yasgur's Farm than in recalling the Ia Drang Valley. William Shakespeare described what it was to miss truly defining moment of a generation.
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
That sentiment, for some reason, did not apply to Vietnam. But Robert Kaplan has reason to think that the times, they are a-changin'.
posted by wretchardthecat at 12/25/2005 12:46:00 AM
49 Comments:
We now fight with such a tiny proportion of our available manpower, most people of their own generation will never personally know any of these men and women.
Only blogging (or a seriously reformed media) is ever really likely to connect their experience to the rest of our society.
Kaplan's piece is one of the better one's I can remember reading in quite a while.
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Here's another nice one from the LA Times:
From Heckles to Halos .
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This is NOT a replay of Vietnam for returning Vets.
Thank God
Hanoi Jane
It has been interesting for me to see how the perception of the Vietnam Veteran has evolved over time. In the 70's the standard villian in TV shows was the embittered Vietnam Vet. By the mid-80's the Vietnam Vet had become the standard hero. Revulsion gave way to pity and then finally pity, respect and admiration. The driver in this changing attitudes seemed to be the perception of the U.S. relative to the rest of the world and the threat that seemed to be out there. It was like the Kipling "Tommy" poem.
The other side of the coin is the news media.
Will the reporters who were embedded with the military in Iraq take over the MSM? Certainly they have a unequaled spot on their resume, and for the most part they did incredible jobs, and in some cases, still are.
And their "industry" is in sad, sad, shape. As Bernie Goldberg said following the release of the truth on the NYT "stolen explosives" just before the last election "If CBS News had run with this they would have to turn the whole department into a parking garage."
I see no evidence that the embeds are taking over. No one appears to be pleading with Michael Yon or Bill Roggio to please come pull CBS or the BBC out of their death spirals. Whether this holds or not over the long term is yet to be seen, but it does not look good.
Correction:
"Kaplan's piece is one of the better MSM articles I can remember reading in quite a while."
karensky,
Steyn had a great comment, as usual, about the Senate "House of Lords" and their incredibly bloated staffs.
Hopefully it's at radioblogger.
Merry Christmas to All!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
W wrote: And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
That sentiment, for some reason, did not apply to Vietnam.
I have to disagree, no matter that the media tries to portray all of society as disrespectful of Vietnam vets, I can tell you that those of us who saw our guys returning to our neighborhoods had the utmost respect for them. Over the intervening decades, most of us have worked for and with Nam vets, and the respect has only grown. For many of us, it was always there.
On the other hand, it wasn't The Big One. My father told me that upon returning from combat in Korea, losing his best friend the day they signed the armistice, suffering the tragedies of war, the WWII vets in the bars would say to him: "That was nothin' kid."
Merry Christmas to all.
The men and women will return from the Mohammedan Wars and behave just as others returning vets have behaved.
Senator Hagel, Senator McCain, Rep Murtha are all prime examples of men whose Military Service helped shape their attitudes.
Don't forget JFKerry and my personal favorite Senator McGovern.
Starship troopers each and every one.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, Wretchard, and commenters. Wretchard, you've fought the good fight very, very effectively, this past year, and you will have posterity's kindest regards for it, forever.
Merry Christmas, Wretchard! And thanks much.
Note the Hispanic names when you watch our troops on TV. I think our first Hispanic SecState and maybe President is out there now, serving.
And what the world sees are the talking heads here at home, crying "woe, alas, alack!" Those outsided of America take their cue from Kerry, Murtha, Pelosi and Hillary, and think that since no one is taking any action about the treasonous leaks to the press, then there must be some scandal behind it, some basic truth that America's freedom of speech is allowing to be seen.
The French and the Germans and the Russians and the Saudi's do *not* see the blogs that we read for our daily Real News, and therefore think only what they are fed by American MSM headlines: that Bush's ratings are falling, that the American Congress is on the edge of pulling out of Iraq, and that any moment now America will realize our huge mistake, apologize, and become more multilateral in the UN.
Has the thought occurred to anyone else: Aren't the Sunni's reacting EXACTLY like the Democrats reacted after the results of the November Presidential election: the outrage, the disbelief in the stupidity of the winning opponent, and the claims of ballot-tampering?
The majority of us Americans thought after that election where it became obvious that a hefty majority of us supported Mr. Bush and his war, that the lefty tree-huggers would pipe down. But nooooooooo ... that hasn't happened, and not only has the rhetoric escalated, but now we're seeing the CIA *and* the NY Times conspiring to print secrets that will aid and abet our enemy(s).
So given this example from the leading democracy in the world, why wouldn't the Sunni's just automatically assume that hysterical ankle-biting, and snarky lie-telling is the norm after you've lost an election. I'm just waiting for the first feeling-disenfranchised Sunni to use the "impeach" word.
Motor 1560: I think that you have hit the nail on the head with you comment on “calling.”. My own observation is that today only the members of U.S. Military seem to posses they appreciation for things larger than their individual desires. Among civilian agencies and private industry I see no such attitude. In those organizations, even when there is an earnest desire to do a job well, there does not seem to be any interest in their role as relates to larger goals.
The great causes of the past are all mostly dead and live on like the adversaries in some horror movie. Civil Rights has descended into a mixture of avarice, absurdity, and bureaucracy. Environmentalism has become equated with insanity.
Politicians are more political than ever. Public action groups are too often shills for others.
The military has not been immune to this. During the downsizing of the 90’s everyone in the military could not help but to focus on their own careers. The results were not pretty. Generals in the Pentagon scrambled madly to protect their favorite career fields with little or no thought as to the ultimate impact on future capabilities. It is clear that the events of 9/11/01 caused the U.S. military to focus one again on its real mission, and the crucible of combat has no doubt honed this basic attitude to an even sharper edge.
Perhaps the real value that those in today’s military can bring to other fields is that willingness to commit one’s self to a larger purpose. But first they will have to decide what those large purposes are and reinvigorate them; competence is important but commitment is essential.
Merry Christmas - Wretchard, everyone. About a year ago I asked a Vietnam vet about this very thing. I thought today's generation of vets would define the upcoming generation, and that upon their return new perspectives would open up. He looked at me and was thoughtful for a minute. Then he said, "I don't think so." He talked about taking college and university classes after Vietnam and taking heavy pro-commi flak all the way. He said the leftist cast in academia is even more solid today. He said you can always hope but without influence in media and academia how can we expect new perspectives and ideas to circulate.
Enter the blogosphere - we've got work to do...
From "The Republic":
[The Guardian] distinguishes the face of a friend and of an enemy only by the criterion of knowing and not knowing...
Let us note among the guardians those who in their whole life show the greatest eagerness to do what is for the good of their country, and the greatest repugnance to do what is against her interests...
And there should also be toils and pains and conflicts prescribed for them, in which they will be made to give further proof of the same qualities...
Citizens, we shall say to them in our tale, you are brothers, yet God has framed you differently. Some of you have the power of command, and in the composition of these he has mingled gold, wherefore also they have the greatest honour.
Merry Christmas, and may God continue to bless this Republic with virtue, and excellence.
Very few people were actually Freedom Riders, present at the March on Washington or at Woodstock. But many more were there in aspiration. And the greatest achievement of writers in the 1960s was to shape the aspirations of a generation.
In Mark Steyn's recent story in the London Spectator, O Come All Ye Faithless he observed that while it was increasingly difficult to sing "Away in a Manger" at a school play, it was much easier to schedule "John Lennon’s 'Imagine', that paean to nothingness whose lyric — 'Above us only sky' — is the official slogan of John Lennon International Airport in Liverpool." And so are those days remembered. Yet the price of these 1960s 'triumphs' was subtle and profound. They diminished our dreams; they replaced the eternal questions with a slogan from a drug-store greeting card.
I think the 21st century will be remembered as the day we put down the roach, put away the glass, wiped off the patchouli oil: when men rediscovered the world; rediscovered faith; rediscovered doubt. Not in abstraction, but as Kaplan notes, in the dusty souks, family tables and schoolrooms of a far-away place.
"Perhaps the real value that those in today’s military can bring to other fields is that willingness to commit one’s self to a larger purpose.
But first they will have to decide what those large purposes are and reinvigorate them; competence is important but commitment is essential."
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Our son has been working with Air Force Personnel for only 4 months, and the difference in attitude and respect is palpable.
Respect for serving the cause of freedom and country was once more universal, now, thanks to the NEA and pop culture it is rare.
Those in service live in a different sphere and have better things to do for their country and themselves.
The Anti-War Vietnam vets were an anomaly in number and degree of distortion of perspective in my experience and imo.
They were influenced by the surrounding culture, and they sure as hell have influenced and enabled the left's downward spiral.
Hope Cutler chimes in on the College Scene.
My impression is that far more students see the profs as the moonbats they are.
In my day there were still too many respectable and responsible academics for such and attitude to be widespread.
What a hopeful blog (and source) this is! Just the thing to lift the spirits of us old fogies on this wonderful Christmas day!
God bless and protect our soldier-statemen, and you, too, W.
Rwe - whoa! great post, I think you have hit the nail on the head, commitment to a larger goal, things even beyond this earthly vail.
Doug - One of the reasons Iraq is NOT Vietnam is we are not sending draftees with bad attitudes into deadly situations. That really happened (in Vietnam, WWII, Gallipoli and all conscripted wars probably), we have to admit that. We are NOT putting conscripts into combat now, we are asking professionals to serve, and we are spending billions serving them with air and intelligence assets. (talk of missing body armor noted.)
We may still be, as Wretchard puts it, fighting with both hands and all but one little pinky tied behind our backs (roughly translated), but unlike in Vietnam and Korea, we are doing our damnedest to win in Iraq.
So far, at least until 1/20/09.
Well, I must speak up for William Howard Taft, US President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court -- the only one to hold both positions. He was before becoming all of those, the first civilian govenor of America's first and only ever colony, the democracy he fought so hard to establish in the Philippine Archipelago, but which took a bad turn, I think, in the 1912 elections, which 2008 may yet come to resemble. Hope not! He too, headed several generations of Americans with direct and life-changing experience on the other side of the world: soldiers, teachers, architects of a nation still on the long road to Freedom, over a hundred years later!
I'll contribute with SPENDING decreases, thanks Bob.
...Now if we can just get 'Rat to give up his free drugs.
Tony,
Big difference between returning conscripts to combat from WWII and 'Nam, as you know, was that the WWII Vets were not spat upon.
The strong survived, but a significant number caved and joined the defeatocrat caucus.
-The whole atmosphere was different.
Even now the "inevitable dehumanization of combat" is paid undue respect in conservative circles sometimes.
I grew up around far too many mentally healty WWII Vets to buy it.
...a lot depends on the Society they come back to.
MoveOn.org, a grass roots organization?
The Sweetness and Light catches Ron Fournier of the Asscociated Press calling MoveOn.org, the Soros-funded outfit, a "grass roots" political group. Right. I remember when the AP took pride in its even-handedness
- American Thinker
More taxes mean more free Ritalin, not "more sacrifice," but none for me, thanks, Bob!
Sacrifice: Give Up Socialism.
Charting the Coming Holocaust?
One thing I have wondered about for years is the supposed sad condition of Vietnam vets. I have served with and under a number of military men who were in Vietnam, and they all seemed like fine, well adjusted people who carried no special cargo of personal demons. But I recall seeing John Ritter host an event - early 90's I think - whose main focus was to bemoan the plight of the Vietnam Vet, and he said "While 50,000 died in Vietnam, at least that many have commited suicide after coming home."
Frankly, that sounds like pure B.S. to me, but suppose that it is true.
Consider what the vets of Vietnam went through versus WWII and Korea. Tours were but one year, not for the duration as was often the case in WWII. There were Medivac choppers, a huge SAR effort for downed aircrew, and jet transport to and from the combat area. There was no threat of being torpedoed en route and there were relatvely nearby safe areas, in Thailand, the Phillipines, and Guam. Medical help was far superior. Vietnam had its Khe San, A Shau, and Paul Doumer Bridge battles and many smaller vicious actions, but there were no Battan Death Marches, Wake Islands, Guadacanals, Normandy Invasions, Battles of the Bulge, Schweinfurt Raids, Iwo Jimas, or Chosin Reservoirs.
The POWs had it harder than most in WWII - but how many Ex-Pows have you heard about suiciding?
If there was a negative difference between WWII, Korea and Vietnam it was here at home, where the returning vets often were not treated as heros - or even as respectable human beings.
So if in fact Vietnam vets are the pitiful sad sacks that some people claim - and that is indeed an accepted sterotype, however true or not - the anti-war types at home must be responsible. That is the only conclusion.
Jack Murtha - From Abscam To Amscray
“Our troops have become the enemy.” - Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania…
Serving in the military, even being wounded in combat, doesn’t afford you a lifetime pass. (Cf. John Kerry.)
I thank and honor Mr. Murtha for his past military service. Just as he should thank and honor our current troops, rather than stab them in the back by giving our enemy the hope we will surrender even after we have won.
By the way, ABSCAM is a scandal you hardly ever see trotted out nowadays. If you do see some remembrance of it, it is very rare to see any description of the party affiliation of those involved.
Of course we know why. The perps (one Senator, six Representatives.) were all but one Democrats. Oddly enough, the lone Republican, Richard Kelly, is the one we always hear about — as sticking $25,000 down his pants.
Some sites, like the laughable "History Channel" (owned by Disney) even go so far as to claim that Senator Williams was a Republican. That is a lie. He was a Democrat. In fact, he was the first Democrat from New Jersey to be re-elected for four terms.
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Abscam (sometimes ABSCAM) was a US political scandal in 1980. An FBI sting operation led to the arrest of members of Congress for accepting bribes.
The FBI set up "Abdul Enterprises, Ltd." in 1978 and FBI employees posed as Middle Eastern businessmen in videotaped talks with government officials, where they offered money in return for political favors to a non-existent sheik. Much of the operation was directed by Melvin Weinberg, a convicted con artist who was hired by the FBI for that purpose. It was the first major operation by the FBI to trap corrupt public officials; up until 1970 only ten members of Congress had ever been convicted of accepting bribes.
Indeed, note how how the chart makes it look like one of the culprits is now Rove’s attorney. In actuality, Luskin was in charge of the Department Of Justice’s sting.
Meanwhile they left off Frank Thompson (D), who actually served jail time.
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Republican lawmakers say that ties between Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and his brother’s lobbying firm, KSA Consulting, may warrant investigation by the House ethics committee.
According to a June 13 article in The Los Angeles Times, the fiscal 2005 defense appropriations bill included more than $20 million in funding for at least 10 companies for whom KSA lobbied. Carmen Scialabba, a longtime Murtha aide, works at KSA as well.
KSA directly lobbied Murtha’s office on behalf of seven companies, and a Murtha aide told a defense contractor that it should retain KSA to represent it, according to the LA Times.
...but guess which one of two Vietnam War Heros will go to prison?
Hint: It won't be the one that called our troops the enemy.
Cut Senate Staff Budget by 80%!
Comment at Sweetness & Light:
"Jack Murtha stated today that the military was “broken” and “worn out”. I believe he should take a peek in the mirror, and see just how appropriate that statement is regarding himself.
Semper Fi! "
Challenge of the IEDs:
Like the tank in Third Generation war, the IED is proving to be not merely a tactical but an operational weapon in the Fourth Generation. In Iraq, British troops are reacting by employing IEDs of their own to try to push local factions into fighting each other.
But the broader challenge Fourth Generation war poses to state militaries at the operational level will remain. As I said, I don't know what the answer is.
William Lind, Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism for the Free Congress Foundation
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Trangbang,
Another reason is all the anti-war leftist slimebags took a bunch of the "Leadership" posts, and were well entrenched with their corrupt lying cronies like Kerry and Daschle and began to construct their barriers to entry.
Only those willing to sell out their country and our soldiers like Murtha and Kerry were welcome from that time on in the
"Party of the Little Guy."
It is that third thread of the 60's, well assisted by Ronald Reagan and, following him, the technos of the Defense Industry, that cleaned out the post-Viet Nam mess, retrained the soul and regained the spirit of our military, and made today's American warrior...a goft from God to all who would be free.
I know this to be so. I was AcDu as a Marine Captain '78-'84 and kept a Reserve commitment into the early '90s. The career officers I met and worked for during that period were all the definition of professional and of patriots. They were/are, truly, Plato's Guardians.
The young men and women of America I served with, and the ones I meet today who are serving, were/are of the same cloth.
Semper Fi.
"Hope Cutler chimes in on the College Scene.
My impression is that far more students see the profs as the moonbats they are.
In my day there were still too many respectable and responsible academics for such and attitude to be widespread."
Unfortunately, I don't have the time atm to really put some thought to it, but something did happen today that bugged me a bit. I'm applying for grad schools, and was told that in order to make myself stand out, I should start listing specific authors I read.
I figured that "Wretchard" would raise some eyebrows, so among my favorite modern writers I stuck Kaplan [yep, that one] and Huntington [head of the International affairs department at Harvard] in there. I sent this personal statement to a number of professors to look at. One told me to remove all references about joining the military.
The another told me that by writing such "controversial" authors as Huntington [Clash of Civilizations] and Kaplan [Balkan Ghosts], I was "taking a side," and this wasn't good. The irony is that I hadn't put either of these two authors down for those particular works - but of course, it is for these reasons that they are "controversial" and therefore blacklisted as suitable reading material, everything else is therefore suspect.
I'd thought that by listing Gramsci, Marx, and Orwell under reading background [the third I actually enjoy], that I could afford Huntington and Kaplan, but I suppose not. I also had juxtaposed those three with Hayek and Heinlein, but a third professor told me to get rid of those.
Probably for the best, I wouldn’t want to take a side with fascism, would I? Makes you wonder if you really want to go through the BS for two years holding your tong, though academic_hawk gives a bit of hope.
Doug's reference to Robert Heinlein: "...Starship Troopers All." That's what I'm talking about Doug! I LOVE that book.
In "Starship Troopers", the MASTER storyteller addresses the issue of service to country. I just got out not that long ago, and when I came in, back in '74, there were still a few draftees around. Basically, most of them had some pretty sucky attitudes. Believe me, the draft is NOT an effective way to make sure that ALL parts of society pulls it's weight. And right now, rich men's son don't volunteer. I met exactly one millionaire's boy in service during my 27 years on active duty. He was a marine, of all things.
Heinlein got it right in Starship Troopers, but he sure took a lot of flak for it from academia. (They called him a fascist--a LOT!)
In SST, no one acquired FULL citizenship UNTIL they successfully served. That meant No voting, and NO running for office. I love this idea, because it forces those considering gov't office to have to "get into the trenches" with the rest of us Middle Class swine! Come on in, Kennedy boys, the water is fine!
Phil,
Cutler's the smart one, I'm just who he's responding to! ;-)
"Marine Recruiter," Courtesy Philipines Phil
That me that was the smart one, doug.
I'm on my fifth copy of the book, first read it over 35 years ago.
Various reasons why the elites dislike it. It is quite nonPC, on multiple levels.
You'd love the read, doug, it's only 200 pages, paperback.
But the idea is sound, in each pool of Veterans the entire Political Spectrum thrives.
"Various reasons why the elites dislike it. It is quite nonPC, on multiple levels."
...And for that reason it didn't make it through the Hollywood censors. Instead we got a satire on militarist fascism, well, and naked women shower scenes - so it wasn't all bad.
"Second, the military worship is becoming a caricature of pious and sanctimonious proportions. As many a boot would inform us civilians, they are just doing their jobs."
Setting aside the version that leads to the "nobody can ever get hurt - 0 casualties or bust" mentality, do you think that if we hadn't had 4 years of constant compliments given to those in service, on T.V. and in the airports, they'd still be reenlisting at the rate they are? This is pure conjecture, but does it partially make up for the lack of sacrifice on the homefront, "well at least they understand, even if they are not going through it with us."
Enlisting in the military is a sacrifice, of time, often money, family. I think that deifying service on some level is key to espirit de corps and attracting volunteers. It also makes politically unacceptable the potential scorn and stigma that would kill the volunteer military as a whole.
Bob,
No Harm No Foul.
Many here can attest that Ritalin for Doug might improve their reading experience!
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Rat and Cutler,
Click on over to Philippines Phil's site, his latest post will be of interest.
Ted Williams, Jimmy Stewart, Kennedy, and etc:
If Hollywood and Academia still gave service it's rightful place, more would serve.
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Bring back Capra and abolish the NEA!
Bob,
A middle way encounters a rich liberal:
Brain Terminal
Press Release
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I concur with your complaint that needless energy waste is part of the "conservative" dogma.
This is a facet of the war against terror that is completely unexplored by the MSM and ignored by the Democratic party. If in no other way, Iraq will resemble Vietnam in the long term legacy it will leave for the Democratic party.
The troops support the war to a degree notably beyond the public at large, the troops believe the war can be won and is being won. If the war is won, both the MSM and the Democratic party will suffer mighty blows. If the war is lost, the troops who have experience with Iraq and Afghanistan are likely to blame both the MSM and the Democratic party (depending of course on the Administration's actions - Bush might be blamed for the loss).
The legacy of Iraq will be another reduction in the power and influence of MSM with an increase in the influence of the blogospere. And, as with Vietnam, the legacy given to the Democratic party is that an entire generation of Americans will see the Democrats as weak on defense and incapable of standing up for America effectively casting them into the political wilderness. The Democrats may get a Carter-like president for a term, due to Republican misfeasance, but it will be followed by multiple Republican terms.
Free Speech in Academia
Democratic members of the committee have called the endeavor a waste of time, and the Republican chairman, Representative Thomas L. Stevenson, seemed to agree.
"If our report were issued today," Mr. Stevenson said, "I'd say our institutions of higher education are doing a fine job."
-Instapundit
This sea change in national leadership will be a long time a-borning, as these things do take time, but the first baby steps are already in motion. Iraq and/or Afghan veterans are already standing for public office and, in my part of the public sector, the U.S. Department of State, reservists and guardsmen who've returned to the Foreign Service from deployments in Afghanistan and/or Iraq are now being reinforced by veterans who've been recruited, tested, and admitted as Entry Level Officers. They're a drop in the bucket, but given the prospect of a generational struggle against radical islamicist forces, may represent the thin edge of the wedge. Or, if you prefer, the nose of the camel under the tents edge.
Doug,
I originally posted to this thread to counter Wretchard's buying of the proposition of "Taxi Driver" - all Nam vets are scary. (And I for one get the St. Crispin's Day feeling about Vietnam Vet, not the scary Deerhunter/Platoon feeling.)
The universal "spitting on" Nam vets was not true in my big city neighborhood, and based on their numbers in Congress today, most Americans respect Nam vets.
That's all, just a correction of history, lest an error slip through HERE of all places, in the Belmont Club.
Wretchard is an Aussie, we can't let Hollywood shape his understanding of America!
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