How many Vietnam vets do we have here or family members of a vet??

[southernleftylady]

I'm just wondering how many we have and how many family members we have here too?
i know the ones here support Kerry how about your family members who are vets? do they support him or bush? tia

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. I'm a vet, and I'm the son of a Vietnam vet.

There are many veterans in my extended family, and not ONE will be supporting George Bush in November.

[JohnKleeb]

4. same with mine

My uncle was stationed in Germany during the war but he's an idiot for reasons other than politics, thats another thread though.

[libertad]

35. I'm a vet, and a daughter of a Vietnam vet. We are both supporting

Kerry. My active duty brother-in-law is supporting bush*, however.

[demnan]

2. My brother was in Vietnam

for about 18 months in a non-combat unit. He worked on electronics. He had worked in my father's business since the age of 13 (T.V. repair) and when he was drafted, my grandmother wrote a letter to her Republican Congressman that got my brother transferred out of a combat unit to the radio unit.

My brother and family live in South Florida today and hope that their votes for John Kerry will be counted. I called him recently about the Swift Boat stuff and he is angry as you might imagine about it.

When my brother returned from Vietnam he even had good words to say about Jane Fonda - he thought she was just trying to help.

[Vadem]

78. You are very fortunate Demnan in your brother's understanding...

My brother was also in Viet Nam in the Khe Sahn siege; he hates Jane Fonda and he gives me hell (or tries to, at least) for my Viet Nam War protests. I've told him that we protestors were out there trying to get them home and prevent any more body bags from coming home! He, in his ignorance, will support Dubya! :(

[marlakay]

3. Husband is a nam vet, dad WWII

And my son-n-law is a officer in the air force. ALL dems!!!

But I will say my daughter told me that one of their new friends on base saw her Clinton book and gave them a bad time for not supporting Bush. Its hard on base to be vocal for kerry she says. they are stationed at Hickman in Honolulu. Lucky them!

[ET Awful]

5. Stepdad is a Vietnam vet, I spent 8 years in the army.

Nobody I know (nor anyone that I was in the National Guard with after the army, many of whom are Vietnam vets) will vote for Bush.

[Florida_Geek]

6. vn 69

:)

[searchingforlight]

7. Come from long line of Vets and am sure they were all repubs.

Husband is vet and (thank God) a Kerry supporter. I have to say that if I found out he had voted for Bush, I would divorce him!!

Most career military are repubs because they are brave kool-aid drinkers. If that weren't so, they wouldn't be in the military.

[Eurobabe]

8. my FAVORITE Uncle is a Vet, Vietnam '68-70

he hates Bu$h,(works for Ford) Will vote Kerry.

[TahitiNut]

9. Me: USArmyVietnam '69; Uncle: WW2 Army Iran/Africa - libs

My sole-surviving Uncle is a lifetime New Deal Democrat and WW2 veteran, former member of the Soapy Williams adminstration in Michigan, who's been VERY disappointed with the Dems for about 14 years.

[jukes]

10. many viet nam vets on board

i'm one.

no living relatives.

[Gunit_Sangh]

11. Vietnam Vet

I voluntarily joined the Navy after H.S. when I didn't have to. My first ship was stationed in Japan and we spent the better part of the last year of the war patrolling the N. Vietnamese coast. This duty was certainly not as hazardous as those who served in-country, but it was considered combat duty and I was awarded the Vietnam service medal.

[finecraft]

12. Wife of a Vietnam vet

as well as a sister-in-law to two others.

[Bunny]

13. My kids' dad was in Nam '69-'70 (Marines).

Got a Purple Heart, although he may not have bled enough to satisfy some republicans. :mad:

He loathes Bush, but only because Howard Stern told him to.

[Spinzonner]

14. You might want to clarify that question

to distinguish between vets who served in-country (or off-shore) during the Vietnam War years and who were - to varying degrees - at risk from the war and those who didn't and weren't at risk - at least from the war.

I was an Air Force member during 1971-1975 and was stationed in Virginia all four years. Closest I ever got to VN was TDY to Hickam AFB, HI in 1975 for two weeks. That puts be at the tail end of the Vietnam war. When the subject ever comes up about being a veteran, I am always careful to state that I am a Vietnam ERA veteran since that carries much different implications about how I served, how much risk I faced, and how I might have been affected by my service.

[karlrschneider]

59. Similar here, was in the AF -during- the VN "war" but never went there.

The most hazardous duty I ever had was retrieving a certain very drunk general, who shall remain anonymous, from the middle of the Colorado Springs dog track. :D
(true story!)

[Chef]

15. Vet

Americal Div., Viet Nam, 1969-70

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

16. Hubby is a Vietnam Vet with a Purple Heart

Army 1968-1969. I Corps, between Hue, up to the DMZ and Ir Drang (sp?)and the ocean. He really HATES the swift boat liars ads. It's the most upset I've seen him in years.

Both my parents were in WWII. 91 year old mom hates * and will vote for Kerry.

Edit to add location

[Tim4319]

17. I am a nephew of a Vietnam Vet.

[landdaddy]

18. Viet Vet 2 tours

'68/'69 and '70. MACV/USARV!

[kentuck]

20. Do you have any "brothers" named Holloway ?

:)

[JitterbugPerfume]

22. My cousin died in Viet Nam

My sweet Aunt (who is in her 80s now) gets misty eyed still at the mention of his name

My nephew is a diabled VietNam veteran

That war was a cancer on our generation

[kentuck]

19. Vet- 67-69 (MACV) Cam Ranh,Phan Rang, Nha Trang area...

I was at Cam Ranh same time as John Kerry but I don't think I ever met the dude. :) Can I say, "I served with John Kerry...?"

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. Hell yes!! If everyone else is. Then why not?

Your service is appreciated. I am so glad you are here with us today.

:hi:

[duhneece]

23. My husband, Mike Tyson, lost his legs at Chu Lai Feb 1971

He, and about a dozen others, appeared in a book "Body Shop:Recuperating from Vietnam" about the amputees at Letterman Hospital. Mike died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1998.
My dad was a navigator of B-52's.
I live in a very conservative town, Alamogordo NM where we have the 'Home of the Stealths' Holloman AFB.
While many (most?) of the military seems to support Bush, there are many who do not.
The 'barrio' of Alamogordo produced more paratroopers per capita in WWII than anywhere in the US. The gentleman who is responsible for a memorial to them is a very eloquent Veteran who supports Kerry and can't stand Bush. I am hoping to provide a forum so our local residents can hear him speak.

[kentuck]

24. Thanks for posting duhneece...

Our thoughts are with you.

[Samurai_Writer]

25. Several cousins were Vietnam Vets...

Six of them, if I remember correctly. Five of them were KIA. The sixth came back mentally broken, never to recover from the horrors he witnessed/participated in. :cry:

[WyLoochka]

26. Late husband was a Vietnam Vet

Marine Corps '68-'69. Came back to be a VVAW. He thought highly of John Kerry in '71 - thought he should be Prez someday.

[Ilsa]

27. My father, my brother.

Dad is a WWII vet, Navy, south Pacific. Brother was with 1991 invasion of Iraq, artillery, 3rd ID, I think. Went to Basra, Kuwait, etc, in several battles.

[UTUSN]

28. Reporting for Duty, n/t

[Palacsinta]

29. Husband fighter pilot over Vietnam

Navy, flew F-8 off of the carrier, Ranger. Kerry supporter!!!

[Carson]

30. Grandpa WWII, Uncle Viet vet

and both support Bush.

[theHandpuppet]

31. Several...

Father, Navy Vet of WWII and Korea; brother, AF and Navy Vet; bro-in-law, Marine Vietnam Vet (combat); plus asst cousins, nephews, etc, vets of several branches of service and theatres of combat.

[scarlet_owl]

32. My father in law went to Vietnam. He gave my husband his machete

from the war. Officially he wasn't there to fight but he did. He was an electrician by trade, so he was drafted to wire booby traps. The war screwed him up really bad. He became an alcoholic and a lousy father to his son. We suspect his current wife knows nothing about my husband. He won't let anyone get close to him. Hell, I haven't seen him in over a year.

[newyawker99]

33. I had 2 cousins who were Vietnam Vets.

Sadly, both have passed away.

[Bandit]

34. I am one also

I am one who personally has knowlege of some of the things Kerry testified about in '71. Things like that did indeed happen more often than we would like to admit.

[kentuck]

77. I didn't know until two days ago that a "free fire" zone was against....

Geneva Conventions?? Didn't eveybody in Nam have those? Espcially in Tet of 68?

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

36. My cousin came home from Vietnam with a nasty case of

gonorrhea. It almost killed him. He was in the hospital for a year.

[Misunderestimator]

37. Self-delete

didn't read Vietnam the first time.

[SCDem]

38. My husband is a Vietnam Vet

He was in the Marines in Nam from 67-68 I believe. He is a yellow dog democrat... has always voted democratic. His saying is "Until you have held an 18 year old boy in your arms with his intestines hanging out of him crying for his mama, don't tell me how war is good or that you support the troops."

[Chango]

39. Vietnam Vet

eom

[bearfan454]

40. I am a Vietnam Era Veteran

I love my country.(before the gop theft)

[Tikki]

53. Vietnam Era Veteran, also.

U. S. Army 1968-1970

Mr. Tikki

[vetwife]

41. Wife of a Vietnam combat vet and Founder of a Vet organization

Dad a WWII vet

Welcome Home to all vets and Thank you for your service !
Kerry supporters from my family !
Husband is disabled 100 percent VN vet served with 101st 70-71

[magnolia]

42. My husband....

...is a Vietnam vet...Marines. He's a big, BIG Kerry supporter. He understands, as many of us do who lived in that period, that going to war took courage but protesting took courage too. Kerry did both.

[daisygirl]

43. My dad

He was an M-60 gunner, got a purple heart. He doesn't talk about the war, ever.

He's a lifelong republican, so I can't picture him changing his mind now. (I haven't asked because it's really best that I not talk to him about politics.)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

44. Vietnam Era Vet - They asked me to extend my enlistment to go.

But, I had a previous appointment..at anti-war demonstrations and helping sending our boys to Canada. USMC 1961-65.

[Tsiyu]

45. My late uncle

Decorated hero. Died on a slippery Upstate New York road right after Christmas 25 years ago.
I don't know how he would have voted. He came back bitter and messed up.

[Chovexani]

46. Both parents are vets

Who served in peace time. Many cousins who are either active duty or vets. All are Dems, except my dad who is a DINO from the Zell Miller wing (he lives in freeper central Virginia). Mom was an army nurse, and a few years ago she retired from a VA Hospital after 30 years. We still volunteer there, doing fundraisers and holiday parties for the vets.

It used to be a fairly even split among the vets, maybe leaning towards Repubs at the hospital but there are an overwhelming majority who are Dems now, or at least plan on voting for Kerry. They are so fed up with the chimp it's not even funny.

[Spider Jerusalem]

47. My uncle...

(aunt's ex-husband, but he's still my uncle since he's my cousin's father).

He was in the Army Transportation Corps, '67-'68 (not sure what unit), and even though it wasn't what he was assigned for, he flew several missions as a Huey door gunner (considering that those guys had the highest casualty rate of the war, no wonder they needed guys to fill in...and this was during the Tet offensive). He doesn't think much of politicians, be they Democrat or Republican, but he supports Kerry...the common bond of service makes him feel he knows Kerry in a way he doesn't Bush.

[cayanne]

48. My husband is a Vietnam Vet

Air Force - 1967 & 1968

[leetrisck]

49. Long list of vets in our family

A mixed bag when it comes to voting (just like the country.)

[AlCzervik]

50. My Dad flew supply runs in vietnam, my brother in law

is a 30 year retired col. army and served 3 tours. Neither will be voting for Bush. My brother in law lives near sarasota which is full of retired military people who are very angry with the current administration, at least the ones my brother in law sees.

[Jax]

51. My Dad was a Vietnam Vet

as well as a Korean war Vet and a WWII Vet.

My Mom served 10 years beginning in WWII.

Thanks to ALL who served.


Jax

[A_Possum]

52. My husband is Vietnam vet

101st airborne, grunt, 67-68 I think.

[OnionPatch]

54. My uncle was killed there

in 1966. He lived on the farm with my grandparents and our family. He was the shining-star of the family was like a big brother to me. He only had two weeks to go when he stepped on a land mine. My mother told me he had confided to her that he didn't want to go and questioned the whole thing. But he never said anything to his parents. (Very Jingoistic Republicans) I'm sure he went because of them. Obviously I can't know how he would vote today but I feel certain if he were alive today he would be supporting John Kerry. He was a sharp guy, a thinking person who tended to be a bit liberal even in those days.

[yelladawg]

55. 3/17 Air Cav

Nam 70-72
3/17 Air Cav

[raysr]

56. Viet-Era 68-70

Army Intelligence

[Nashyra]

57. My husband is a Vietnam Vet

Aircraft Commander flew in and out of Saigon, was there for the fall of Saigon. Dad is a Korean Vet, heavy artillery, my son has a military science scholarship and wants to go to OTC Marines when he graduates from college, he's sophmore. None of them would think of voting for *, as would none of the rest of our family. My husbands mother's "boyfriend" is a WWII vet Purple Heart and he is adamantly supporting Kerry. Only people in our family voting for the * are my husbands nephews who did not have to pay for college and got a job with the help of there doctor father. They think that it's all about taxes. Hope they get the first draft call, their mother is worried about the draft enough to vote Kerry

[Paranoid_Portlander]

58. I have 5 cousins.

All of them male, all the right age for the Vietnam war. They all avoided military service, and to this day I don't have a clue as to how they did it. There is a tight lid of secrecy.

[wadestock]

60. I would broaden the question to how many vets do you know....

that support Kerry.

Regarding Vietnam vets....I would not be surprised if the ones I know go one way or the other when it's all over. In general, they are very much anti-political....and they harbor some intense feelings about Nam. These are guys that spent years getting together almost every month to go into fields in North Jersey to shoot hundreds of rounds into junk cars.

I do have a big family that has quite a few WWII vets still in the picture and they have been outspoken in favor of Kerry.

But this is not something that can be resolved through a simple analysis of vets and what they know. The problem with what's going on now is the way that Bushco has come out to screw with the emotions of people....dupe people into thinking that he's pro military etc...and how they've co opted the flag, bumper stickers....support our troops, etc.....which is a joke since he's USED the military for entirely convoluted objectives.

You have a large percentage of vets that will be standing behind Bushco only because of their casual belief that he is what he really isn't. It tends to become an emotional issue when you've been there and done all that and then someone starts playin with your feelings.
I know enough people who've served and hung out at enough VFWs to know it doesn't take much to get a huge emotional response when you get into this stuff.

With this in mind, those who propped up the Swift Boat guys probably knew exactly what they were doing in terms of pressing exactly the right buttons to bring them along....

[onethatcares]

61. vietnam era vet

I can't get my son to commit although I've hand walked him thru the lies and the future if * gets the win.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

62. viet nam era 69 -73 navy

my small town i grew up in lost five. 2 sets of brothers

(1 were twins) and the fifth was an only son.

[greatauntoftriplets]

63. My guy is a Vietnam vet.

82nd Airborne. He never talks about it.

[TX-RAT]

64. Us Army 69-72

[PapaClay]

65. Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club - '70

another liberal vet (20 yr). :evilgrin:

[sffreeways]

66. My son was a veteran

of Enduring Freedom. Loved Clinton would have loved Kerry. My father was a vet and was a Bush man till the day he died.

[ElectroPrincess]

67. My Older Brother (13 years my senior) served in the

101st Airborne Division (Screaming Eagles) in Vietnam during 1968-1969 as a SGT (E-5).

[DubyaSux]

68. Not Vietnam, but...

United States Marine Corps, 1976-1980.

I'll let you guess which candidate this vet is NOT voting for.

[B Calm]

69. I am a Vietnam Veteran, and so is my brother. Dad is WW 2 vet

and we all support Kerry! My cousin in Oklahoma is a Vietnam Era vet who happens to be on Social Security disability and supports Bush.

[drdigi420]

70. My father was a Marine in Vietnam

He doesn't talk about it much

[Jackpine Radical]

71. 1st Cav '67-68.

[Swamp Rat]

72. Dad, grandfather, uncles, cousins

I've listened to first-hand accounts of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq, from family members. I am thankful that I never had to fire a gun at someone.

[Cleopatra2a]

73. My spouse

is a vietnam vet - 2 purple hearts, 1 bronze star. My brother, 3 brothers-in-law all Vietnam vets. My father WW2 -vet. I am AD Air Force. All Kerry supporters.

[dogpatch]

74. Father in law and brother in law

Father in law is career Air Force (ret) who was in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. The swift boat liars have gotten to him. Brother in law did two tours in Vietnam, has been totally apolitical (disgusted by the whole bunch of 'em) up til now, now he's absolutely livid about Iraq and cuts in veterans' benefits and going to vote for the first time in years and years. We're hoping he's a bellwether.

[falcon]

75. viet vet

20th. combat engineers. Lets march on those repug bastards!!

[maryallen]

76. Son and Father --

Son: USAF, Kirkuk, Iraq (returned July, 2004); Oman (during invasion of Afghanistan); currently stationed in Spangdahlem, Germany.

Dad: US Army Corps of Engineers (30 years) -- WWII, Bronze Star; Viet-Nam, 1963-1964

Me: Army Brat

[timtom]

79. I'm a Vietnam Vet

and I am voting for Kerry. (ABB...sorry)