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SGMRTDARMY

(599 posts)

78. I came through SFO in 69 in uniform going home on leave from my first

Fri Jun 1, 2012, 11:06 PM

Jun 2012

combat tour in Vietnam and was approached by a small group of college aged kids calling me all kinds of vile names, one girl looked like she wanted to do more but I think the look on my face dissuaded her. Mind you, this was in early to mid Dec. when the details of My Lai were still coming out.

Did the spitting incidents happen? I can't say yes, I can't say no, what I can say is it never happened to me, just the name calling, and only one time. You will always have a few asshole agitators in every crowd.
If it did happen, it wasn't widespread. I used to wonder if the RW pro war idiots were behind alot of the violence to make the anti war movement look bad.
Doesn't really matter anymore, I've retired and moved on.
Pres. Obama's speech at the Wall was the first true welcome home for me.

To all of my Vietnam Brothers
WELCOME HOME.

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David Sirota: The Legend of the Spat-Upon Veteran [View all] marmar Jun 2012 OP

Our congregation had a Bohunk68 Jun 2012 #1

I don't know about the spitting Voice for Peace Jun 2012 #32

Sorry, but I don't remember that at ALL.......... socialist_n_TN Jun 2012 #72

A former co-worker once spun a tale yellerpup Jun 2012 #2

Why would anyone on weed have the urge to spit on someone? Crowman1979 Jun 2012 #7

I suppose if an anal cyst can keep you from fightin' yellerpup Jun 2012 #12

Rush Limbaugh made fun of homeless Vietnam vets on his show. UnrepentantLiberal Jun 2012 #36

And O'Reilly slandered the 82nd Airborne by falsely claiming that the "Malmedy" massacre AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #44

Or even the 285th FAOB malthaussen Jun 2012 #48

I assume that you're right. "O'Reilly falsely accusing the 82nd Airborne of a "massacre" in Malmédy AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #52

Yep. O'Reilly doubtless had his "facts" wrong, malthaussen Jun 2012 #53

He's got his argument screwed up, but he's not totally wrong Rittermeister Jun 2012 #62

There was a lot of that in reaction to the massacre malthaussen Jun 2012 #64

I heard that story too, about vets coming home and "hippies" lining up on either side to spit on HiPointDem Jun 2012 #77

Part of painting the Left as unpatriotic. yellerpup Jun 2012 #80

Is it credible that someone would hurt this guy's feelings by spitting upon him? AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #3

Every Vietnam vet I know... GoCubsGo Jun 2012 #11

Ask one of those vets what he would have done if a woman had done the spitting. malthaussen Jun 2012 #16

John-I-was-spit-upon-Rambo won't be able to answer because he was not a vet. AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #24

The Conservatives did worse than spit. BiggJawn Jun 2012 #4

+1. Robb Jun 2012 #8

My older brother is a Vietnam war vet thucythucy Jun 2012 #5

That was more similar to my experience... kentuck Jun 2012 #6

American Legion, probably Mairead Jun 2012 #20

Absolutely. AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #26

OMG.. Take a break dadchef Jun 2012 #47

"The American Legion, is now being called a fascist group" Mairead Jun 2012 #56

Perhaps so, I may have misunderstood where you where going.. dadchef Jun 2012 #60

Not a problem Mairead Jun 2012 #65

That tracks with my memory (as a kid in the 70's watching this)... JHB Jun 2012 #59

I came through SFO in 69 in uniform going home on leave from my first SGMRTDARMY Jun 2012 #78

What sometimes occurs to me is that there was a lot of opposition to "Kennedy's/Johnson's" war ... zbdent Jun 2012 #9

An excellent summary of the opposition to the war can be found here: AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #14

Are you suggesting that the war was not largely *seen* as Mr Johnson's creation? malthaussen Jun 2012 #29

My words speak for themselves in response to the poster who said it was "Kennedy's/Johnson's" war. AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #34

Ah, so your objection is the inclusion of Kennedy's name malthaussen Jun 2012 #35

My late husband spent 7 mo in San Francisco, never spat upon, never saw anyone spat upon duhneece Jun 2012 #10

I spent 18 months as a patient at Letterman in '70-'71 pinboy3niner Jun 2012 #68

According to Lt Frederick Downs malthaussen Jun 2012 #74

Mike went to Letterman in Feb 1971 duhneece Jun 2012 #84

If Mike was on the amputee ward, it's likely that I saw him then pinboy3niner Jun 2012 #85

I was at a lecture with other seniors listening to a retired college professor talk about CTyankee Jun 2012 #13

We are a huge country with millions upon millions VWolf Jun 2012 #18

Or maybe he misremembered and over the years he's gotten more comfortable with it. CTyankee Jun 2012 #21

If you're "sure there were a few spitting incidents here and there," AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #25

Well yeah, that last paragraph sums it up pretty nicely.......... socialist_n_TN Jun 2012 #73

Anyone foolish enough The Wizard Jun 2012 #15

Would you have "dispatched" the spitter if it had been a woman? malthaussen Jun 2012 #23

Have any of those allegedly familiar with spit victims ever claimed that the spitor was a woman? AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #27

Indeed, one could malthaussen Jun 2012 #33

yes (nt) The Wizard Jun 2012 #75

Really? You're unusual, then. malthaussen Jun 2012 #81

I suppose it might have happened a time or two, but I think such a thing MineralMan Jun 2012 #17

Stabbed in the back! The past and future of a right-wing myth - Harper's Magazine 2006 Kolesar Jun 2012 #19

Related is: "We had to fight with one hand tied behind our backs" yellowcanine Jun 2012 #30

Bomb Hanoi Kolesar Jun 2012 #37

The Stab in the Back Theory malthaussen Jun 2012 #22

A corollary: the liberal media lost the war. Forget about the courage and coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #41

The urban myth: Walter Cronkite lost the war malthaussen Jun 2012 #45

Cronkite may not have sapped our will to continue, since continue we did coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #46

Yup, I've heard that one, too. malthaussen Jun 2012 #50

I don't think LBJ allegedly said it to Bill Moyers (his press secretary). I think coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #54

That last sentence, Coalition malthaussen Jun 2012 #57

You are more than welcome. It's funny the tricks memory plays on you, as coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #61

Most of us young men at the time were eligible for the draft. Any one of us could have been sent to mulsh Jun 2012 #28

I generally agree with and support Sirota. I do feel I must point out coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #31

I read Monday's thread, and I got the "anguish" that was expressed there Kolesar Jun 2012 #39

I'm not sure I'm allowed to reference DUers by posting name specifically - rules coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #40

You mentioned that you were influenced by first-person reports from DUers in good standing. AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #42

I understand where you are coming from (I think). Look, I was 8 years old in 1968 (when coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #43

Drunks in bars are always thpitting after four or five beers! Kolesar Jun 2012 #71

It wasn't my war Capt. Obvious Jun 2012 #38

Another way in which Obama channels the worst of the Reagan Era Lies kenny blankenship Jun 2012 #49

I wouldn't call it a "Reagan Era lie," malthaussen Jun 2012 #51

Reagan started 'The Big Lie' when he called Vietnam "A noble cause". I still coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #55

But wasn't Vietnam a "noble cause" before Reagan? malthaussen Jun 2012 #58

See Jerry Lembcke's book: July Jun 2012 #63

You and I are close contemporaries, then. malthaussen Jun 2012 #67

True, true. AverageJoe90 Jun 2012 #66

As one of the book's descriptions points out, Lembcke can't prove a negative. July Jun 2012 #70

The saliva soaked vets stand right next to Egalitarian Thug Jun 2012 #69

I had a co-worker who told me her husband was spit on when he returned from vietnam. She HiPointDem Jun 2012 #76

But...but...but..."Coming Home" was a documentary! Tom Ripley Jun 2012 #79

I remember 'Coming Home' being a profoundly anti-war and sad movie but don't remember coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #82

The one who spat hardest was Reagan, with his cuts to veterans' benefit and slashing social services suffragette Jun 2012 #83

There are some people who are much more to blame than a few scattered self-righteous kids JHB Jun 2012 #86

I was a college student during the height of the Vietnam War, and Lydia Leftcoast Jun 2012 #87

I served 3 tours in RVN, came through the SF airport 5 times, always treated well 1-Old-Man Jun 2012 #88

I came through SFO in 69 in early to mid Dec in uniform SGMRTDARMY Jun 2012 #89