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Vietnam Veterans: Vietnam War
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Many veterans described feelings of relief upon leaving Vietnam, mixed with a sense of dissociation from American society when they returned. By the late 1960s, a youth counterculture had transformed American society; some of the young people coming home from Vietnam could not relate to their civilian peers, although others embraced aspects of the counterculture, including its fashions, music, and drugs. Most veterans returned home singly or in small groups; they were not welcomed with parades, but neither, contrary to popular assumptions, were the majority of World War II and Korean War veterans. For wounded and disabled veterans, the homecoming was even more difficult. Veterans' hospitals did not always provide adequate treatment. Returnees were well aware that Americans were divided over the war, with growing numbers opposing it as troop deployments and casualties escalated and reports of atrocities and government deceptions circulated.
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Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Inc. (VVAW) is a national veterans' organization founded in New York City in 1967 after six Vietnam vets marched together in a peace demonstration. It was organized to voice the growing opposition among returning servicemen and women to the war in Indochina. Their website includes a n organization newspaper, a history of the war, commentary, a list of upcoming events, photographs, resources (videos and books), and links.
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Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war ... are eligible for a complete physical examination. If a VA physician suspects a disease might be related to Agent Orange, VA will provide free medical care. Those who participate in the examination program become part of an Agent Orange Registry and receive periodic mailings from VA about the latest Agent Orange studies and new diseases being covered under VA policies.
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As its dominant tactic in their battle against the war, the antiwar movement successfully demonized Vietnam veterans by calling a series of "tribunals" or hearings into war crimes. they were packed with pretenders and liars. ----- After being blocked from holding a ceremony honoring the war dead at Arlington National Cemetery, the veterans marched to the Capitol to present sixteen demands to Congress. At the end of the day; they held a candlelight march around the White House. After a man who said his son died in Vietnam blew taps, the soldiers began flinging their war medals over a high wire fence in front of the Capitol: Purple Hearts, Bronze Star Medals, Silver Stars -- bits of ribbon and metal hurled in the face of the government that had so betrayed them. Some, after throwing away what had cost them so dearly, broke down and cried.
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Some soldiers continued in military service after their tours of duty in Vietnam, and others left the armed forces. The adjustment to civilian life could be difficult, especially in a society beset by protests, riots, and radical cultural change, and by growing inflation and unemployment by the early 1970s. Vietnam veterans have often been portrayed as mentally disturbed, drug-addicted misfits permanently damaged by their experiences in war and further scarred by unhappy homecomings; ... the majority made successful transitions into postwar life. Nevertheless, a large number of veterans suffered from physical as well as psychological wounds. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has afflicted 31 percent of the men and 27 percent of the women (most of whom had served as nurses) at some point in their lives. Greater proportions of Hispanic and African-American veterans than European-American veterans experienced PTSD.
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WASHINGTON, March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- A Vietnam combat Huey helicopter landed on the National Mall in front of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, on Friday, March 19. It was the culmination of a month- long, nationwide journey that began in Fort Worth, Texas. The helicopter is slated to be the central artifact of the Vietnam War section of the museum's new exhibition, "The Price of Freedom," scheduled to open on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
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