TonkinTwentyMil
Member
Monkeyleg:
As a Vietnam veteran ('68-'70), let me first say I always give my fellow vets maximum respect and the benefit of any doubt (even when they're mis-guided or full of it).
That said, here's some interesting facts:
1. Nearly 2.5 million veterans served "in" that war, i.e., qualified for the Vietnam Campaign medal as a result of serving in the Vietnam "theatre" for a qualifying period of time.
That qualifying time could be in-country, on/from a base in Thailand or Laos, or on a ship in the Tonkin Gulf, just to give some examples. Front-lines or behind-the-lines support, it makes no difference... because nearly ALL who served ANYWHERE there faced various degrees of occasional risk, from direct hostile fire to aircraft operational accidents to ship-board fires/explosions. Likewise, we ALL paid some (often steep) price for our years in the military then, though I wouldn't trade my experience for anything.
2. In the last election, various political polls estimated the Bush-Kerry vote split (for Vietnam vets) at roughly 65%-35%. Broken down, the percentage for Bush was higher among the officer demographic, perhaps approaching 80%.
Here's another interesting political reflection: During the 1968 presidential election, a "straw vote" was held among the Navy officers/pilots aboard my aircraft carrier. Nixon (R) got 30%, Humphrey (D) got 5%, and Wallace/LeMay (I) got 65%! The later combo actually scored only about 11% of the real U.S. vote, but Wallace/LeMay's hard-nosed/no-appeasing/aggressive pro-war stance certainly appealed to those playing a major hands-on part in the "air war."
Accordingly, if your pal was enlisted (vs. commissioned officer, like me), and he tends to go "liberal," then he's arguably part of a demographic cohort of about 875,000 "liberal" Viet vets (that 35% pro-Kerry poll estimate), though that group is certainly diminished by deaths over the intervening years.
Vietnam vets are known to shy away from serious political involvement (only a handful in Congress) and joining veterans organizations... way moreso than vets from WWII and Korea.
After 35 years, I only recently decided to join the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter. At the first meeting, it quickly became very clear to me that I just didn't "fit" there, because (a) 90% of them were enlisted, not officers -- and their attitudes and perspectives were VERY different than mine, and (b) this particular chapter was overwhelmingly pacifist/anti-war/liberal in its operational tenor and other subtle ways -- to the point of members openly displaying "Get Out Of Iraq" hostility to Bush and those eeevil Republicans. Disappointing, but we ARE in a long-term Culture War now -- one that has deep roots in the Vietnam era.
As to your pal's apparently limited knowledge of contemporary firearms and ammunition (scorning Black Talons? Gimme a break! He's a Ballistic Illiterate), that's no surprise -- even if he's a legitimate Viet vet. Few were Rambos, and I've met many vets who wouldn't know a real "assault rifle" from an axe handle... just like a lot of cops and politicians.
As a Vietnam veteran ('68-'70), let me first say I always give my fellow vets maximum respect and the benefit of any doubt (even when they're mis-guided or full of it).
That said, here's some interesting facts:
1. Nearly 2.5 million veterans served "in" that war, i.e., qualified for the Vietnam Campaign medal as a result of serving in the Vietnam "theatre" for a qualifying period of time.
That qualifying time could be in-country, on/from a base in Thailand or Laos, or on a ship in the Tonkin Gulf, just to give some examples. Front-lines or behind-the-lines support, it makes no difference... because nearly ALL who served ANYWHERE there faced various degrees of occasional risk, from direct hostile fire to aircraft operational accidents to ship-board fires/explosions. Likewise, we ALL paid some (often steep) price for our years in the military then, though I wouldn't trade my experience for anything.
2. In the last election, various political polls estimated the Bush-Kerry vote split (for Vietnam vets) at roughly 65%-35%. Broken down, the percentage for Bush was higher among the officer demographic, perhaps approaching 80%.
Here's another interesting political reflection: During the 1968 presidential election, a "straw vote" was held among the Navy officers/pilots aboard my aircraft carrier. Nixon (R) got 30%, Humphrey (D) got 5%, and Wallace/LeMay (I) got 65%! The later combo actually scored only about 11% of the real U.S. vote, but Wallace/LeMay's hard-nosed/no-appeasing/aggressive pro-war stance certainly appealed to those playing a major hands-on part in the "air war."
Accordingly, if your pal was enlisted (vs. commissioned officer, like me), and he tends to go "liberal," then he's arguably part of a demographic cohort of about 875,000 "liberal" Viet vets (that 35% pro-Kerry poll estimate), though that group is certainly diminished by deaths over the intervening years.
Vietnam vets are known to shy away from serious political involvement (only a handful in Congress) and joining veterans organizations... way moreso than vets from WWII and Korea.
After 35 years, I only recently decided to join the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter. At the first meeting, it quickly became very clear to me that I just didn't "fit" there, because (a) 90% of them were enlisted, not officers -- and their attitudes and perspectives were VERY different than mine, and (b) this particular chapter was overwhelmingly pacifist/anti-war/liberal in its operational tenor and other subtle ways -- to the point of members openly displaying "Get Out Of Iraq" hostility to Bush and those eeevil Republicans. Disappointing, but we ARE in a long-term Culture War now -- one that has deep roots in the Vietnam era.
As to your pal's apparently limited knowledge of contemporary firearms and ammunition (scorning Black Talons? Gimme a break! He's a Ballistic Illiterate), that's no surprise -- even if he's a legitimate Viet vet. Few were Rambos, and I've met many vets who wouldn't know a real "assault rifle" from an axe handle... just like a lot of cops and politicians.
And nobody would have been moving supplies or pushing papers.
)