Abuse of returning soldiers
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Overview
There have been persistent stories of anti-war protesters abusing soldiers returning from Vietnam -- booing them, spitting on them, and worse. Although these stories were long accepted as truth by many people, researchers have not been able to find any eyewitnesses to any such event, and believe that they are a complete fabrication.
Questions
- 2006-12-21 Does anyone have any information about the demonstrations OSC mentions here? If they actually took place as described, then they're dispicable – but we heard much the same about Vietnam soldiers being spat at, and my understanding is that that was later revealed to be propaganda and not something that actually happened. ("The anti-war sentiments gave reason to those that believed returning soldiers were 'spat on' or otherwise abused." is all I can find in Wikipedia.)
- The documentary "Sir! No Sir! [W]" examines the anti-war activites of American GIs during the Vietnam war period, has an interview where the spitting on GIs at airports is repudiated as fabrication. The person being interviewed had done research and published a book or article on exactly this topic. What worries me about Orson Scott Card's article regarding the egg throwing is that he has not talked to the family directly rather someone (the soldier on the plane) who knows someone (the brother of the soldier that died). Nor does he supplies the names of the soldiers, so fact checking could be done. It more diligence on his part would confirm these events. Jsrrts 17:43, 13 March 2007 (EDT)
Links
Filed Links
- redirect template:links/smw
Media
- Sir! No Sir! [W]: documentary film
- 1998 The Spitting Image [W]: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam by Dr. Jerry Lembcke, Holy Cross sociologist and Vietnam veteran