From a Vietnam Vet

[Douglas C. Steele]

First let me say that I read the article concerning Vietnam Vets today in the "rattler" and at first look it appears to be a good article.  One I would have posted it on my Facebook page and forwarded to the other Vietnam vets I know if it had been posted in such a way that the article could have been copied.  I'm sure most would have appreciated reading it. 

Having said that...I will also state that I, for my part, believe people who say those things to Viet Vets are, for the most part, being disingenuous.  Vietnam vets are still criticized by the public, we were then during the war, we are now even years after the war...and the discrimination against those who served in Vietnam will never be completely forgotten by those who "changed the world".  What a sick statement that is! 

I read an article a year or so ago on MSN that, though the article was not about guns, it turned into an article about gun control.  In the comments I read a statement from a woman who said that she "knew" that ALL Vietnam vets had a mental illness to some extent and she felt that no one who had served in Vietnam should be allowed to own a firearm.  Her reasoning was that eventually that person, being obviously mentally ill, would eventually murder someone with it.  This is over 40 years later...and we are still hearing this kind of hate!   I wonder if in her little brain it ever occurred to her that most Viet vets do have guns and rarely have they been used in a crime...of any kind and we have been around for over 40 years!

I can see it in the reaction of those I meet who find out that I am a Vietnam vet, I can see it within the Government and especially in the VA bureaucracy.  The doctors and nurses I have been in contact with over the last thirty years since I developed my cancer have been, for the most part, excellent.   The bureaucracy however seems to be there, not to help vets (unless you are a specific group) but to outright deny or hinder any claims.  I see posters up all over VA hospitals calling all Iraqi vets from either war, to come forward and get help, but none for Vietnam vets.  It's not that I believe they do not deserve the attention, or the care they have earned...but why is it that we have never been treated with the same respect by the bureaucracy. 

I have personally filed for Agent Orange several times since 1982, I have been denied each time.  Each time they change the rules to "make it easier for Vietnam vets to file", I file...and am denied because of some obscure rule.  They do make it easier to file...but the odds of actually receiving a disability, regardless of what people have been told, is more difficult.  Now, civilians applying for disability has been made easier.  But...there are many, many vets still, after all these years, trying to receive the benefits they deserve. 

Personally, my medical files were "lost" for many years, when I did receive them, after almost 15 years of harassing the VA, much was missing.  All the information concerning the drugs I took for the cancer was missing, so were the biopsy reports, photos, and the many test.  I have to tell my doctors what drugs I was given, that I had a Hickman catheter, and that I had part of my thyroid removed and many other things that are not in my medical records.  Now my kidneys are failing, I have many other medical issues but the VA still will not accept the fact that all these issues are directly related to my cancer. 
I trusted the VA to keep my records safe, they did not.  Like many vets, I was betrayed by those I put my trust in and now I cannot get my benefits because, the latest excuse is, I have been told "you have no proof you even had cancer!". 

So...all this to say that, no, I'm sorry but I do not believe the lady that wrote that article, or anyone else who says things like that to me.  I do not believe he/she is serious.  Most likely they are only trying to get attention for themselves...just like they did back then.  If they were truly serious, then they would do something.  They got out on the streets and rioted against us in the 60's and 70's, spit on us, threw rocks and bottles at us, called up "baby killers” and other vile names...but they cannot bring themselves now to even write a letter, or make a simple phone call to their senator.  Saying I’m sorry should, according to them, be enough for forgiveness and we should be thankful. 

Yeah, I'm gullible...I believe they are serious! 

Not that writing a letter to the traitorous Senators we put in office would do any good, we see now how Boehner and the, so called Republicans, have betrayed us once elected.   There seems to be no difference now between the democrats and the republicans.  No, I did not make a mistake, I meant to use lowercase.  They are not worthy. 

Regardless, making an effort to write a letter or making a phone call would at least it would show that they are not just talking, but truly are sorry for what they did to us so many years ago.  That they now realize that, due to their actions, many more soldiers and Marines died.  Most will not even say they are sorry, the furthest they will go is to say “Welcome home”?

 

[Franklin W.]

I, for one, understand and agree.    I have had some of these same experiences.    

Sometimes a casual "thank you for your service" can sound like a sales clerk saying "have a nice day" as they turn to wait on the next person in line.