Where they really spit upon?

[Ishmael]

Where the Vietnam Veterans spit on in airports across America as they returned from their service in the Far East?

[Rubia Warren]

Where the Vietnam Veterans spit on in airports across America as they returned from their service in the Far East?

There's not really a way to tell. A guy wrote a book a while back and I'm too lazy to look it up and I can't remember the name, that asserts it is urban legend. He was a vietnam vet, himself, and a sociologist. He claimed it either began or was perpetuated by things like the Rambo movies. He also said it wasn't reported to the police, etc. or in newspapers.

However, there are many anecdotes from vets, themselves, of being treated poorly, and I doubt that men back then would call the cops and file reports as easily as they would now. It's also kinda hard to believe that he could say it was myth, as he'd have had to have literally poured through every newspaper in America by hand. One would think anyway. (gonna have to go look up his name & the book's title now cuz I've talked about him too much)
I'd say with the way servicemen have been treated in a few incidents just in this Iraq war by anti-war protesters, it isn't too far-fetched to believe a vietnam vet who says he got spit on or trash thrown at him. I am not sure however, that there was one big incident as is usually accepted and believed.

Edit to add: Okay the guy I am referring to is named Jerry Lembcke, and the book I am talking about is called Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam.

[Ishmael]

There's not really a way to tell. A guy wrote a book a while back and I'm too lazy to look it up and I can't remember the name, that asserts it is urban legend. He was a vietnam vet, himself, and a sociologist. He claimed it either began or was perpetuated by things like the Rambo movies. He also said it wasn't reported to the police, etc. or in newspapers.

However, there are many anecdotes from vets, themselves, of being treated poorly, and I doubt that men back then would call the cops and file reports as easily as they would now. It's also kinda hard to believe that he could say it was myth, as he'd have had to have literally poured through every newspaper in America by hand. One would think anyway. (gonna have to go look up his name & the book's title now cuz I've talked about him too much)
I'd say with the way servicemen have been treated in a few incidents just in this Iraq war by anti-war protesters, it isn't too far-fetched to believe a vietnam vet who says he got spit on or trash thrown at him. I am not sure however, that there was one big incident as is usually accepted and believed.

Edit to add: Okay the guy I am referring to is named Jerry Lembcke, and the book I am talking about is called Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam.
OMG I think you just got a couple of anti-spam points! Good post.

[Tladatsi]

Where the Vietnam Veterans spit on in airports across America as they returned from their service in the Far East?

Well what was is certain is that Vietnam vets did not get a sense that anyone was grateful for their sacrifices. The war was very divisive and the US lost the war. No one organized any parades to welcome them back. So metaphorically, the urban legend of people spitting up Vietnam vets is reflective of the ambiguity US society felt toward the war.

I will tell you a story. My father was a vetern. He served in the Navy during WWII and in the Air Force during the Korean War. During the Vietnam War, he took me and my sister to every anti-war demonstration he could. He wore a pin that said "Veterans for Peace" and there were quite a few other veterns at those demonstrations. Among those veterans, were those from Viet Nam who opposed the war. In fact later, they had their own organization, Vietnam Veterans Against the War (the most famous of whom are Ron Kovic and John Kerry).

Anyway, if any spitting upon was to occur, this is where it would happen. It was quite the opposite. Everyone was quit welcoming. Later, when I was older I worked in various factories and a lot of my co-workers were Vietnam vets. I heard all sorts of stories from them, none ever related any sort of hostility from the American public.

They were disproportionately from the lower strata of society and did not get much help readjusting to "the world". They suffered, as veterans of all wars did, from both physical and emotional scars. They got a pretty raw deal, much like Iraqi war veterns are now. It is an urban legend but one based on real feelings, if not facts.

[Ishmael]

Well what was is certain is that Vietnam vets did not get a sense that anyone was grateful for their sacrifices. The war was very divisive and the US lost the war. No one organized any parades to welcome them back. So metaphorically, the urban legend of people spitting up Vietnam vets is reflective of the ambiguity US society felt toward the war.

I will tell you a story. My father was a vetern. He served in the Navy during WWII and in the Air Force during the Korean War. During the Vietnam War, he took me and my sister to every anti-war demonstration he could. He wore a pin that said "Veterans for Peace" and there were quite a few other veterns at those demonstrations. Among those veterans, were those from Viet Nam who opposed the war. In fact later, they had their own organization, Vietnam Veterans Against the War (the most famous of whom are Ron Kovic and John Kerry).

Anyway, if any spitting upon was to occur, this is where it would happen. It was quite the opposite. Everyone was quit welcoming. Later, when I was older I worked in various factories and a lot of my co-workers were Vietnam vets. I heard all sorts of stories from them, none ever related any sort of hostility from the American public.

They were disproportionately from the lower strata of society and did not get much help readjusting to "the world". They suffered, as veterans of all wars did, from both physical and emotional scars. They got a pretty raw deal, much like Iraqi war veterns are now. It is an urban legend but one based on real feelings, if not facts.


Thanks for this, I guess you are a few years older than me.

I am reading the book that Rubia pointed out and it has been my habit for many years to ask Vietnam war veterans if they were spit on, never had one say yes-- but that hasn't really been than many, I guess.

[FirstSunday33ad]

Where the Vietnam Veterans spit on in airports across America as they returned from their service in the Far East?

We had a guest lecturer in my Poli Sci class in college who was a three tour, bronze star & silver star, sergent (three stripes up two stripes under was his description) in Vietnam. He stated that he never heard of vets being spit on or verbally abused on coming home but he did say that it was never easy.

His experience was arriving at LAX straight from Saigon International, opening his duffel bag for inspection and the customs officer removing a peace medallion that he used to wear on his helmet. The officer lifted it up to his face and said "you know what we call this here? The great American chicken track".